D'zia's Dilemma

by Keri Kruspe

  Knum’Nz’s grin widened. “The fool has made the Omega female his TrueBond. With them bonded, I can analyze her genome that will allow me to fabricate a similar product to benefit other species. I then can come up with the formula we need to make all human females viable breeders for any species who want them.”

  “Can you do this without killing the both of them?”

  The Erkek frowned. “Well…possibly.” Knum’Nz crossed his double-jointed arms with a frown. “But it would be easier if I wasn’t under any such restrictions.”

  The whiny tone and body language bordered on insubordination. It was unfortunate U’unk needed the Erkek’s skills for now. But, why make things easy for him? There was a small amount of satisfaction in thwarting the alien’s bloodthirsty proclivities.

  “He is a member of the Zerin royal family.” U’unk made sure there was no room for argument from the voracious subordinate. “Keep him alive until I tell you otherwise.”

  Knum’Nz’s frown deepened as he continued to argue. “But what about the human female? Don’t tell me I have to keep her alive as well!”

  Goddess, U’unk didn’t have time to waste on the egotistical fool.

  “I may consider your request.” He stood in front of the virtual image to tower over the annoying alien. He narrowed his stare. “Nevertheless, until you hear from me, they are both to remain alive.” He bared his fangs to emphasize his next statement. “I can assure you, if you chose to ignore me, I will not overlook it.”

  Knum’Nz shoulders slumped as his hands dropped listlessly to his side. “Fine, there are preliminary tests I can perform in the meantime.”

  U’unk went back to sit on his virtual chair. He let the silence stretch before he stated his last command. “You will send me daily updates on your progress.” He cut the communication. His upper lip curled in disgust with the whole Erkek race.

  “Fritjof,” he barked as found a pair of pants to put on before he walked out of his office. He stopped at Fritjof’s station outside his doors. “I’m heading back to my playroom. Is the room cleaned and has the Runihura female been given a stimulus lozenge so I may continue?”

  “Yes, Eminence. All is ready at your will.”

  “Good.” He walked out of the reception area before addressing the smaller male. “Meet me there in a macroclick with a clean robe. Oh, and make sure I’m not disturbed for the rest of the night.”

  * * *

  D’ZIA

  When D’zia and JR10 “stumbled” into the lab to be “captured,” everything fell apart. What should have been an easy “let’s throw him in a cell” turned into an exercise of why crappy plans never worked. Four Erkek guards caught him by surprise, grabbed him, and then squirted an unknown mist with a numbing agent into his face. D’zia suffered instant paralysis. He could breathe and was conscious, but motor functions were beyond his capabilities.

  They took him to an empty room where they beat the danka shit out of him. Even paralyzed, every pound, punch, and bone-breaking blow pummeled into his face, torso, and back caused agony. Breathing was a struggle as his nose broke and his lips split. All too soon, one of his eyes swelled shut and blood trickled out of both ears. With the lightning crack of his ribs breaking, he blacked out.

  He regained his senses in time for them to dump him at Lora’s feet. Before leaving, they gave him a swift, hard kick on the back, right above his kidney. He jerked in reaction as pain short-circuited his body, forcing a silent moan to come out of his clogged throat. Good thing Lora’s gentle bathing gave his bleeding body the relief he needed. He couldn’t respond when she crooned in a soft tone, but his tense muscles smoothed with each pass of her loving attention.

  He would have loved to have seen her expression when she squealed in surprise as his hair unwound itself. The feel of her comforting hands calmed his racing mind so he could relax underneath her loving ministrations. When his mating oils seeped out of his pores to heal him, he reveled at her exclamation. He couldn’t wait for the time when he’d show her all the benefits of being a mated TrueBond couple. Especially since the sensual oils heightened the sexual experience between partners.

  D’zia was disappointed when she stopped exploring his body until she lay beside him. He doubted she knew that when she was next to him it helped to speed up the healing process even more. Good thing she had great feminine instincts.

  Best of all, when he woke up, he had enough strength to make love with his beautiful TrueBond and complete the process between them. Matching MalDerVon scrolls would soon show and nothing and no one would come between them again.

