by Viki Storm
I’m tainted. Ruined.
But somehow I can’t bring myself to care.
“It was what?” Auvok says. Something in his voice is different. It takes me a second to place it because it’s so foreign coming from him. He’s nervous. The big bad named warrior is afraid I’m going to say he was a mediocre lover.
“Not what I expected,” I say, wanting to prolong his unease just a little bit.
“What were you expecting?” he says.
“I don’t know what I was expecting,” I say, truthfully.
“Are all human females this vexingly vague?”
“Yes,” I say. “We are. Let me try again. That was fucking amazing. I didn’t know that anything like that could exist.”
“Where did you think little babies came from?” he asks. “Swaddled up and dropped down the chimney by a large avioid?”
Little babies? In the heat of the moment I never even thought about babies. Is it possible for us to even have a baby together?
“Can Virixians and humans have babies?” I ask.
“Virixian females cannot be impregnated by human males,” he says.
A sudden sadness weighs down my heart. Had I been wanting to get impregnated by this alien beast?
“Okay,” I say, “that makes sense, I guess. It seemed like we shared a lot of DNA is all.”
“We share over ninety-nine percent of the same DNA,” he says. “But human male seed cannot penetrate the Virixian female ovum. Its cellular wall is coated with protein receptors that only bind to Virixian male seed.”
“Wait,” I say, considering what he just said. “What about the other way, with Virixian males and human females?”
“Female, do you want me to breed you?” he asks. He runs his hand across my breasts, teasing my nipples to tight peaks. “Shall I keep you captive on my ship, using your body not only for my pleasure but to gestate my offspring as well?”
“I, uh, hold on, I was just curious,” I say, all of a sudden so flustered I can’t think straight. Even though I just came my brains out, I’m instantly aroused again. Because this brute can do exactly what he just said. I’m at his mercy. If he wants to hold me captive and breed me, he can do it.
“I think it’s a little more than idle curiosity,” he says. He reaches down, tickling the inside of my thighs with a light touch. His finger finds my folds and he teases my clit out, making it throb all over again. “I think you’d love being a breeder for a barbaric alien warrior. Females want the strongest male to sire their children. It’s in your nature. Your body craves my seed, craves a little baby with my superior DNA.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” I say, feeling my orgasm welling. “Can a Virixian male impregnate a human female?”
“Yes,” he says. “A Virixian male can impregnate anything. And I’m going to keep shooting inside your bare cunt until I impregnate you.”
Pleasure explodes as I buck my hips and scream out. I clutch his shoulders, pulling him closer to me, needing him inside me again.
Because everything he said is true. Something inside me yearns for his power, his strength.
“You’re ready for more already?” he asks, finger still strumming my clit.
“Please,” I pant.
“Not just yet,” he says. “I need to change our course. We’re still headed to Narelerth to meet the client.”
“You don’t want to go through with the drop?” I ask.
“Not if Taxuu said to keep the Jewel.”
“But the transmission cut out, you didn’t even hear what he had to say.”
“I don’t need to,” he says. It’s foreign to me, trusting someone so much, being a part of a brotherhood. A family.
That’s something I never had. My family, they’re all dead. I can’t think of it right now, so I do what I always do and seal those memories off behind a thick wall of solid steel.
I can usually keep the memories locked away. It’s the guilt that can’t be contained.
Auvok rolls out of bed and I admire his muscular physique from the back as he struts nude to the cockpit.
I get dressed even though the clothing chafes at my skin. It’s like a silent, physical rebellion—my body protesting the barrier between myself and Auvok.
When I get to the cockpit, he’s already done with the navigation. “Where are we going?” I ask.
“Back to Viltra,” he says.
“Is that where you live?” I ask.
“In a manner of speaking,” he says. “I maintain a dwelling on Viltra, our brotherhood’s headquarters is there, but I spend the better part of the orbit here on the Vulp.”
“It’s a nice ship,” I say. “It must have cost an arm and a leg to restore.”
