A Tedoleran for Christmas E-Book

Nova Edwins

• Herausgeber: Black Umbrella Publishing
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Serie: Tedoleran Christmas
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 91

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

I just wanted to celebrate Christmas in peace with my best girlfriends at a cabin we rented for the holidays in the middle of the snowy Colorado wilderness. But instead, I manage to fall down a mountain and land in front of Santa Claus. For a moment, I'm sure I've lost my mind because I'm certain that Santa Claus doesn't exist. But apparently, giant aliens with red skin and snow-white hair do… Dark sci-fi romance with a Christmas theme. Over the top and utterly ridiculous. Contains holiday lights, candy canes, and a happy ending in front of a fireplace.

Leseprobe

A TEDOLERAN FOR CHRISTMAS

TEDOLERAN CHRISTMAS 1

NOVA EDWINS

A DARK SCI-FI ROMANCE NOVELLA

CONTENTS

A Tedoleran for Christmas

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

About Nova Edwins

A TEDOLERAN FOR CHRISTMAS

I just wanted to celebrate Christmas in peace with my best girlfriends at a cabin we rented for the holidays in the middle of the snowy Colorado wilderness.

But instead, I manage to fall down a mountain and land in front of Santa Claus. For a moment, I'm sure I've lost my mind because I’m certain that Santa Claus doesn't exist. But apparently, giant aliens with red skin and snow-white hair do…

Dark sci-fi romance with a Christmas theme. Over the top and utterly ridiculous. Contains holiday lights, candy canes, and a happy ending in front of a fireplace.

1

DASHAR

"This is stupid," Pranzor growled, crossing his arms. "All of this is absolutely stupid." He huffed and shook his head so that his white hair flew around, which made him look even more pissed.

"At least try to look on the bright side," I begged, lifting the baking sheet. "Cookies?"

A muscle twitched in his cheek, and I guessed he was about to knock the tin right out of my hand.

"No. I don't want cookies. I want to go back to Tedoleran and be among Tedolerans. How are we going to blend in here? It's all white. So ah'tze white!" With his hand, he gestured at the immaculate blanket of snow that stretched outside the window and surrounded our camp before turning and stomping out the door with another string of curses. Unfortunately, he had a point, as his bright red skin really stood out in stark contrast to the snow. All four of us had this problem, which is why I thought this remote corner of Colorado would be a good place to hide.

"Give him a little time," Voxen said, patting me on the back. "You know what Pranzor is like. For him, being sent here is a punishment. He doesn't see the endless possibilities. I find it..." He paused, looking at the colorful houses, candy canes, and plastic reindeer. "Nice?"

I wrestled a weak smile from myself.

"Pranzor is a warrior first and foremost, and would probably prefer to camp in the woods without any gear, so don't worry about it. I'll take one of those cookies. What are they called again?"

"Christmas cookies." I held the baking tray out to him before turning to Copid.

Copid, as usual, said nothing. He merely raised an eyebrow, barely noticeable, before reaching for one of the cookies with pointed fingers. Of the four of us, he was definitely the quietest, so I could only guess as to what he thought of our adventure on this planet. I found Earth and its species exciting and in no way felt that it was a punishment to come here and babysit humanity. The Tedoleran government had gotten wind that the Horgerians were planning to invade Earth, a planet which was unfortunately very technologically backward, and wipe out the humans. Most likely, they'd only wipe out the male half because female humans were in great demand as slaves in all galaxies.

We had been sent here to prevent the whole thing from happening, and as soon as humanity was advanced enough, our government would make an agreement with them. I thought this was a great challenge and extremely important work. But my friends saw it differently.

Voxen chewed slowly. "These are pastries for holidays, right?"

"Right."

"Is this supposed to be so crunchy? In the few vids I've seen, humans look soft and weak. Are their palates reinforced with extra plates?"

I eyed my baking sheet sadly and set it on the large wooden table before sighing. "I don't think so. Maybe I did something wrong when I followed the recipe. It seemed so simple at the time."

Copid chewed with a stoic expression, and even from here, I heard the crunch. "Too sweet," he finally said, turning around and leaving my cabin, which was located in the eastern corner of our camp.

I had spent nearly three Earth weeks building this village because I had had to print everything—except for the wood—with the printer on our spaceship. Unfortunately, I couldn't just go to the nearest Awesomemarket and buy what I needed. No, wait, that's not what it was called. Greatmarket? Supermarket? That was it. Supermarket.

Before I'd begun building, I had done quite a bit of research so that this little settlement of ours would blend in. I had been quite proud of myself.

"Well, I don't think they're too sweet. But the hard pieces kind of interfere with chewing. Tell me more about this holiday." Voxen patted me on the shoulder again, and I knew he was just trying to make me feel better.