  He blinked to bring himself back to the current danger facing them as the forcefield to their cell opened. It didn’t surprise him when Dr. Knum’Nz slithered in with all his supposed glory. A bile of revulsion burned D’zia’s throat as he clenched his hands tucked into his folded arms across his chest. “What do you want?”

  The hybrid Erkek tilted his head to the side as if he was surprised. “Now that’s an interesting question.”

  The nasal tone grated on D’zia’s nerves. He had to concentrate on holding back from knocking the smug smirk off the alien’s face. Better yet, he’d rather choke the puntneji then create a new asshole with the fruker’s head.

  The Erkek’s sneering smile didn’t faze D’zia. Both knew it wouldn’t take much for D’zia to overtake the Erkek to kill him. The only thing holding him back was the four guards he’d brought with him. Unfortunately, their blasters were aimed in D’zia’s direction, two on his forehead, and two on his torso. It would only take one to hit its target before he’d disintegrate. With Lora in danger, he wouldn’t take the chance.

  “Why, Zerin…you and your little hysta are going to give me everything I’ve ever wanted.”

  Knum’Nz crossed his double-jointed arms and thrust out his hip in an arrogant stance that pissed D’zia off. Yep, he would end the maniacal puntneji at the earliest opportunity.

  D’zia had pushed Lora behind him before the Erkek and his gang came into the room. She was plastered to his backside, her arm around his waist as she poked her head around his torso. When the alien hurled insults at her, her grip on his waist tightened. With their internal communication, D’zia commanded JR10 to tell her she had to keep quiet and not bring any attention to herself. He doubted she’d listen, but he had to try.

  “Is that so?” D’zia made a small step backward and took Lora with him. He didn’t like how close they were to the two guards in front of Knum’Nz and he needed space if he had to defend them.

  “Yes. You see, because you’ve finished the TrueBond process, she is ripe for harvesting.” The Erkek signaled the guard behind him toward Lora. “Grab her and let’s go.”

  D’zia blocked the guard from getting closer. Between one heartbeat and the next, another guard pointed a paralyzing mist canister at him. This time he was ready for it and knocked the canister out of the guard’s hand. It clanked around the hard floor and D’zia kicked it farther away under the sleeping pad.

  “Contain him!” Knum’Nz shrieked, flaying his bony arms around as if it would make the guards move any faster.

  D’zia shoved Lora from behind him hard enough to have her flop on her bottom, but easy enough not to hurt her. Freed from her grip, he rushed the two guards in front and bulldozed through. They went flying, one crashed into the unforgivable hard wall, and the other slammed into the corridor. One of the other guards jumped on D’zia’s back, so he flipped the thug over his shoulder to land with a thud on his companion in the corridor who hadn’t got up yet.

  “D’zia!” Lora shrieked.

  This time he wasn’t fast enough. Another guard rushed him and knocked him over. His head hit the wall, hard enough to bounce but not hard enough to make him pass out. He grappled with the strong Erkek and threw his lanky body off.

  D’zia scrambled to take stock of what was going on around him. Unfortunately, the guard in the corridor jumped him from behind and whacked D’zia over the head with a hard stic
k they carried on their weapons belt.

  “Whatever you do, by the Holy Deity, don’t kill him!” Knum’Nz screamed.

  D’zia’s knees folded from the impact. Before he fell on his face, another guard caught him in a bruising hold around his neck. The other guards grabbed him to tie his wrists together before hauling him to his feet. The ringing in his ears muffled the noise around him, except for the high-pitched grating sound of the Erkek’s voice.

  “Good…good,” Knum’Nz clapped his hands together to match the wacky glee of his tone. “Grab the female and bring her to the assessment chamber.”

  “Keep your fruking hands off her!” D’zia yelled through the pounding pain in his head.

  They ignored him as they grabbed his TrueBond by her upper arms in an unforgiving grip.

  Frantic they would mar her delicate skin, he jerked, trying to get free. For his efforts, the barrel of a disintegration blaster met his temple. He stopped his struggles and glared at the one holding him.

