Venomous: (Alien Warrior Book 1)

by Penelope Fletcher

  Reddened eyes squinted in suspicion. “But you’re not sending me away?”

  “No.” He nuzzled her temple. “A fabricator is there. See?” He directed her gaze to the ceiling to floor tube in the corner that was mainly used to fabricate hardsuits for battle. “You will be in my view, as I will be in yours.”

  She hesitated as she searched his face, but impressed him by responding with practical obedience. “Okay.” She pushed onto her toes to press a chaste kiss to his lips then hurried after Fiercely Comes the Night.

  Watching her for a moment, deeply fulfilled with the knowledge she belonged to him, and he to her, Venomous could not find fault with her open display of affection.

  Satisfied she would be cared for and protected, even if it was by a male he felt like strangling, he narrowed his focus to the mission at hand.

  Solars of unnatural inertia shed away.

  He slid into the role he’d trained for since hatching. “Navigation?”

  “Non-operational,” an a’Rä replied. “Star maps are recorded in the matrix, we can plot a course, but the automated steering is defunct.”

  “Telemetry?”

  “A mess,” the same a’Rä replied its voice tight. “Good enough to comm call home world. It will be distorted, but it will transmit.”

  Now for the worst of it.

  A crucial workstation stood unmanned.

  “Is the pilot dead?” Venomous held his breath.

  If the autopilot could not guide the Trekker to home world, he could put his Rä’Na in an escape pod and pray the Dei San did not shoot her down.

  Even if he sacrificed himself and the vessel to cause a distraction, she might not survive the fleeting yet violent fallout of an explosion in the capsule.

  Perhaps if I jettisoned all the escape pods, she might slip away unnoticed in the opposite direction?

  “Yesss.” Delivering this dire news, the Rä’Vek, gold tipped quills swinging, stepped forward. It bowed. “I am He, Krait that Shines. I have piloted the Trekker on previous ventures. With permission, I shall again.”

  Venomous’ relief was short-lived. One problem of a dozen solved. “See to it then.”

  Brille gleaming under a flicker of harsh light, it hesitated. “How are we to get free?”

  “The simplest way.”

  Krait that Shines appeared dubious, but went on his way and approached the navigation workstation.

  He had a word with the a’Rä there then approached the pilot controls.

  He slid his fingers over the tarnished surface with competent ease, cursing at its grubby state.

  Venomous turned to check on his Rä’Na, only to find her grinning at Fiercely.

  She touched his arm and giggled, head bobbing at something he leaned to whisper.

  Fingers curling under into fists, claws scraping his palms, Venomous took an aggressive step.

  He was more than ready to pound the male into the ground for the return smile, and tentative caress to her rounded shoulder, a shoulder belonging to him, when Krait that Shines asked a question.

  Halting, peeling his gaze away, he faced the Rä’Vek to answer.

  An enraged roar erupted through the command deck.

  Hearts stuttering, Venomous knew time fled in mere nanosecs, yet the subsequent fragment of his lifecycle happened in slow motion.

  He spun, taste receptors flooded by a smog of Dei San stench.

  A terror-stricken scream.

  Back bent, limbs akimbo, his Lumen was about to be severed head to hip, sliced through the middle, split.

  Light flickered over a blade’s ragged edge as it descended in a sweeping arc.

  Seeming to move outside of time, warped with speed, Fiercely grabbed her by the waist.

  He twisted as he dragged her into the shield of his body and slid into the path of the strike.

  With a faint peal the blade tip scored his armour plated spine.

  Fiercely dropped.

  He halted his descent with his lower hands then pushed off the floor before squashing Lumen to land hard on his side.

  Hooked blades jutted from his forearm, whipped, and severed the heel tendons on the Dei San.

  It toppled with a piercing screech.

  Kicking it onto its back, Fiercely lunged from his knees over Lumen’s flailing body then plunged his claws into the Dei San’s exposed neck.

  He ripped out its throat then flung the black gore across the deck with a hiss of victory.

