by Maia Starr
“He will be ready,” she said behind me.
I was scheduled to have Neton stay with me for two days. It was how we broke things up. When I was not on a mission and was staying in the village for long lengths of time, Neton would come stay with me.
I was looking forward to spending time with my son, but now I was on edge that Keirin had suspicions about me being in the human female area. Once she had her suspicions, she did not let it go. Even though she was the disloyal one. She was the disloyal type, and because of that, she assumed that everyone else was dishonest and hiding something.
I left that area of the mountain and moved back to the training grounds. I had a lot of work to do. But I didn't know that everything was about to change with news that had arrived from the Waysaw city.
Chapter 9
Amber Lynne
Having sex with a Grantsions Zenkian was more than I ever thought it could be. I had been extremely attracted to this particular Zenkian and having sex with him was a hot experience. It was so hot that after he left, I could not stop thinking about it. It replayed over and over again in my mind. I could see his naked gorgeous body every time I closed my eyes. I could feel him on top of me. But I had no business having sex with him. I was a human, and he was an alien, and it was wrong. It was so wrong that there were laws against it and we had both broken those laws. We could now be considered criminals.
But I was not expecting to find out the details that he had to tell me. Commander Nykon had a son. Not only did he have a son, but there was also an ex-wife in the picture. Suddenly I realize that my one-night stand came with a lot of baggage and a lot of strings attached. Therefore I made sure to tell him that this was a one-time thing.
I was very aware that I could lose my seat on the next journey to Earth to another human female wanting to go home if I messed up in any way. At first, it seemed like only Nykon and I were involved in this criminal activity of having sex. But now they were suddenly more participants in the picture. What if his wife found out about what we had done? Yes, she was his ex-wife, but they had a child together, which meant they were still in each other's lives. It was very messy, and I was suddenly scared.
It was the worst that I would have to see him the very next day. Not only would I have to see him, but I would have to touch him. I was looking forward to it, but I was also dreading it. I was in such conflict all the time after meeting him.
I went to sleep that night thinking about what had happened. I enjoyed it, I enjoyed it too much, and I wanted it more and more. But then my mind would switch to all the baggage that he carried with him and how I could lose my seat on the next voyage to Earth and I would feel a panic. I felt this over and over until I finally fell asleep.
The next day I walked with Gina through the market area on our way to work in the treatment rooms. I wanted to tell her. I was bursting to tell her, but I knew that I could not. It would be a huge mistake. We had both promised to keep it a secret, and I knew it was the best way. Gina could easily let it slip. So I bit my tongue and tried to talk about other things.
“Stop here. What do you think about these? Have you tasted them?” Gina asked as we stopped at a market table. There were flower-like edible plants that she was pointing out to me. They smelled delicious, like watermelon bubblegum, and were a soft yellow color.
“No, I have not had those,” I said. As we talked with the market vendor, I noticed someone across the way. It was a female Zenkian and she was talking with a soldier. The soldier pointed at Gina and me. It made me nervous.
“Gina, who is that over there? Why are they pointing at us?” I gestured to her, pointing them out. Gina looked up and saw them.
“I don't know. It does seem like they are talking about us, doesn't it,” Gina said as she turned around behind us to see if there was anyone they could be talking about standing near us, but there was not.
Then the female walked away. She gave Gina and I a look but then turned down an alley.
“That was strange. Come, let's go, or we are going to be late, and the doctor hates that,” she said grabbing my arm.
“Yes, let's go,” I said.
I was still very uneasy about the encounter when I walked into the treatment rooms.
“Hello again, Amber,” Commander Nykon said to me as I walked into the main area. Gina turned and looked at me and smiled.
“Hello, Commander,” I said, annoyed that he was standing in the main room and not in the back treatment room where he should be waiting for me.
“Good, everyone is here. Go ahead and get started. Rizim once again Gina will be seeing to your injury. Nykon, Amber will attend to you again,” the doctor said pointing in the directions that we should go work.
Gina elbowed me. I knew that she was not going to allow me to escape this time without an explanation. I would have to come up with some sort of lie.
I walked with Nykon into a back treatment room. He turned to me and began to unbutton the top of his uniform. As soon as I saw him doing it, I flashed back to watching him get undressed the night before in my living quarters. My eyes were glued to him though I knew that I should turn away. I felt myself growing aroused again. I could feel my taut nipples pressing against the fabric of the dress. My breathing grew heavier. He moved to the table and gave me a slight sideways grin.
“Where do you want me, Amber?” he said. I knew that he was teasing me.