  “Hey, let go, asshole!” Not to be outdone, his feisty human screamed and twisted in their grasp. “Get your slimy hands off me!” She tried to kick them, but only hurt herself with her shoeless feet.

  “Control her,” Knum’Nz barked at the two guards struggling with her. “Take her to the lab.”

  One of the guards pulled out the control device for her slave collar and showed it to her. Her face blanched as she shook her head and deflated in their hold.

  “What about him?” The guard holding D’zia kept the blaster steady at his temple.

  Knum’Nz paused for a moment as he tapped one of his pincers against his cheek. “Bring him, too. That way if I need anything from him I won’t have to wait. There’s a containment chamber in the room we can use.” He left, not checking to see if the guards followed his orders.

  The Erkek guard pushed D’zia between his shoulder blades and pulled the blaster away to gesture with it. “You heard the doctor. Let’s go.”

  The foul breath coming out of the guard’s mouth made D’zia want to give him a good head butt.

  “But I would love it if you resisted. It wasn’t much fun beating you when you were unconscious, you know.”

  D’zia ignored the gibe. His mouth dry, he checked on Lora. At least she realized the slave collar was far worse than anything the guard could do to her. He smiled with pride when she glared at the guard as he zipped her wrists closed in front of her. Swinging her head his way, she caught his eye and gave him a blinding smile along with a kissy face to show him she was all right.

  By the Holy Goddess, he’d fallen hard for her. Hard, like “true love” with hearts, flowers, and songs coupled with the “I have to be with you forever” theme. He’d never doubted she was his TrueBond, but it wasn’t until that precise moment his love for her surpassed anything else in his life. A determined fire lit up his gut. He had to get her out of there and he didn’t care how he did it. “JR10?” he whispered in his mind. “You there?”

  “Of course,” the spybot replied. “Can’t you feel me parked at the nape of your neck?” A light scratch on his skin confirmed what JR10 said.

  “Is JR11 with Lora?”

  “Yep, she’s snug as a bug in a rug.” The little bot twittered at his own joke. “I just love some of these Earth sayings. Don’t know what they mean half the time, but they sure are funny.”

  “Good.” D’zia glanced around. He kept track of where they were going so he’d be able to get them out when the time was right. “Any ideas on how we can get out of this mess?”

  The AI was quiet for an uncharacteristic click. “I hate to admit it, but I’m still having trouble interfacing with their system.”

  D’zia swallowed his impatience. He wasn’t going to bring out the “I told you so,” but it was tempting. “Does that mean you can’t right now, but you might be able to later?”

  “Um…no, I will be able to…I think,” came the unhelpful reply. “But I have another idea I’m working on at the same time.”

  Knum’Nz slowed and went down another corridor that forked to the right.

  “Well, you’d better hurry. I think we’re almost where we’re supposed to be.”

  “Okay, look. I can send a distress signal to the Dread Pirate Maynwaring’s hideout. If we offer him enough reward money, he might come and get us.” A quick pause. “Or maybe we can pay him to send a signal to Zerin.”

  Yeah, and a Friebbigh would pop in and be his best friend. D’zia snorted, “Why not contact the AoA while you’re at it? Holy maggoty hell, JR10. That all you got? Come on, you’ve got to come up with something better.”

  “Bro, I’m working on it!” The spybot’s little metallic legs burrowed up his scalp another inch. “Listen, if they start a scan, JR11 and I are going to have to go silent. So don’t worry if you don’t hear from me until it’s over.”

  “JR10, don’t you dare leave me flying blind here.” D’zia squelched the panic squeezing his throat.

  “Dude! I would never!” The bot sounded serious enough, but D’zia was still frantic to break free from his bonds.

  “Bro…no need to worry. I’ll get into their systems in no time and find a way out. JR11’s and my butts are on the line here too, you know.”

  The room Knum’Nz went into was a typical medical examination room, spacious and well lit with a definite chill to the air. The temperature dropped to create a vapor of frozen fog with each exhalation. D’zia regulated his body to adjust to the extreme change. To one side was an odd box made of metal bars and a steel floor. Great. An impenetrable containment pod to hold his happy ass. On the other side were two medical conversion pods, complete with the blue healing liquid used for severe emergencies. They were much like the one his uncle, King Abzu, lay in while he recuperated from a life-threatening wound from an alien weapon.

