Kayzon accepted this mission to collect THX690 because the degree of difficulty had been high and the payoff astronomical. Higher-ranked Hunters had tried and failed; other Hunters had passed on the mission. But Kayzon had accepted, hoping to further his career and make his name on this retrieval, rocketing up the Bounty Hunter Leaderboards to a top ten position. But there was a reason others had failed. This mission was problematic. It led him on a convoluted trail to this obscure planet in the corner of the known universe. Finally, only a tip-off by an unknown source had led him to New Earth.
THX690 was wanted for a string of vicious murders committed against females in the red-light district of Creekan Minor and had been hiding on New Earth, thinking it the only place in the four sectors he wouldn’t be found. He was wrong.
New Earth was a hidden planet ruled by the Hurlians—a teeming mess of ghettos strung together, one after another. A planet few knew of. Hurlians historically kidnapped Earthlings, finding the nearness in their physiologies close enough to study and use for testing, or for sexual respite. On his arrival, Kayzon realized the Hurlians must have kidnapped so many humans from their home world over the millennia, they’d run out of room for them elsewhere and started dumping them on a planet they’d called New Earth.
The Hurlians were notorious for their dedication to their own species. They considered all other species, including Xylan, lesser beings subject to their rule. Because of this extreme xenophobia, Hurlians were despised throughout the four sectors. They didn’t advertise the existence of this planet they’d created to cage their leftover humans, because they knew other species would be enraged. Humans were classified primitive, and their home world, on the opposite edge of the universe, was considered off limits to all species due to the Rare Indigenous Species Act. This allowed for the peaceful non-interference of this planet’s growth. Every species had signed this accord except the Hurlians. Now Kayzon knew why—they’d had a whole planet of humans they’d kidnapped and were hiding. They didn’t want anything or anyone to interfere with their human captives.
And the humans had been breeding and multiplying here for generations, far away from their home world. He suspected none of these humans were recent kidnapping victims. The Rare Indigenous Species Act had put a stop to that. The Hurlians were using this planet as a breeding tank for their humans, which he was certain was actually more convenient for them than having to go across the universe for their kidnapping.
Kayzon didn’t see a single Hurlian here on New Earth, though. Maybe the humans were left to sink or swim on their own. And they appeared to be multiplying in alarming numbers. This planet was heavily populated. This growth, combined with their isolation, would explain their lack of modern environmental technology. Smog filled the air, sewers were open and exposed, and trash was strewn about in the streets. Yet he noted they had power to run machines and lights. This planet was an odd combination of high tech and primitive.
Kayzon shrugged and continued walking. None of this was his concern, nor were the reactions to his appearance. He was here to extract his target. This was a high-paying mission.
Strength was important in a Bounty Hunter, as were patience and honor. But most important of all was the ability to think and to plan. The cunning hunter was the one who rocketed up the Leaderboards. And this hunt would be his ticket to the top. He was Banished from Chronos. He had no line, no Bride or offspring.
But the gods had shown him the true path of a warrior. No matter what the outside universe thought of his features or his line or the fact that his father was the notorious traitor Kroga of Seventy-Five, he was still Kayzon, a warrior who brought in the scum of the universe for extradition. And this mission would be another step on his own personal God-led path to absolution.
He continued on his route, determined to leave New Earth as soon as possible.
“Kia, look at that. What is it?”
The bone-thin, filthy boy Kia had been about to expel from the marketplace, the one who was trying yet again to pickpocket patrons, pointed at something behind her. His eyes were huge, and his voice trembled. Kia whipped around, curious to see what was going on, and sucked in a breath. She stood in shock, like everyone else in the crowded marketplace.
It couldn’t be.
She turned back to the boy. “Out,” she ordered, shoving a loaf of bread into his arms and then pushing against his back to get him going. “Get out of here now.”
“But—”
She raised her voice at him. “Get. Out.”
His eyes widened even more. He grabbed the bread, turned on his heel and fled.
