Alien General's Baby: BBW Human - Alien Surprise Pregnancy SciFi Romance (Brion Brides)

by Vi Voxley

  It was stocked with a camera, claws to dig and a tool belt for unpredictable circumstances. It even had reinforced nets to bring the goods home and lights to pierce even the waters of the black ocean.

  To wield all of that, Naima would have needed six arms, which the Union had cheerfully provided for her. The gloves on her hands worked as controllers and Naima moved the arms that ended in two long, claw-like contraptions.

  "I look like Doctor Octopus," Naima said when she saw Captain Gordon again.

  There was a hint of a smile on the man's face and Naima barely stopped herself from laughing.

  So that's what you've been hiding from us. You're an ancient history nerd.

  Naima chose not to say that to his face, instead saluted with all six mechanical and two real hands.

  "Aye, sir," she said, sharing a knowing grin with Janey. "Just one thing, sir. Is there ever going to come a day when we don't play it by the book?"

  "Both of you, get out of here now," Gordon said, a rare smile on his lips. "Before I kick you out."

  Naima jumped gladly into the unwelcoming ocean and darkness enveloped her immediately.

  2

  Naima

  Naima and Janey dove deeper carefully, both holding onto their individual guide ropes though they were wrapped around their bodies as well.

  In addition to them not being able to speak to the Nautica directly, they also couldn't really talk with each other. Over the months they'd spent working together, Naima thought they'd developed a fairly good rhythm and understood the other well.

  Of course, they'd both learned simple sign language to convey thoughts that were too complicated to pass on by waving their hands.

  Problem was, they had to see each other. The lights built into their diving apparatus were enough to make sure they didn't swim headlong into a cliff, but it didn't do much else in the thick, inky blackness. One panicky move and they'd lose the other in the darkness, along with their sense of up and down, since everything was equally black.

  Luckily for them, the ocean wasn't very deep around the small island. The shallowness didn't show, however. If it were a regular body of water, Naima would have been able to see light on the surface, perhaps even the search beams of the Nautica. On Matthos IV, she might as well have been in a chasm ten miles deep for all the difference it made.

  Naima knew there was no way she'd ever reach the bottom of the ocean at the deeper spots on the planet without a submarine or massive effort on her part. It would have taken a long time to adjust to the pressure, going into the depths without protection.

  We might still come to that, Naima thought bitterly as hours after hours yielded nothing but more pointless, empty rock.

  Matthos IV was so devoid of life there weren't even any plants or sea creatures to amuse herself with.

  The levity she'd felt aboard the Nautica was gone. She had been so sure that this time, the Palians had been right. Minute after minute, that sense of hopeful certainty was dissipating.

  Needle in a haystack, Naima thought miserably. No, scratch that. An unknown mineral at the bottom of an endless ocean.

  She looked over to Janey, expecting her to signal to leave, after checking the low oxygen levels on her tank. To her pleasant surprise, the girl shook her head. Neither one of them wanted to go up empty-handed after the first solid tip in weeks. For that assurance, they were willing to put in a little more effort and search longer.

  Even then, Naima was so used to the dives disappointing her that the moment she actually did see something almost went by her.

  The camera screen was right in front of her, showing Naima a three-dimensional image of herself. Green eyes wide, long red hair billowing around her like a cloak.

  She saw a flash of light. The camera worked as a rear view mirror from her point of view. She twisted around so suddenly her entire equipment shook, trying to move as sharply as she did. Janey more felt than saw her reaction. Through the murky water, Naima saw the girl's eyes go wide when she signaled for "lifestone".

  It was the first time either of them had had to use it outside of agreeing on the code for it.

  I don't care what it is. Even a disappointment would be good at this point. It would be something, at least.

  They swam in the direction Naima thought the unidentified flash of light had come from. Janey's hand was in hers to make sure they didn't lose each other at such a crucial point. Naima felt her heart beating so fast it was deafening.

  There.

  In a small cave, almost entirely covered by a rock formation, there was a glow. It was so miniscule, so hidden, that Naima thought she might have gone right over it. No wonder she hadn't seen the thing.

  She exchanged looks with Janey, trying to figure out what to do. Then they both got to work.

  While Janey attached a marker to the cliff, connecting it to the Nautica, Naima tried to reach the glow. She pushed her hand into the crevice and felt around. The camera showed her that she didn't even come close, no matter how tightly she pressed her body against the mouth of the cave.

  She tried a mechanical arm, but that didn't reach either. Janey had no more luck than she.