  In front of the pods were several flat metal tables, complete with gutters to trap and deposit liquid in a drainage system below. Various straps and sharp instruments dotted the outside of each table, allowing easy access.

  “Strip her and strap her on there,” Knum’Nz gestured to one of the medical tables. “Strip him and put him in there.” Now the Erkek gestured to the containment pod.

  The guards stripped him of his pants before pushing him inside the prison pod. When the steel rods of the pod solidified, D’zia grasped the frigid bars with both hands to test the resilience of the metal. It didn’t budge.

  “JR10.” Silent communication to his partner. “Can I break these?”

  “No,” came back the whispered reply. “Wait until I finish analyzing this room before you do something stupid. Okay?”

  D’zia growled but agreed. “Okay. But hurry up, will ya?” He fixated on Lora standing next to a table. His growl rumbled when a guard sprayed the paralyzing mist in her face before he stripped the jumpsuit off her. Her naked body was rigid and stiff, so much so two of the guards had to pick her up to place her faceup on the metal table. They spread her arms and legs out before strapping them. Cold vapors misted out of her open mouth and nose.

  “Have JR11 check her vitals.” D’zia kept his eyes focused on his female as she lay helpless. “I don’t want her hurt.” Holy Goddess, he had to keep the crazy Erkek from touching her. The thought of the Erkek hybrid’s disgusting hands on her smooth skin caused his mouth to dry as he trembled in suppressed manic energy.

  “So far, she’s okay. JR11 will keep a close eye on her for you.”

  JR10’s voice sounded like he wanted to reassure him, but D’zia had a hard time hearing what the bot said. He kept his face neutral as the Erkek doctor approached his confinement container.

  “It’s your own fault she’s here.” Knum’Nz informed him in a superior tone while sneering down his non-existent nose. “As usual, you Zerins think you’re so special, interfering where you don’t belong. Now I’m going to be instrumental in yanking that galactic power out from under your elitist noses.” He brought his splotchy face close to the cell. “And there isn’t anythi
ng you or any other Zerin can do to stop me.” The garbage dump smell of his breath fanned around him.

  D’zia stared back without reaction.

  Knum’Nz straightened and sniffed in disdain. With a huff, he went over to Lora, shivering on the cold table.

  D’zia couldn’t see what the Erkek was doing because his gangly body blocked his view. Fury clogged his throat as he glanced around rapidly; he bared his fangs in an instinctive, primitive display. Powerless, he watched as the doctor put a glass tube on the tray next to him, red with Lora’s blood. The scientist moved to the other side of the gurney, giving D’zia an unobstructed view of his female with a pain-filled grimace stretching her full mouth.

  A red haze clouded his vision until he noticed her unblinking stare coupled with the distinctive scent of her fear. She kept her eyes locked on his, a plea for him to calm down. While all TrueBonds shared a deeper psychic connection, he and Lora were new mates and it surprised him he could understand her so well. Then again, having a human TrueBond was anything but normal. Taking a deep breath, he relaxed his mouth and smoothed his rumbling growl. His eyes bored into hers, transmitting his strength and undying love.

  Her eyes lit up, and her mouth curved into a soft smile that allowed her dimples to peek out.

  In that instant, his body relaxed as they maintained their connection. Time passed as D’zia stayed with his face and hands plastered to the icy steel bars. He kept a steady stare as they shared her experience.

  The doctor probed, prodded, and injected her several times, causing her to grimace more than once.

  Knum’Nz had his back to D’zia, having switched to her other side. With a clinical eye, the Erkek examined Lora from the top of her head, down to her throat toward her breasts.

  D’zia’s growl came back, as he teetered on the verge of erupting in an uncontrolled rage.

  Dr. Knum’Nz smirked at him. “Don’t worry, Zerin. I have no desire to sexually touch her.” He waved the sample case he carried in his other hand. “I have more than enough now to continue with my work.” He cocked his head as he regarded D’zia