"Lie down on the table, on your back, the same as before,” I said.
“As you say,” he said and then lay down on the table on his back. I swallowed hard as he laid there with his elongated body waiting for me to touch it. This was going to be hard. This was going to be very hard, because yesterday, I had not sampled his skills. But now, I had, and it only made it more difficult to not think about what it was like.
I poured ointment into my hands and then place them on his wounded chest. He let out a slight moan. I looked at him; he was still looking at the ceiling. He was doing this on purpose. He had to be. He was messing around with me because I was the one that said we could never be together again. Now this was extreme torture, to touch him but not to be able to kiss him.
I moved my hands up and down, massaging the medicine into his skin. It was working fast because the day before it was a dark purple, now it was a lighter shade of purple. I wondered if these aliens had faster healing times than human. They certainly were more advanced technologically, and more advanced as far as being superior beings with more strength, taller, and overall biologically better.
“That hurts. Do it lighter,” he said breaking my concentration.
“Oh, sorry,” I said as I lightened up on the pressure. I wondered if I really was hurting him, or if he was just giving me a hard time. I looked at his face for any sign that he was joking around. But he just looked at the ceiling. I moved my fingers lightly over his skin, I did this over and over, and it was hard for me to stay in the wounded area. My hands wanted to roam higher and lower all over his body. But I couldn't. I had to remain professional. It was a one-time thing, and I would never be sexual with him again. We had to keep it that way; there was too much on the line because of it.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“What?” I said startled by his question. He had been so quiet.
“What are you doing? Your hands are way off of the injured area of my body,” he said.
“Huh?” I looked down at my hands. To my horror, they were on his belly button. My hands had a mind of their own and had migrated lower and lower. I picked up my hands and moved away from him.
“Sorry, I did not realize. The half-hour is over anyway. You can put your clothes on,” I said.
He sat up from the table and grabbed his top. I walked over to the table full of medicines and oil's and began to fiddle with each. I really didn't know what I was doing; I just wanted to look busy. Watching him dress would be another distraction, and I knew that my face was a bright red because I had just been caught roaming away from the injury.
“I will see you for tomorrow's session,” he said.
“Yes, sure,” I said as I kept my back to him. I did not want to turn around and look at him. I knew that there would be too much emotion on my face.
“Amber?” he said.
“Yes?” I said as I continued to look away.
“You are going to have to look at me sometime. You are acting strange, and that strangeness is suspicious.” Then I heard his heavy boots walk out.
I turned around, surprised. He had called me out on my behavior. A part of me wanted to walk after him and bitch him out. But I didn't. I stayed where I was.
After a few hours of working in the treatment rooms, Gina and I left. She was looking at me with a very big grin on her face. But she was quiet. She was waiting for me to say something. She was waiting until we were in a place where we could talk.
“Stop looking at me that way,” I said as we walked out into the sunlight.
"You know why I am looking at you.”
“No, I don't,” I said to her, trying to get her to leave me alone.
“You didn't tell me you were treating him. In fact, I remember you lying about it yesterday. Why would you lie about such a thing, Amber?” she teased me as we walked across the courtyard.
“Because I knew you would react the way you are right now. It is nothing,” I said.
“Nothing. First you have him over for dinner, now you are massaging his naked body: that doesn't sound like nothing to me,” she laughed.
“Lower your voice, Gina. I don't want to get in any trouble. You know how they are strict here about such things,” I said whispering to her.
“Yes, I know. Sorry.”
“You two humans work in the treatment centers?” I heard a voice say.
Gina and I turned around to see a Zenkian female standing behind us. I realized that it was the same female that was pointing at us earlier in the market.
“Yes, we do. Can we help you?” Gina asked.
“N0, you cannot help me. I just wanted to know the answer to that question,” she said as she looked Gina up and down. Then she stepped over to me and looked at me up and down. She narrowed her eyes at me. What the hell was going on?
“Why are you asking us this and why are you looking at us this way?” Gina asked. I could tell that Gina was getting annoyed, she was about to bitch out the Zenkian female. That would not be good for either of us. We both wanted to go back to Earth and getting into a fight with a Zenkian female could get us punishment. The punishment would mean that our seats would go to other human females waiting to go back to Earth.
But she did not answer. The Zenkian or female simply walked away. I looked at Gina.
“What was that all about?” I asked.
“I have no idea. That was very creepy. There is no telling what these aliens will do. They are very different than us. Come on, let's go get something to eat,” she said.