Kia stepped forward, her attention now focused on the tall Bounty Hunter making his way through the crowded marketplace square. He wore the distinctive shiny black armor they all wore, and there was his insignia on his chest.
She just couldn’t even believe this was happening. Off-worlders almost never came to New Earth. No one left this planet and no one visited. Except for the Hurlians. They could do whatever they wanted. The bastards.
Small children were running from the Bounty Hunter, and people screamed in fear. She grimaced. There was no sound of battle or blaster fire. What was wrong? He seemed to simply be walking, dragging something behind him, and they were terrified. Just the sight of the powerful Bounty Hunter had people scurrying? Wow.
He grew closer, and the crowds parted so she could get a better view, and she gasped.
A Xylan warrior. The Bounty Hunter was a goddamn Xylan warrior.
Kia had never seen a Xylan in real life. She’d seen pictures and heard all the stories everyone had heard—that they were mean motherfuckers, they brooked no disobedience, and they never raped. They also had this weird thing where they were very into their skin color. If you were dark skinned you were rated the highest members of their society, and if you were lighter skinned, well, you were shit outta luck.
This was totally bizarre to Kia. No one cared about that on New Earth. On New Earth they were all a mix of every type of skin color, hair color and eye color. Kia had black hair she attempted to keep sleek but often ended up in a poofy cloud, her eyes were black and her skin was medium toned. All that meant was she looked a little like her mother and a little more like her father, and that’s all that anyone cared about. Status on New Earth was attached to how much currency your family had and whether you were unigod or multigod. Beauty and youth could sway people, but yeah, mainly it was all about currency and being part of the religion that was in charge.
Kia had never told a single person, but her secret belief was that religion was all a big con, this talk of unigod and multigod. She couldn’t care less about the logistics of faith. Because, come on, what god in his right mind would let his people fight and kill each other if he was supposedly a just god? None of it made any sense. Religion was one more reason for people to fight and to be divided, as if any more reasons were needed.
And why was it the god or gods of each religion always seemed to conveniently be men? And why were the Deacons of unigods and Priests of multigods all men?
Yeah, the whole thing was a load of crap.
Her feet started moving. Her eyes remained glued to the Bounty Hunter’s every movement. He happened to be walking unerringly in her direction. Maybe she could speak to him. Would he give her some tips on how to pass the test to get her license? It wasn’t exactly easy to become a Bounty Hunter. She’d seen the testing parameters. It was fucking hard.
Kia couldn’t believe she’d actually get a chance to see a real-life Bounty Hunter in action and maybe even talk to one. Her stomach churned with excitement.
Oh wow, he was so close now. She was seriously all aflutter, like a little girl. She forced herself to remain still and kept that goofy grin off her face. He came up right alongside her, his eyes skimming over her and past as if she were nothing, and kept walking.
Her shoulders slumped. Well, that was underwhelming.
She got a good look at his face, though, at the features that made the
others scream in fear.
Kia snorted. What was the big deal? He was striking. Something about him instantly sparked her curiosity, and to be truthful, caused a flame of awareness in her belly. He was so tall, so strong. His shoulders were so broad he blocked out the suns. Brown and gold coils of hair flowed past his shoulders. His dark skin practically glowed, it was so beautiful. No wonder the Xylan were so into dark pigment, because geez, this warrior’s skin was gorgeous.
And his features were fascinating. There was an enormous scar bisecting the right side of his face, and it started at the ridges on his forehead and ran over his right eye and down the whole side, creating a deep groove. Also, that eye was obviously cybernetic. It was white while his other eye remained hazel. So to some, that glowing white eye might be scary as hell, to her it was totally cool. Same with the scar. It told a story. A story she wanted to hear.
Kia followed him, watching his every powerful step, his every gesture. The Hunter suit was amazing. There was nothing like it on New Earth. No one here had technology like that.
He was dragging his target behind him like a slab of meat. She saw that his hands were claw-tipped and he had only four fingers instead of five.