  Naima checked the marker Janey had set, breathing heavily, adrenaline trundling through her veins now. If nothing else, they could return with better tools. The most important thing was not to lose the first promising location. With a beacon, the only thing they could do was to try and anchor the Nautica to the lifestone.

  Janey pushed herself free of the small cave. The two divers floated next to each other, furious and disappointed despite their find.

  Naima knew Janey was thinking the same. To return with a piece of the stone, even a little one, would have made it all worth it.

  It was the lifestone, she knew it. Naima had no idea how she did, but it was calling for her, and she was certain with the kind of conviction she thought was reserved for only feeling right from wrong.

  The mouth of the cave wasn't actually that small, just blocked. Looking up to where Naima knew the surface was, she figured that Doug and Gordon were about to lose their minds.

  With their claws, Naima and Janey started throwing the rocks out of the way and digging the hole a little bigger for themselves.

  It didn't help. The cave mouth was nothing more than a crack in the cliff that was actually the island itself. The claws were meant for softer materials, definitely not to cut open a land mass. They weren't going to reach far enough.

  Janey's eyes went wide when Naima shrugged out of the equipment frame.

  It took a little while to get free, but eventually she pushed the frame away, careful not to cut the wire connecting her to the Nautica. She prayed that Doug wouldn't pull her up just yet for her antics.

  Of all the things, only the oxygen mask remained, but that was connected to a tank on her back. She tried to squeeze herself into the cave, but it was in the way.

  I have to get it.

  It was like something was taking over her body, thinking for her almost. Making her do things that she as a seasoned, experienced diver would never do in the depths of a damn unknown, potentially deadly ocean.

  Another sacrifice seemed entirely reasonable when she couldn't go back without whatever it was that glowed there.

  She considered her options, but ultimately it wasn't a choice at all. This time, though, Janey interfered, trying to grab her hands. The girl shook her head furiously, signaling "fool".

  Naima knew Janey was right, but she couldn't back down. Not when the goal of their mission was at her fingertips.

  She made sure she had a reinforced knife in her hand and took the oxygen mask off. Janey, with disapproval plain in her eyes, took the mask, glaring.

  If I put it back on after a minute, I’ll be fine. I can try a few times, Naima told herself, her whole body seeming to vibrate with anticipation.

  After all the training, all the work, panic still set in the moment the mask came off. Naima was too deep in an unknown alien ocean to feel safe without
the chance to breathe, but there was no going back.

  Gripping the rock-cutting knife as hard as she could, she pressed herself tightly against the cave and nearly gave a victorious cry when she squeezed in. It was almost impossible to fit and the possibility of getting stuck didn't help with the panic, but she fought against it with everything she had.

  No longer having the camera or the lights, it should have been dark around her. But the glow was so incredibly bright on its own that it illuminated the deep depths of the narrow cave. It completely mesmerized her.

  Almost there.

  She could see it. The stone. It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever witnessed and for a moment, it didn’t even matter that she didn’t have oxygen. She’d lost the capability to breathe anyway.

  Naima struck the glowing stone with the knife, feeling it get caught there. A surge of joy went through her as she began to slam the knife down on the rock, trying to get a piece to break off. She could feel Janey tug on her leg, telling her it was beyond time to get out.

  Holding her breath was getting to be difficult. Naima knew she didn't have much time. She needed to go, now. Nothing she was doing was playing it by the book.

  There was a tug on the chord, Doug trying to get her up to the surface, but she was wedged in so tight in the cave that it didn’t do a thing. That was fine by her, but there was a chance Doug would pull Janey up without her.

  I don't want to die here, the idea sped through her mind, sudden and cold as the hand of death.

  Naima struck the stone one last, desperate time and felt it give out. She saw a piece of the stone fall, still glowing.

  A cry escaped her lips along with bubbles of air from her lungs as she caught it, trying to push herself out of the cave with sheer stubbornness.

  It didn't help. She was stuck, firmly, but Naima wasn't worried about her body getting torn in two. It was her mind.

  Naima's world slipped away. Distantly, she felt Janey pull her with strength she didn't know the slight girl possessed. Her fingernails dug into Naima's leg but there was nothing to be done as Naima was seconds from drowning.

  The scream came to her lips now unbidden. Her fingers had brushed against the stone before jamming it into her suit pocket. The contact had been so brief it was barely a second, but it felt like she'd seen the entire galaxy. It was impossible, yet so… real.

  Images flashed by Naima's eyes as she struggled and thrashed, more real than the world around her. It was like she had been flung through space and time itself, only to end up right where she’d started.