We walked away from the courtyard and went to the communal kitchens. But I could not stop thinking about the strange Zenkian female. Why had she come up to us like that? She had obviously been seeking us out because she had pointed at us earlier in the day. Then for her to come up to us like that was very strange.
Chapter 10
Commander Nykon Reev
I had to admit that I was having my fun with Amber. I knew that being in the treatment area with her while she touched me was going to be very hard for me. But I wasn't anticipating that it would be hard for her too. She was obviously struggling not to give into desires, and I decided to have a little fun with that.
But as she massaged me, I had started to become aroused. Especially when her hands begin to roam down on my body. She was massaging my lower abdomen for quite some time, and I was allowing her to do it. I wanted to take her into my arms and kiss her. But we were in a public space, and if I were caught, the punishment would be severe. So I kept my hands to myself, no matter how hard it was.
When I left the treatment areas, Rizim and I reported for mission duty.
“Rizim, Commander Nykon, I am glad that you are here. We have just received news,” Leader Hirun said.
“What news?” I said as I sat down in front of the leader. It was strange to see a leader holding a meeting at the training grounds. They often walked through, but they did not have meetings here. So we knew that something must be very important for them to be there. Leader Hirun sat with a few of the other leaders.
“We have received news from our enemy, the Waysaw. As we know, they hold the celebrations and competition called the war games. It has been the way of the Zenkian since before we rebelled against them. But when we separated, we did not establish our own war games. But now, the Waysaw wishes for us to participate in the war games in the Waysaw city,” the leader said.
“This can't be. Why would they do such a thing as invite us to compete in the war games? We are at war with them. We go into the city, they will attack; it is a trick,” I said as I stood up.
“Yes, Commander Nykon, you are right to think so. The Waysaw message said that if we were to agree to compete in the war games, they would declare it a peacetime and they would expect us to do the same,” the leader said.
“I do not trust it,” I said.
“We do not trust either, but we are thinking it over. But there is no point in thinking it over without your cooperation,” the leader said.
“Us?” I asked.
“You gathered here are our most skilled Grantsions soldiers. You would be the ones to compete. You are our champions, you have proved it time and again in battle. You would be the ones we would elect to compete,” Leader Hirun said looking at the ten of us that they had gathered for this meeting.
We all looked at each other. None of us could back down from a challenge. We lived for it. It brought us adrenaline. The chance to prove that we were better skilled than the Waysaw was too good to pass up. I would love to humiliate my challenger in front of everyone.
“But the Waysaw play war games to the death. Losing means you die,” Rizim said.
“Yes, that is true,” the leader said.
We all looked at each other again. If we did this, some of us would not be returning from the games. I had a child to think of. But this was no different than when I went off to battle; there was always a chance that I would not return. But battle was different; it was necessary to keep the village safe. This was simply games.
“Why should we do this? What is in it for us? We face a lot and put a lot on the line. Going to the Waysaw city, it could be a trap. And if it is not a trap, we lose our best-skilled soldiers should they lose in a fight. I see no reason for us to do this,” I said.
“There is a reason,” the leader said.
“What is that?” I asked.
“The Waysaw said that if we are the victor of the war games, they will stop all raids on us for a full year, a year of peacetime,” the leader said.
There was commotion as the thought of this washed over us. A year of not having to be on guard was a sweet offer. Even though they could be lying, and we would still have strong soldier presence all over the place.
“And if they win? What do they want of us?” I asked.
“They want us to remove half hour forces from Earth for a year,” he said.
There was a commotion of disgruntled anger at this news.
“This is absurd. They only want to lure us into a trap. They will make sure they win somehow, and then they know that we are loyal to our word and we will have to remove our forces from Earth, leaving Earth vulnerable and the Waysaw will invade and get stronger with the Earth’s resources. They know what they are doing,” Rizim said. There were cheers of agreement.
“Yes, you are right to think that. We have thought this as well,” the leader said.
“Then why have you brought this to us? You must be thinking about agreeing to this or you would not have brought it to us,” I asked.
“You are right, Commander, to think that. Because we are t
hinking of accepting the offer,” the leader said.
There was commotion again amongst the group.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because with a year of peace, we can accomplish a lot. We can use that time and energy to make this village more secure, building defenses. With a year of peace, lots of lives could be saved not having to engage in battle year-round the way we do,” he said.
“But what if we lose? Those are high stakes to gamble against,” I said.
“That's why we can't lose,” the leader said.
I knew exactly what he meant. Losing was not an option. We were going to compete in the war games, and we were going to win, no matter what. The victor of the war games would be a Grantsions Zenkian, or we would lose everything.