"If I understand correctly, humans on Earth have different deities and often argue about which one is the right one. This particular festival is held in honor of the son of one of the gods to celebrate his birthday. I didn't really understand the story. But in December, humans celebrate Christmas."

"This is the snow season? December?" Voxen wanted to know.

I began to feel a sneaking suspicion that I was the only one who'd read the briefings. The fact that Pranzor hadn’t read them didn't surprise me. To get him to read something, you would've had to print it on an enemy's chest, so he saw it through his scope before pulling the trigger.

But Copid and Voxen? I had to admit that I was a little disappointed.

"It snows at different times in different places on Earth."

"Oh, okay." Voxen eyed the baking sheet, obviously arguing with himself about whether or not he wanted another cookie. I knew he loved sweet foods, but the sharp crunchy edges of the dough could hardly be fit for consumption, so I placed myself between him and the tray. Crossing my arms, I leaned against the kitchen counter. "Humans have a lot of strange holidays and traditions. After Christmas, there is a second great feast to celebrate this same special son of this one God."

"What are they celebrating? The coming of age? Or the first battle?" Voxen stuck out his chest as if remembering his first time on the battlefield.

"His death."

"That's macabre." My friend thought for a moment and ran his hand through his white hair.

"Not as macabre as the fact that the feast lasts three days—from his death to his resurrection."

His expression had clearly become more interested. "Resurrection? Like zombies?"

"Not quite. I'm telling you, it's complicated."

"If there are zombies here, I'm sure Pranzor will change his mind about seeing the mission as punishment for the outcasts."

The word almost made me wince. "We are not outcasts."

"Would you rather I say mutants? We stand out here the same way we do on Tedoleran, only here at least our hair matches the snow." Voxen nodded at me and left my cabin.

I was aware that he wasn't completely wrong, but our white hair was a sensitive issue for the four of us and the reason we were such close friends. Us outsiders had to stick together because it was very unusual to be born with completely white hair instead of the normal black.

With a sigh, I picked up my communicator and called up the recipe for the cookies. I wanted to try again and figure out what I had done wrong.

2

JENNIFER

"Um, guys? Is that normal?" Harry leaned forward so that she could see between the two front seats and pointed to the decrepit navigation device that belonged to my roommate, just like the rust bucket we were riding in.

The display flashed and showed error messages; some of them looked like special effects from the eighties.

Taylor tapped the thing a few times with the flat of her hand while I gripped the steering wheel tighter and concentrated on not running off the road. Though I hadn't seen the road for a good two miles. The thick blanket of snow made it impossible for me to see more than five feet in front of the car. I tried to ignore the fact that the display of the GPS was constantly changing and that I was no longer sure whether or not we were even headed in the right direction anymore.

Unfortunately, Harry was much more shameless than I was. She cleared her throat in that whole special way she always did before correcting or lecturing someone. "Are we even still in the right place? The cabin is supposed to be only about a mile past Glenwood Springs, right? Didn't we pass it about twenty miles ago? Also, it feels like we're going uphill. Are we lost in the mountains? Jen, be honest."

"I don't know," I confessed.

Taylor laughed next to me in the passenger seat. "At least we still have plenty of gas, right?"

"Yes." I nodded and bit my lower lip, feeling an urgent need to put my head on the steering wheel and start crying. This was not how I had imagined Christmas would be.

Taylor laughed louder and louder until she was straight-up cackling.

"I don't know what you find so funny," Harry hissed from the back seat.

"Calm down, control freak. I know that you don't find the situation amusing. But I'm just so happy to get away from my boss that I don't really care about anything else. The main thing is that you guys are here." Taylor shrugged.

Harry's features softened, and she sighed before craning her neck to look out the window. "Okay, but where are we now? And how do we find our way back to the cabin? I don't feel like sleeping outside tonight, and it'll be dark within three hours."

"Why don't you try using the GPS app on your phone?" Taylor suggested.

"I already did—but it keeps crashing, and I'm not getting a signal like something’s interfering."

"Isla?" I asked, searching for her gaze in the rearview mirror.

She was snuggled up against the door with her eyes shut tight. "I'm asleep."

Isla hated confrontations, even if they were just little quips like the one between Taylor and Harry, who both had strong opinions and didn't hold back when it came to expressing them.

"Why don't we just stop here for a minute?" Taylor suggested. "We'll stretch our legs and see if we can manage to get a signal on our cell phones. Otherwise, we'll keep an eye out for distinctive landmarks. Maybe we'll get lucky and happen to see Colorado's tallest fir tree to use as a guide."

"Sounds good," Harry said.