  Ending their mad dash to reach the scuffle, the Rä warriors snarled.

  They banged fists to chests to honour his triumph and growled his name.

  Venomous bellowed, “Search the enclosure. Ensure it was the only one.” With an unsteady gait he headed towards his life mate. “Where did it come from?”

  “Inside the fabricator,” Fiercely replied his posture rigid. “As soon as the machine engaged it sprung.”

  Breathing in frantic bursts, Lumen staggered onto her feet.

  White-knuckled fists lifted to her temples. “Can I not catch a motherfucking break?”

  Before Venomous reached her, Fiercely was on his feet.

  He wrapped an arm around her waist then hauled her into his body. “Do not leak, Rä’Na. I am here.”

  Venomous’ step faltered.

  He did not like it, but could not deny the male earned the reward of his Rä’Na’s touch.

  Collapsing into Fiercely’s embrace, Lumen returned his hug.

  Pulling back on a wobbly laugh, her eyes shone as they caressed his face. “You saved me.”

  “I let no harm come to what is mine.”

  Lumen’s worshipful gaze blanked. Her sniffles ceased. “Y-Yours?” Easing her head back, eyeing him askance, she shoved at his chest. “Babe?” Her voice climbed with her panic. “Venom?”

  Jaw clenched, Fiercely refused to release her. “She, Lumen of the Stars you have awakened my anima, as blessed upon me by my Grandfather the Great Serpent God of Sands, S’q’ama’ta. I claim you. I am now Rä’Vek. You are mine to protect, mine to shelter, mine to feed, and mine to cover. When you are weak, I shall be your strength. I revere you, giver of life, as is the way.”

  Shocked into motionlessness, she glared with a baleful expression that boded ill. “You need to take your hands off me,” she ended on a shout into his face.

  “You are mine,” he bellowed.

  “Too late,” she shrieked. “I’m taken. By him.” She stabbed a finger at Venomous. “So, back the hell up, and let me thank you instead of this screaming match.”

  “You are infuriating.”

  “You’re a presumptuous dick.” She shoved at his arms, back bowing, straining. “Aren’t we the matching pair?”

  Cursing, he let her go.

  Lumen pushed hair out of her face, cheeks puffing with her breaths.

  She inhaled, eyes closing then released the air in a steady stream as she breathed, “Woosah.” When her eyes opened, her expression was serene. “Thank you for saving my life. Are you hurt?”

  Fiercely lifted four arms wide. “Do I look so weak as to let that end me?”

  “As a matter of fact you don’t. Good.” She gave him palm. “It means I get to do this without feeling guilty.” She whirled, hair slapping across his face then staggered the distance to Venomous. She fell into his arms. “And where the hell were you?”

  Tearing his gaze from Fiercely’s heated one, Venomous dropped his brille to his distraught Rä’Na. “It is best if you stay with me from now on, I think.”

  “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

  “Rä’Vek,” an a’Rä barked. “Movement from the Dei San. Sensors detect a surge in electromagnetic interference. They are preparing to stun.” Drumming fingers skimmed the monitor, tabulating reams of data calculations. “We have a quarter-span. Kick that to ten units if they have Hydokon booster tech.”

  “Orders?” demanded Krait that Shines. “What am I doing, Rä’Vek?”

  “Yesss, Venomous One, what
are we doing?” Fiercely drawled.

  Venomous merely lifted his brow scales. “Divert auxiliary power to the mother haze. Shield the Trekker’s outer hull. Include the energy augmentation to the bulkhead to strengthen the stability of the internal enclosures. Comm munitions to prime the spar cannons.”

  Silence bludgeoned the command deck.

  Spluttering, Fiercely rallied first. ”You cannot mean to–”

  “Yesss.”

  “They stole the sonic cartridges. Only the hydrogen maser–”

  Venomous cut him a look. “Yesss.”

  Fiercely palmed the back of his neck. “The explosive discharge and matter will not annihilate but expand. The ejecta will tear through us like comets. Venomous, the shockwave–”

  “The mother haze is strong enough to withstand the energy release.”

