by Lynnea Lee
It was clear Kean lived with a lot of guilt, first through the Dominion’s action and then through his own.
“That’s the biggest load of crap I’d ever heard. Alcohol ruins lives too, but you would never call a brewer a murderer. Some people could take substances and be fine. And some take one pill, and it ruins them.
“Don’t you go around pretending to be the bad guy here. I heard from the others in the compound that you have been working on making your products less addictive and cleaner. For that, I’d say you are already doing better than big pharmas back on Earth.
“I spoke with a female who works in your kitchens. She says your Euphora saved her life. She’d lost her child and wanted to die. Out of desperation, her mate gave her some Euphora; he didn’t want to lose his mate as well. It showed her there was still goodness in the world and connected her back to her mate. She never developed a habit; she only doses occasionally now to ward off the negative thoughts.
“A substance can be used for good and evil. And even recreational use is not harmful. From what I’ve seen, Euphora is as common as alcohol at parties in your culture. The closest Earth drug I could relate it to is something we call Molly. It can ruin lives, sure. But it is also used by therapists to help those suffering from PTSD.
“I see nothing wrong with you producing Euphora.”
Wow. That was longwinded, but it was honest. Sarah had always been one to push education, risk reduction, and mental health awareness over blaming and banning substances completely.
“And what about the things I’ve had to do to—”
“To keep your compound safe? You do what you have to, to keep the people who rely on you safe. You make your choices because you are loyal to the people you love, and I respect that. I see now that you think of yourself as a villain in your story. But that isn’t how I think of you, not anymore. To me, you’re a hero. My hero.”
She understood that she was biased. But she didn’t care. She didn’t care if people thought she was wrong, Kean was her hero, and nothing could change that. She knew not everyone would agree, but she didn’t give a damn what they thought. She’d been through hell and back since she’d left Earth, and if the experience had warped her view, then so be it.
Kean closed his eyes and pressed his face against Sarah’s chest as she stroked his hair. Who was this little female who spoke so vehemently for him? And what had he done to deserve such a supportive mate?
He’d often said the same words to himself, but deep inside, he hadn’t believed them. He was the same male who had given the Dominion the weapon to murder the innocent for a chance to save his brother, and he had never forgiven himself. He’d kept the Dominion’s secret to save his parents. He had counted himself lost after that. He might as well spend his life as a villain.
When he first settled on Vosthea with Zharor, the plan had been just to scrape out a corner for themselves. But the compound had grown. And they’d taken in anyone who needed their protection. And the more lives that depended on them, the more unspeakable things they’d done to keep everyone safe.
Sarah saw this and believed in him. And that was all that mattered. Her opinion meant more to him than the rest of the galaxy’s.
Maybe it was time for him to absolve himself of the crimes he’d committed on behalf of the Dominion. His parents were gone now. They’d had him and his brother later in life, having met when other couples were already expecting children from their own offspring. They had since returned to the Stars they’d secretly believed in. Kean suspected that many Tallean living under Dominion rules only praised the Goddess in public. Behind closed doors, they looked to the Stars.
“My parents are gone now. Maybe it’s time for the galaxy to know what the Dominion has done. They claim our genetic diseases are punishments from the Goddess, but they’ve been poisoning our children instead.”
“Good! Tell it to the universe and get it off your chest. This is not a sin for you to bear.”
“I will need to set more protective measures in place for my compound and our planet in general. And the research I am doing with Arus is nearing success. Once we have the secret to procreation between Tallean and humans, we plan on making the information public. Once it is out there, the Dominion will not be able to stop it from happening.” He pushed away enough to look at his mate. “Would you like to have offspring one day?”
“I never thought it would be possible after I left Earth, but if you are asking me to have your baby. Yes. Yes, please. But maybe after everything has settled down and we have dealt with the repercussions of you releasing the information about the Dominion.”
“Of course. Your safety is my priority. You are my only family now.”
They held each other as the sun rose and warmed the air outside. And for the first time since he could remember, Kean felt at peace.
“Come, my mate. The sun is at its zenith, and we should head back to the compound.”
Sarah looked as disappointed as he felt, but she collected her clothes and dressed. She’d changed to a pair of exercise pants and a stretchy top before she’d run from the safe room. Kean made a note to have more of the same made for her. Human clothes were still hard to come by in Vosthea.
Kean squinted and covered his eyes as he left the dim light of the cave. The sun was bright, and the sky dotted with light, fluffy clouds. It was a good day to deal with fixing up his compound and rebuilding a new safe room.
They walked toward a less steep area of the rock cliff. He’d put handholds into the rock face for an easier ascent, but he doubted Sarah would be able to climb it.
“We might want to cross to the other side of the river instead. I chose this area because it is not easy to access.”
Sarah looked doubtful.
“The river is shallow here, and I can carry you across. You won’t even get wet. And there is a bridge closer to the compound.”
“Alright, I trust you to get me home.”
Home. Sarah thought of his compound as home. A warmth spread through his chest.
They backtracked to the cave and walked along the river until they reached the shallowest portion. In one smooth motion, Kean swept his little mate into his arms.