Huh.
She was unable to make out if the human he’d captured was male or female because the target was bagged from head to toe. She was surprised to see the Bounty Hunter traveling with his target through a busy marketplace; this wasn’t something you saw every day. No off-worlders came to New Earth. She doubted most of them knew of its existence. She was ninety-nine percent certain the Hurlians kept New Earth hidden.
In fact, she’d never seen another Bounty Hunter in real life. Only on that reality show Bounty Hunters: Sector Two everyone watched through the black-market feed. It followed a clan of Creekan Bounty Hunters who worked throughout the four sectors, capturing the worst criminals of the universe. She’d watched every episode, an instant fan.
Kia managed to elbow her way through the crowd and matched his stride. He was so freaking tall, her head barely lined up with his shoulder. He looked mean as hell, and for some reason, she liked that.
“Hello,” she shouted up at him.
He ignored her.
Hmm. Maybe he hadn’t heard her. She tried again. “Hi, my name is Kia. And you are…?”
The Xylan warrior slowed down to course correct around a cart that sold pots and other cooking utensils, which caused his armored body to bump slightly against hers. He looked down and growled. His harsh hazel eye and that other cybernetic eye clashed with hers for a moment. She sucked in a breath. His gaze seemed to drill directly through her, inside and out. Like a gust of wind or a blast of energy.
It almost seemed something was passing between them, like they were having a personal connection.
Then he looked away, disregarded her and continued forward as if she were an annoying bug.
Darn. Well, the attraction certainly wasn’t mutual.
“Kia, what are you doing? Come over here! Get away from that Bounty Hunter! Don’t be stupid!” a woman cried.
Kia looked over to see her neighbor, Mrs. Xiong, gesturing frantically from her hiding spot behind a column. The small woman was obviously annoyed—dark eyes hard and her lips a thin line. Well, let her be annoyed. Kia knew at least half of the people in the crowd. And most of them, including Mrs. Xiong, were on her shit list. During the recent religious turmoil between unigod and multigod they’d all been less than obliging. Not a speck of honor to be found. Kia had been born and raised among these people but when the going got tough, they got going. Not many had risen to the occasion. During these last few months loyalties had been tested on New Earth and friends had turned on friends. It hadn’t been pretty.
Kia ignored Mrs. Xiong and powered forward, catching up with the warrior. She tried again to communicate. “My name is Kia. I see that you’re busy, but do you think I might be able to ask you a few questions later? I’ve been working toward my own Bounty Hunter license. I’d love to get a few tips on how it’s done.”
The Bounty Hunter paused in his great stride and tilted his wide shoulders to stare directly down at her. Her breath caught in her throat and her stomach swooped pleasantly. By the gods, he was handsome. Handsome in a harsh, take-no-prisoners, I’ll-eat-you-alive-for-breakfast kinda way, but still…blindingly handsome.
She fisted her hands and willed herself to not tremble as she stared at all that was him: seven feet of muscled, shiny-armored warrior.
“Leave human,” he said in deep, husky, pleasantly accented English. “You do not want to associate with a Xylan warrior. Humans and Xylan are not allies. We are not compatible. I am warning you, stay away. Nothing good will come from this.”
And with that prophetic announcement, he turned his back to her and kept striding forward, dragging his target.
She trailed behind.
Chapter Two
A human was squawking at him.
Kayzon glanced back and noted the female who had the audacity to speak was a half-color. Most of the humans in the vicinity were either strangely colorless or Margol. On his home world of Chronos, a Margol, or half-color, was a distinction no Xylan envied.
And yet…yet this female who trailed him was not unpleasant.
Humans had no ridges on their face, their features freakishly flat and smooth, with small teeth. And on average they were short. He easily towered above all of them in the marketplace. Some humans were of nearly royal pigment, but the rest were a range of low pigment options. Humans were odd with so many shades of skin tone. Why would they have evolved so differently? He suddenly felt curious as to the state of their home planet. What kind of environment would have created this range of pigment?