  “Is it?” Fiercely bit out. “It sounds to me you have decided to kill us all.”

  “If the Dei San give chase they will capture us. We cannot withstand another infiltration, and by then the escape pods will offer no solution. I am not prepared to lose my Rä’Na to those depraved creatures. Tell me, do you have a better plan?” Venomous glared when he received no response. “Now, are you capable of handling this, or must I do it myself?”

  Averting his gaze, Fiercely gave a chin jerk.

  Decisions he made didn’t have to be popular, nor were they exempt from scrutiny, but they would be obeyed.

  Venomous shouldered past. “Get to it then.” He had no problem with constructive objections to his plans, or suggestions to improve them for the betterment of all.

  He did have a problem with dithering and fear-mongering.

  No matter what they did, they were at a disadvantage.

  His plan gave them their best chance at survival, and survival was something he’d learned well.

  He took Lumen to the command hub that stood isolated on the middle of the deck.

  Sinking onto his buttocks, he pressed the length of his spine to the console stand, bent his knees then planted booted feet flat against the other.

  The block shaped columns were no more than the width of a body apart, waist high, so he was able to exert enough force to be reasonably certain he could keep them secure.

  Lumen’s eyes were bleak pools. “B-Babe?”

  “Hush.” Tucking her close, he wrapped his lower arms around her trembling body then stretched his upper arms over her head to anchor his claws into the metal of the command column. “All will be well.”

  Glowering when he received the signal to commence, Fiercely addressed Krait that Shines. “Reverse. Set bow thrusters to maximum then lock yourself down.” Grim, he glanced behind him to the a’Rä manning the communications centre. “Send a ship wide alert to brace.”

  The ship’s aft-most outer hull collided with the battlecruiser pincers.

  Their bodies rocked as they changed direction to accelerate forward.

  Jerking to a stop, the Trekker reared again with more force, using its stern as a battering ram to force its way out.

  With a deafening screech the craft ripped through the metal cage to pull free.

  Humming engines exploded into a growling purr as they shot backwards.

  Looming on a giant web of stars, the Dei San battlecruiser shrank then passed from sight.

  “Ready.” Fiercely ducked under Venomous’ arms to wedge himself into their clinch.

  It made the fit tighter, safer.

  He braced his legs outside of Venomous’ at his waist then dug his upper claws into the command column to create another set of bars.

  His lower hands settled on Lumen from behind.

  She ended up huddled in the middle of their caging limbs.

  “Fire,” he roared.

  The Trekker released a fiery barrage from its maser cannon.

  The explosion was small.

  A fraction of a nanosec skipped by then the hot pinprick expanded into a cutting flash of luminous light.

  The blinding shockwave hit the retreating Trekker like a sledgehammer.

  Catapulted off course, shuddering in bone-wrenching vibrations, the vessel tumbled, spun and twisted in a geodesic hurtle through the black nothing.

  The force hammering their bodies increased to crushing degrees as the ship accelerated.

  They were shoved along the explosive path as if part of the battlecruiser debris, the deafening sound, so loud as to be silent, a harsh counterpoint to the nauseating churn.

  Temperature skyrocketing, the wafer thin, metal panels that encased the workstations began to glow and bend.

  The engines failed then the lights cut plunging them into darkness.

  Around and around they flipped, faster and faster still.

  Venomous and Fiercely bared fangs at each other in support of their efforts to keep their Rä’Na pinned.

  She was held fast between them instead of ricocheting off the unforgiving surfaces of the command deck shell.

  Other Rä who’d lost hold on whatever equipment they had braced against suffered this fate, but they had armoured scales.

  Lumen’s delicate skin punctured at the lightest scratch.

  She had fainted at the first neck-snapping judder.

  Her limp body pressed into them at awkward angles, her head bouncing back and forth on their chests.

  Even that scared Venomous, knowing her skull was hard, but not harder than his chest plate.