“More like a dozen arms and legs,” he says. “But it was worth every credit and P.C. Strap in, I’m engaging supra-light. We’ll be there in a few hours.”
The time goes by faster than I would have thought, Auvok telling me stories of his recent jobs. It doesn’t escape me, however, that he never mentions anything from planet Virix or his service as a named warrior. It’s like that part of him doesn’t exist—or it’s too painful to unearth.
I know the signs of denying one’s past—I’m the master of it.
We touch down on a dusty planet, boulders and sheer cliff faces surrounding the flat patch where we land. “Smooth landing,” I say, impressed by the easy way he set down the ship.
“I can give you lessons,” he says.
“Too bad I don’t have a ship,” I say, the reality of my current situation crashing down. I have no ship and no job. Yes, I have my life—thanks to Auvok—but the thing about almost dying is that the gratitude goes away embarrassingly fast.
“You can fly the Vulp,” he says. Something tells me that he doesn’t let anyone fly this ship.
He slowly drives the ship down a straightaway and into a huge hangar. There’s two Virixians outside, sparring with each other. At least I hope they’re sparring. One of the warriors disarms the other and whacks him on the back of the neck with a powerful blow. It looks painful.
“Are they training?” I say, pointing at the pair.
“Probably not,” he says. “Bidrik and Irjai have bad blood going way back.”
He pops the hatch and I descend the stairs, glad to be on solid ground like I am after every flight. “Auvok,” someone calls.
“Glox, you magnificent bastard,” Auvok says. “The panels. They might have saved my ass.”
“Of course,” the warrior Glox says. “I tried to explain it to you.”
“That’s as close to a ‘thank you’ as you’re going to get,” another warrior says.
“Yeah, mark it on the calendar,” Auvok says. “What in the screaming Void is up with the jewel, Taxuu? It’s already caused me more trouble than my last ten jobs combined.”
I look at the other warriors. They share similar features with Auvok, like the pointed ears, scaled chest and silvery skin, but for some reason the other two males don’t inspire any feelings of… of any sort. With Auvok I’m swarmed with them. It’s strange, having all these emotions that I don’t immediately try to stuff down deep inside. I could get used to it. I could grow to like it.
I could grow to like him.
Who the fuck am I kidding. I already do. A lot.
Probably too much for my own good.
“Then I got bad news for you,” Taxuu says. “Tighten your belt and polish your Shards because you have no idea how much trouble this jewel is about to cause.”
“Can I at least shower and put on fresh clothing?” Auvok says.
“No,” Taxuu says. “Is the female involved with the jewel?”
“No,” I say.
“Yes,” Auvok says. “Vela smuggled it off of New Europa.”
“Not on purpose,” I say.
“Let’s sit down,” Taxuu says.
We sit down on long benches and I’m relieved to see small plates of dried fruit and meat set out for us. Auvok sees me eyeing the
food and motions for me to help myself—a choice he’ll soon regret after I eat everything in sight.
Auvok gets Taxuu up to speed on what happened, and the other warrior listens, but he’s tapping his fingers on the tabletop. I have a feeling he’s going to tell us some bad news.
“I have read about this jewel,” Taxuu says. “Almost everything your client told you about it is a lie.”
“I don’t care,” Auvok says. “Because I’m done. I’m out. If you say not to give him the jewel, I trust you and will not relinquish it. But that means I’m not getting paid, and if I’m not getting paid then I don’t give two shits about this stupid rock.”
“You’re not curious?” I ask him.
“No,” he says.
“This is the Jewel of Supreme Power,” Taxuu continues, ignoring Auvok. I gotta say, it’s amusing to see Auvok get bossed around by someone who outranks him. “It sits upon the Rod of Supreme Power—”
“Oh brother,” Auvok says. “Stop right there.” He actually stands up. “I got twenty other things I need to be doing, and listening to ancient legends is not one of them.”
I look at the two warriors but stay seated. “I want to hear it,” I say.