The female human who’d matched his stride was smaller than most. Black, straight hair went to her shoulders and shined in the morning light like a swath of smooth fabric. He frowned. Why would he notice her hair? She was human. Her kind wasn’t a Xylan ally, nor did she know proper etiquette. All species knew not to approach a Xylan warrior except with deference.
He paused to growl at her, to warn her away. And yet she continued to follow his path.
When she’d spoken he’d glanced at her face, at her lips, and saw a small, enticing gap between her two front teeth. Her voice was husky, almost masculine.
He exhaled and refocused on his mission. He plowed ahead. Kayzon was close to the edge of the marketplace now. He could see the street he needed to cross and the edge of the canyon beyond where he’d hidden his ship. Soon he’d be off this doomed planet and his mission complete. He’d write a mission report, alerting the Bounty Hunter Guild and the Xylan High Command to the presence and location of this hidden world the Hurlians were holding hostage. And he would be done with it. His obligations and his honor complete.
A shadow passed overhead.
The human female cursed behind him.
Suddenly the mood of the crowd around him shifted. Humans cried out, pointed at the sky and shouted warnings to each other; they rushed away and pulled children into their arms, adults sprinting. Everyone was running and screaming.
“Oh fuck!” the female shouted as she stepped forward. “Hurlians.”
He looked up. Hovercrafts were dropping soldiers into the crowds. Kayzon immediately recognized their distinctive red armor.
“Sometimes they show up to capture a bunch of us and take us gods knows where,” the female yelled over the commotion. “Whoever is in their path is snatched for their fucked-up experiments. Those who are taken never return.”
His jaw clenched. This was no kind of life to live. Fucking Hurlians. He pulled out his blaster. The tiny human female pulled out a small blaster of her own. He raised his ridges. This was unexpected.
“Go!” she shouted at him over the screaming of the crowd. “No one can fight them off. They have impenetrable armor, and their fire power is greater than ours. They probably won’t take you because you’re not human. Take your target and get out now. Go back to your ship
and leave while you can. I’ll cover you.”
He snorted. This fragile human would cover him? And the idea that the Hurlians were stronger than him with greater fire power…it was nonsensical.
A red-armored form dropped to the ground nearby. The Hurlian was carrying a blaster in one hand and a magnetic net in the other. “Go!” she shouted again and stepped in front of him, firing her blaster at the soldier.
Damn, his emergency transporter beacon was attached to his suit, but it was single-use only. He couldn’t take both his target and himself at the same time. His ship was hidden in the canyon on the edge of the city, the shield making it invisible to the humans. He couldn’t make it in time before the fighting overtook him. Fuck. And he couldn’t leave this female behind to fight his battle. He removed his beacon and attached it to the target, coded it and watched as THX690 wavered and disappeared.
“Target’s arrival confirmed on ship,” his computer quietly updated in his earpiece.
Kayzon stood and reassessed the situation. Three red-armored Hurlians approached warily, their visors glinting in the morning light. They spaced out around him, trying to coordinate their attack. Kayzon grunted. Behind them he could see an Earth female and her small, screaming child being dragged up to the Hurlian ship by another soldier attached to a line.
Kidnapping of humans would not be happening on his watch. Not while there was life left in him.
He was a warrior of an ancient line of distinguished warriors.
He was multigod.
He was honor.
Kayzon threw his head back and roared a deafening challenge.
He fired a blast to the chest of the nearest soldier and swung around and felled the other with an elbow that shattered the soldier’s face plate. Kayzon grunted as another Hurlian blasted him in the back.
“Absorption complete,” the computer stated as the Hunter suit took the fire and kept going. The Hurlians were no match against his advanced Bounty Hunter armor. He plowed forward, taking another Hurlian with a blaster shot to the shoulder. Another blast cut the line that was lifting the female and her child. When they fell back he caught them both and set them gently on the ground.
Kayzon's Wish Page 2