  Muscles locked to bear the agonising strain, he felt the moment they reached terminal velocity.

  The brutal drag on his body became an endless wrench.

  He feared his scales peeled from his flesh and whisked his organs off with them.

  Fiercely’s claws began a horizontal scud as he lost grip.

  If he slipped he’d drag them out.

  Doused in the terror of what came next, their gazes locked.

  The chance of Lumen surviving without snapping her neck, breaking her spine or having her head caved in was not only slim, but simply not possible.

  “Do not dare,” Venomous mouthed. “Hold.”

  Those brief heartbeats lasted an eternity.

  Finally, mercifully, the density of the explosion waned.

  The spiralling rotations slowed, the Trekker’s mainline system’s rebooted, and the thrusters engaged.

  They steadied.

  The abrupt transition from chaos to calm caused a wave of queasiness.

  Thumping to the floor, or trapped under workstations torn from their moorings then scattered across the rumpled deck many hunched over and were violently sick.

  The astringent tang of singed metal stung the nostrils and overpowered wisps of smoke.

  Static electricity crackled over the interior skeleton in a neon fizzle then was absorbed into the mother haze, dissipating with a plosive pop.

  A broken energy conduit flipped and coiled across the floor like a writhing Zýt, showering the pitch-black enclosure in fiery sparks.

  Gulps for air and breathless wheezes from the pummelled warriors echoed over the clanking engines.

  A groan ghosted through the ship as its sizzling hull cooled.

  Swallowing, Fiercely rasped, “Report,” as soon as he regained the ability to speak.

  A battered warrior crawled to his station.

  He lurched onto his knees wiping grit from the monitor glass. “Compression from the blast has fractured the outer hull causing the artificial atmosphere to leak. Thsst! It is localised to the cargo area. Stronger than Mountain Rock is supervising engineering on the level above. He is headed down there to visually assess the damage.”

  Venomous listened to the rest of the report with half an ear, most of his attention centered on his Rä’Na.

  He stroked her hair then shakily pressed his fingers to her throat.

  Her pulse was as expected, he no longer worried at the slight tap of it.

  She was unconscious, but no more damaged than before.

  Coughing, the back of his head hit the console.
/>   His mind raced over the last rotation, and he had a series of striking realisations.

  Life was too short to waste on petty jealousy, and deny another’s right to happiness.

  It was too changeable to fret over a touch that might be considered unseemly.

  It could all be over in a blink.

  They had to live.

  Live hard and wild, laugh, touch, kiss, love make, do fucking, and eagerly consume whatever rich crumbs fate saw fit to pass their way.

  Honour demands I do what is right.

  “If she accepts you,” he murmured shifting his gaze to the male easing away from them, “I will not stand in your way.”

  Stilling, Fiercely stared.

  Hope brightened his sullen countenance then he dared a smile.

  With a brief yet longing gaze at their unconscious mate, he strode away to secure the ship.

  He returned. “What is dick?”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Lumen stumbled into the cleanser. She leaned against the cubicle wall and wriggled her fingers. “Abracadabra.” When nothing happened she gazed up and made a noise of aggravation. “No motion sensors? How do you turn the water on?”

  Pressing into her from behind, Venomous gripped her nape. He murmured in her ear, “You tell it so, dearest.”

  “How does that even work?” She turned to him as the water began to flow. “Is the ship, like, alive or something?”

  “Nothing as fantastical as that.” He chuckled at her fanciful imagination. “There are thread sensors worked into the metal of the inner hull. They are attached to nodules that are connected to the ship mainframe. They are also present in the fixtures and most of the enclosure mechanics. They are calibrated to pick up cerebral frequencies.” He tapped her temple. “Brainwaves flowing in certain patterns correspond with specific fibres and trigger actions. It is not artificial intelligence, merely pre-programmed responses. This is why you have to concentrate, or at least think clearly. If your thoughts are jumbled the command is muddled. The sensors cannot interpret what you want.”