“Then let me tell you the abridged version,” Taxuu says. “When the jewel of Supreme Power is joined with the Rod of Supreme Power, it allows the wielder to control the minds of all he encounters.”
“That’s preposterous,” Auvok says. He reaches in his waist-pouch and retrieves the jewel. He slams it down on the table. Taxuu reaches for it with trembling fingers, but at the last second retracts his hand.
“Ancient lore is full of amusing prophecies,” Taxuu says. “And my initial reaction was much the same as yours. A lot of superstitious nonsense from the Dark Ages.”
“Don’t tell me it’s true,” Auvok says. “Taxuu, I have too much respect for you. If you tell me it’s true, I’m either going to have to believe you—or have you institutionalized for paranoid delusions. And I don’t want to do either one of those things.”
“It’s true,” Taxuu says. “The jewel’s facets are cut in a specific way; each facet is a hyperbolic curve. It refracts the electrical pulses from the Rod. The electrical pulses override the neurons of the target, enabling the wielder to replace the victim’s synapses with his own electrical signals.”
“Whoa,” I say.
“No,” Auvok says.
“The jewel must be destroyed,” Taxuu says.
“I knew you were going to say that,” Auvok says. “Let me guess, it’s really hard to destroy. I can’t just shoot it with Fear Shard. What about Glox, can he melt it with Firebringer?”
“No,” Taxuu says.
“I knew you were going to say that too,” Auvok says.
“It can only be destroyed in a mineshaft with a depth of more than seventy kilometers. The pressure and heat will break the molecular bonds. It’s the only way.”
“Great,” Auvok says, “then fire up your ship’s engine and take a little trip. Here you go.” Auvok picks up the jewel and tosses it to Taxuu. The other warrior jumps back a little, but to avoid letting it fall, he catches it. He holds it to the light and a ripple of fear shudders down his back.
“Put it away,” Taxuu says, sliding it back across the table. “The jewel has already chosen you. The prophecy states that one will be chosen who has the strength to resist the lure of absolute power.”
“I’m the Chosen One?” Auvok says, spitting laughter. “I’m a lot of things, but I’m not the Chosen One.”
“Where’s the mineshaft?” I say. I’ve just been listening so far, but I start to feel something stronger that’s at play. It’s the thing that put the jewel on my ship, the thing that made Auvok fly by at the exact moment my ship was plummeting to the ground in flames. The thing that put us in bed together. I hate to admit it, but I believe everything Taxuu just said.
“There’s a mine on Ashima,” Taxuu says.
Oh shit. Did he just say Ashima?
I just changed my mind, because Ashima is the one planet I swore I would never go back to. Not after what happened last time I was there.
Chapter 11
Auvok
“Where are you taking me?” Vela asks. It’s hot even though the sun is almost down. Little strands of her hair are stuck to her forehead in a streak of sweat. The clean, salty scent is alluring. I want to lick it from her skin.
“My dwelling,” I say. We walk down the empty streets together, and even the kilometer distance is too far. I’m sick of the whole business with the jewel. The only good thing about the job was that it brought me to Vela, my fated mate. “I’m going to strip you bare and take you into the bathing cabinet where I can scrub every inch of your body.”
Her cheeks turn red and she pretends like she’s looking at the storefronts that line the main pedestrian throughway.
“You’re not going to show me the sights?” she asks, pointedly ignoring my suggestion.
“We’re on Viltra. Other than the pleasure house and the scrapyard, there are no sights.”
“I thought that on the other side of the planet, there was a stone monument that’s supposed to be—”
“No,” I say.
“You’re not going to let me finish?” she asks.
“We’re not going to the Pile,” I say.
“The Pile?” she asks. “That’s what the locals call it?”
“Yes, because it’s a pile of rocks and nothing more. Every once in a while a tourist ship lands and a bunch of morons funnel out to take pictures, hoping that they see the Skinless Lady.”