“Eeeeek!” she squeaked, not expecting to be suddenly sideways in the air.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her cheek against this shoulder. Then he made his way across the river.
“You’re right. The river isn’t very deep here at all. It looks a lot deeper than it is. I think even I could get across in a pinch.”
“But that’s not how I want to get you wet.” Kean smirked at her, waiting for her response.
“Oh, is that so?” She giggled and leaned in to nibble at the sensitive shell of his ear.
“Don’t distract me; you wouldn’t want me to drop you.”
“You wouldn’t dare.” She bit his ear a little harder.
They made it across, and Kean put his little female on her feet. Then holding her tiny hand in his, he headed upriver towards the bridge leading back to the compound. He now wished he had come by vehicle so he could get his mate home faster. But keeping his cave private was important to him, and traveling by foot ensured that.
They’d gone only a short way when they heard it, the clicking of a stalker. Sarah froze next to him; she probably recognized the sound from her encounter with one last night.
“Fuck! The stalker from yesterday must have come back. I will have to fight.” Kean looked around but couldn’t spot anywhere for Sarah to hide. He would have to keep the stalker’s attention on him. “Stay behind me at all times. I will keep my body between you and the stalker.”
“Gotcha.”
The clicking got louder, and Kean turned to face the beast. It slinked out from the jungle, its head swaying from side to side. Slitted saurian eyes narrowed in on Kean. Then, it sniffed and huffed loudly, casting around, looking for the source of the delicious scent. It knew that something mor
e delicious than a tough Tallean male was here somewhere.
“Stay directly behind me, Sarah. I’m trying to block you from his sight.”
Kean descended his fangs to their full length and unhinged his jaws. He let loose a challenging roar. This delicious morsel was his and his alone. If the stalker wanted a bite, he would have to go through him first. Any predator would recognize his challenge.
The beast roared back, its vile breath scorching the air. And the fight was on.
Chapter 20
Sarah had never seen a scarier monster. The stalker looked like the bastard child of a Komodo dragon and a saber tooth tiger, and maybe with a dash of hyena mixed in. Its backside was mottled with course, brown and beige fur. But the fur ended at the legs, and the legs were reptilian with armored scales and claws.
It made the clicking from its oversized jaws. The only reason a beast its size needed jaws that large was to crunch bones. Long, dagger-like fangs extended from both top and bottom, and the rest of the teeth were sharp and vicious looking too.
Kean planned on fighting this monstrosity? No way! Was he insane? There was no way he could take on this beast; this creature was made for ripping prey to shreds.
But Kean didn’t back down. He roared again and lunged. The beast leaped at the same time, and the two met in mid-air. Despite his smaller size, Kean knocked the beast to the ground and sunk his fangs into the creature's shoulder.
Sarah had never actually seen Tallean’s fangs used in a fight and had to admit they were a worthy weapon. With effort, the stalker shook Kean off. Red trailed down Kean’s face and chest in bloody streaks.
Holy crap! Kean looked just as terrifying as the stalker now.
The stalker lunged at Kean, and her mate ducked swiftly out of the way with practiced grace. He kicked out with his taloned feet catching the stalker’s side, but the stalker lashed out with its claws. Three parallel gashes appeared on Kean’s thigh, filling in with blood.
Four similar gashes bloodied the side of the beast. It roared in anguish, and when its vision cleared, the reptilian eyes landed squarely on Sarah.
“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!” Her heart threatened to pound out of her chest as she turned and ordered her feet to run. There was nowhere to run to, so she just ran.
A woosh of wind swept past her head, and the beast behind her let out a frustrated squeal. It sounded farther than she thought it would be, so she hazarded a look behind her. Kean held the snarling creature by the tail, his heel digging a trench into the ground.
With the feral shout, Kean swung his arms in an arch, jerking the stalker off its feet. Then he launched the monster hard into the trunk of a nearby tree.
The stalker shook itself off quickly, focused its attention back on Sarah, and charged again. Sarah screamed. Now that it had found its prey, the deadly creature ignored the prey’s protector.
Sarah scrambled through the trees, trying to put the large tree trunks between herself and her unwanted lunch date. But the creature, at home at hunting in this terrain, gained. It leaped for her, jaw wide and fangs extended. This was how it was going to end.
A blaster shot rang through the Vosthean forest, cutting through the sounds of nature with its alien buzz. The discharge pushed the attacking creature off its course. A second shot put a fist-sized hole into its head. But momentum carried the creature forward inexorably toward her. If she were lucky, Sarah would simply be crushed under the beast. But luck didn’t seem to be on her side; the creature fell toward her, claws first. Even dead, the stalker was intent on killing its prey.
A blurred form knocked the stalker to the side. Kean! He took the heavy creature to the ground.
Sarah watched in slow motion as Kean’s head slammed hard against a large flat stone on the ground. It bounced once before his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He didn’t get back up.
No! She ran towards him but was afraid to move him when she got there.
“Kean?” She put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. She didn’t want to shake him in case it made his injuries worse. “Kean!”
No reply.
