Free Alien Attachments by Sabine Priestley

another set of clothes. She opted for a black pullover and jeans this time. Not knowing what else to do, she left the putrid blood- and brain-splattered clothes in the shower. She washed her trembling hands for the fourth time and looked in the mirror. Her wet blond hair dripped down her shirt and framed her unnaturally pale face. Pulling her hair to the side, she leaned forward and squeezed excess water into the sink. Have I lost it? Was I really attacked by aliens? Twice? Not liking what she saw in the mirror, she left the bathroom and sat on the massive four-poster bed. She wished her parents were still alive so she could call them. The tears came without warning, and she let them fall.
    A knock at the door made her jump. She grabbed a handful of tissues from the nightstand and blew her nose. “Come in.”
    Ria entered carrying an awesome pair of boots. She took in the situation, closed the door, set the boots down, and sat next to Dani on the bed. She leaned in and wrapped her arms around Dani’s shoulders.
    “Sorry,” Dani said, fighting back more tears. “Everything’s just…catching up with me.”
    “Gee, I wonder why? Let’s see, within the last eight hours or so you’ve learned there are aliens protecting Earth. That they can travel back and forth from planet to planet and have all kinds of bizarre technology. You learned some of them are butt ugly, stink, and keep trying to kill you. Oh, and then there’s being covered with alien blood and brains. Yeah. Really can’t see what your problem is.”
    Dani smiled through her tears.
    “You big baby,” Ria said.
    Dani reached for another tissue and wiped her eyes and blew her nose. “Speaking of blood and brains, I wasn’t sure what to do with the clothes, so I left them in the shower.”
    “Ah, hence the lingering Eau De Torog,” Ria said. “Pretty disgusting don’t you think?”
    “Those zomboids are rancid, even before you get to the brains. Not too smart are they?”
    Ria gave one last squeeze and sat up. “Not the workers, no.” She put her feet on the lower bed rail with her elbows on her knees. “The Torog’s society is built on three classes: politicians, engineers and workers. The guys you’ve been seeing are all workers. They’re either soldiers or the laborers of their society. The workers are dumb as doornails but strong. The engineers are responsible for the Torog’s science, and the brains behind their advancing technology. They tend to stay on the ships or their home planet. The politicians are the only ones that communicate with other races. They’re relatively new to the GTO, which is why this is all so strange. They’re breaking all kinds of rules here.”
    “Interesting,” Dani said. She mimicked Ria’s position. The smaller woman looked like a child next to her. “I’m amazed at how much you EPs resemble humans. I mean for being aliens and all.”
    “Actually, we’re pretty much genetically identical, except for the psi. There’s lots of speculation about the similarities. No one knows why some planets don’t have psi. Most people think we all share a common seed somehow, but no one can agree on who or what seeded multiple planets with the same DNA.”
    “Multiple planets?” Dani asked.
    “Sure. There’s dozens of worlds with our genetics. Quite a few completely alien worlds too, of course, like the Torog’s, but the Sandarian Empire is ruled by beings that look like you, me, and the boys.”
    “Wow.” Dani rubbed her temples.
    “Is anything else bothering you? As if all this wasn’t enough.”
    Dani dabbed the tissue to her eyes. “My Dad would’ve loved this. He was always reading science fiction and going on about how unlikely it is that humans are the only intelligent beings in the universe, let alone the most advanced.”
    Ria touched Dani’s hand. “Would have loved?”
    “My parents were killed in a plane crash when I was fifteen. My aunt took me in. That’s how I ended up on Cat Island. She