“It’s supposed to be the place where the Seven Rent Souls pledged their allegiance to the Imperator Ingoull, and where Kayera vanquished him,” Vela says. “Everyone knows that story, humans, Qyath, U’mels. All of the seven major races grew up hearing the stories.” My stomach clenches at the mere mention of the Seven. The last thing I want to do is talk about them. Is it too much to ask to take my mate to bed for three or four rotations of the planet?
“Where they tore open their chests with the cursed blade, where Ingoull buried a cybernetic implant into the very core of their humanity, rendering them loyal and heartless devotees,” I say.
“I mean, everyone knows the story,” she says. “I thought while I’m here…”
“For the love of the Void,” I say. “Fine. I’ll take you out to see the Pile.” She jumps up and down and grabs my hand in both of hers.
“Thank you thank you thank you,” she says. And it’s so damned cute I suppose the trek out there will be worth it. It’s hard to deny my mate what she wants, even if it’s a superstitious hike in the middle of a pile of rocks.
We go back to the hangar and get in my ship. Luckily I don’t have to admit to any of my brethren where we’re going. As we take flight, I look longingly down on the scattering of buildings that comprise our small town. I can even see my dwelling. Soon, I tell myself. Soon I’ll have her back behind closed doors where I can take the time to explore my mate’s sweet body. I yearn to take her into my arms and whisper the words into her ear: we are mated, we are one. But something holds me back. I’m not sure if humans form life-long pair bonds. Many species don’t. Unnatural, antiquated, repressive—those are the foolish words that other races use to describe the most sacred and meaningful bond that two people can have. Males and females are meant to have multiple partners in order to find the fittest one with which to bear offspring, is what they say. It’s unnatural to have only one partner. That idea might have some credence if your partner’s name was chosen at random out of a hat.
But when your mate is chosen for you by the Universe Itself?
How arrogant to think that you know any better. I sure don’t.
Vela was given to me—gifted to me—by the vagaries of the Universe. I’ll not ask questions, except the only one that matters: will she have me? Am I a good enough male to deserve her devotion?
“Is that it?” she asks, pointing to the Pile.
; “Yes,” I say. “Not quite as imposing in person.”
“I guess not,” she says. I land and we get out. It’s even hotter here, for we’re now located closer to the planet’s equator and the sun is brutal.
The legends say that Viltra used to be a secret meeting place for Imperator Ingoull, Master of the Void and his faithful. There is some historical truth to this. There are some records from several hundred orbits ago to suggest that they used this planet for certain dark rituals. The dark incantations ran off the honest folk of the small settlement. This is disputed, as there is also historical evidence to prove that the planet experienced a minor axial disturbance from a passing meteor that caused climate change and killed off their crops.
The story goes that as Imperator Ingoull got a foothold into the planet and the settlers were either possessed or driven insane, only Seven remained. One of each of the seven predominant races in the Universe: Virixian, Human, Qyath, Skral, U’mel, Xan and the Greys. He converted them to his dark purpose with the cybernetic implants. They performed untold evil deeds, many of which are the subjects of the stories told to scare little children into being obedient.
After a time, Kayera the Demon Slayer arrived and conquered the Imperator, sending him through a tear in the fabric of spacetime. But not without cost, of course—stories like this always have an unhappy ending.
During Ingoull’s last stand, Kayera was flayed alive. But he used no knife or blade, only a forgotten and forbidden incantation.
The Skinless Lady still walks the Pile, guarding the area and protecting it from evil. She will look into the heart of any who dare trespass—and if she does not like what she finds, you will meet her same fate, for she too has learned the forbidden skin-flaying incantation.
“The whole legend makes no sense,” I tell her as we walk the ruins.
“Why not?” she says. “It’s creepy as fuck, so there’s that. What else do you need?”
“If Kayera patrols the area and punishes the wicked,” I say, “then why is Viltra currently an outlaw planet with knaves and miscreants setting up shop here? Isn’t that the exact scenario that led to Kayera cleansing the place? For the legend to make sense, Viltra should now be inhabited by an aid society or religious sect. A bunch of do-gooders.”