“No, no, no! Kean. You have to be alright. You can’t pass out on me.” She didn’t dare say the word “die.”
She looked to the stalker, which now lay with its tiny brain scattered on the forest floor.
“Fuck! Don’t think about brains, Sarah,” she reprimanded herself. “Kean’s brain is fine. It’s just a little bump.”
She felt around the area carefully, trying to move him as little as possible. No blood. The area felt tender, and a bump was already starting to swell, but she didn’t see any blood. Putting her ears to his back, the only thing she could reach in his position, she listened. He had a strong heartbeat. Good.
A cackling in the woods made her gasp. She looked again at the bloody mess of a stalker less than ten feet away. The blood must be calling in every predator in the area. She needed to get Kean out of here.
Deciding that keeping him safe from predators while he was defenseless was important enough to risk moving him, she threaded her arms under his armpits, dug her heels into the leaf litter, and pulled as hard as she could. Nothing happened. She took a breath and tried once more but only managed to pull him a foot or so.
What the fuck was she thinking? There was no way she could move him. Even if she could drag him along the ground slowly, which she couldn’t, she would never get him across the river. She rolled him over onto his back instead.
There must be some other way. If she couldn’t get him to the cave and the safety that the fire provided, then maybe she could bring the fire to him. She looked around and dragged a few fallen branches over to cover his body, just in case predators get here before she got back. She was relying on the dead stalker to attract the predators to itself.
Picking up the blaster that had fallen out of his hands, Sarah aimed it at the dead stalker and pulled the trigger. It shot out a blast. Okay, so the safety was off. She flipped a toggle and tried again, and the blaster did not react. Satisfied that she wouldn’t shoot her own leg off, she tucked the weapon into her waistband.
“Hang tight, my mate. I’ll be back.” She knelt to give him a soft kiss on the forehead.
Then she ran back to the cave as fast as she could.
“Fire, fire, fire. How the hell do I bring a fire?” Sarah frowned as a moment of déjà vu passed.
She ran to the chest, pulled out the blanket, and laid it on the ground. She piled in a bunch of firewood and the torch. No kindling. She’d thrown all of it into the flames last night in her desperate attempt at building her life-saving fire. She regretted it now.
Glancing around, she saw a pile of dried leaves in the corner. It wasn’t much, and Sarah wasn’t sure it would be enough, but it would have to do. She picked it up carefully, trying hard not to get it wet. She’d waded through the water and was wet from her chest down.
The river had been deeper than she’d thought while being carried across in Kean’s arms. The water had hit his hip. But on her, it was nearly to her chest. And at the deepest point, the current had almost carried her off.
She tied the blanket up in a bundle and looked around for something to keep it dry. Nothing. How was she going to get this across the river?
Fuck it! She’d worry about it when she got there. She ran out of the cave; she needed to hurry. The thought of Kean lying helpless while surrounded by meat-eaters spurred her on. Her mate was in danger, and she needed to save him.
Kean had taken her from a place of darkness and despair and given her hope and light. He’d fed her, clothed her, put a roof over her head, and more importantly, he’d shared his life with her. She’d been so lonely, and he had come and banished the loneliness from her life. She didn’t know if she could live again without him.
She faced the river, which seemed to have gotten wider. Balancing the bundle on her head, she stepped into the chilled water. One foot after another, that was all she had to do. O
ne foot after another, and she would make it.
She got to the deepest part of the river, and the current there pushed at her, threatening to topple her over and spill her precious cargo into the water. She inched forward, shuffling her feet against the river bottom, afraid to lift her foot. She needed as much traction as possible to keep herself from being carried away. Eventually, she passed the worst of the current, but it had taken longer than she wanted.
Fear for Kean’s safety gave her renewed energy, and she ignored the chill that now made her shake, and ran towards her mate.
A group of smaller predators, though small was just in comparison to the stalker, fought over the stalker's body. These animals looked like overgrown weasels, each one almost as big as a medium-sized dog. If they were anything like Earth weasels, they would be fierce. Everyone knows about honey badgers. One of them inched over to sniff at Kean’s unconscious body.
“I don’t fucking think so, buddy! Get your filthy snout away from my mate!”
Sarah dropped the bundle of firewood to the ground and grabbed the blaster from her hip, glad that the blaster was waterproof. She toggled the safety off, aimed, and shot at the butt end of the creature. She didn’t want to shoot too close to Kean. She was rewarded with a toasty and very dead giant weasel.
She took aim at the rest of the pack and fired, hitting each of them one by one. She only got a few before the rest fled.
“Yeah, and stay out!”
She’d been lucky it hadn’t been another stalker that came. Overgrown weasels she could handle, massive lizard-cats, not so much.
After kicking the weasel’s body away, Sarah rolled Kean a few more feet away from the dead stalker and off the hard flat stone he had smashed his head on. On her last roll, she noticed his comm unit. She could use it to call for help once she got a fire going.
Sarah unrolled the blanket and arranged the firewood in a circle on the stone. Putting the dried leaves in the center, she lit it and prayed it was enough to start the fire burning. She held the torch under the smallest of the logs and hoped it would catch on fire that way as well.