  … She saw lifestone, so much more of it. Huge repositories, shining like beacons in the endless night of space. Some were far beyond the Union's borders, so deep in space no living being had ever been so far.

  … A terrible touch of evil, flickering out of existence as soon as Naima saw it. For a second, the creature turned its gaze to her and it took the last of her breath away, emptying her lungs. Her entire being was overrun by an existence that wasn't hers. Horrible, unstoppable hunger and will to live threatened to tear her mind to pieces.

  Just as suddenly as it had appeared, it was gone.

  … And a woman with long silvery hair, looking right at her from an impossible distance. Naima didn't know how it was possible, but she glimpsed her soul too. A fierce, proud spirit stared at her, the connection feeling as if it were from the past and yet so present and in the moment that the two women could hold hands.

  Naima got the feeling the woman wanted to say something, wanted her to hear a warning, but reality came rushing back the second she let go of the stone in her pocket.

  She couldn't hold her breath anymore. There was nothing to hold in.

  The ocean rushed in between her lips as Janey ripped her out of the cave, the sharp stones gashing through her suit and skin. Blood rushed from Naima's wounds as Janey caught her. Naima could feel the painful lines of her nails on her legs, signs of how hard she'd been stuck.

  The last thing she knew was the rush of oxygen as Janey put her mask back on and Naima lost consciousness.

  She dreamed she was flying through space, but it was really Doug, pulling them both up slowly like Janey had signaled. Going up too fast would only exasperate the situation, even considering the fact that Naima was far from lucid.

  The impact with the Nautica's deck brought Naima back to reality only for a moment before the darkness fell again.

  3

  Naima

  The nightmares were the worst.

  It felt weird to state something so obvious, but Naima was pretty certain no one experienced the terror she saw in her dreams. Well, except for perhaps the mystery woman she’d seen in that flash at the bottom of the ocean. Naima got the feeling that she knew what it was like.

  In a matter of what could only be seconds as she grabbed the stone, it was like she’d been put through ten lifetimes of nightmares. The worst part was, they continued even after she got out of the water.

  It just felt so real.

  The creature she had seen was pure evil for the lack of a better term. Naima didn't believe in any living thing being that black or white, but the monster she'd seen... it was the opposite of everything good.

  When her fingers had brushed against the lifestone, Naima had felt the monster's gaze turn to her. She couldn't remember being that afraid in her life, as though the beast could step right through her mind's eye and bite her in half.

  And then, just as abruptly, it was gone, as if wiped from existence.

  With its death, Naima had found the strength to stick the little piece of lifestone into her pocket and Doug had pulled them up, barely alive.

  The whole crew had fretted for hours, but Naima had no idea until she woke up and they told her. In the panic for her life, none of them had searched her suit and found the stone. Janey had told them something had happened in the ocean and that it was better to wait for Naima to come back to them, but it seemed she hadn’t noticed Naima getting hold of the stone.

  "Don't touch it," were Naima's first words when she regained consciousness.

  "Touch what?" Doug asked, looking more worried than Naima had ever seen him. "What happened down there? You're pale as a ghost."

  "The stone..." Naima panted. "We found it...You–"

  Her mouth clamped shut as her mind reeled. That announcement was met with both silence and questions. Janey had already shared the news of their hopeful find of the lifestone, clearly, but everyone was talking over each other, wanting to know more.

  Only Captain Gordon and Doug remained silent, waiting for Naima to speak. It took a few moments until the crew settled enough for her to speak.

  "In my pocket," she managed to whisper. "Do not touch it."

  Naima knew she was being cryptic and not giving them much, but that was all her mind and tongue could bend to say at the moment. She was infinitely grateful for Doug's unquestionable trust in her.

  “Okay, Naima. Take your time,” Doug said, his voice steady and calm.

  After a bit more time to regain her footing, already feeling the aftershocks of coming up from the depths fast, Naima guided the crew through the task of safely removing the stone shard from her pocket. They retrieved it with care, using gloves and pinchers to move it into a magnetic field, suspending it in air.

  "Now what?" Doug repeated. "Naima, you have to tell us. What happened to you? I talked to Janey, but she only said you found it. And that you got stuck and all she thought about was trying to get you free. And you touched it? The Palians were very clear about not touching it…"

  Yeah, Naima thought. That wasn't my smartest move. First chance, I need to thank Janey and buy all of her drinks for the rest of our lives. If we ever see civilization again, that is.

  She wasn’t quite ready yet to have the whole conversation about why she touched it in the first place, though. It was not something that she would ever, being of sane mind, do. A scientist couldn’t afford to be reckless, yet that was exactly what she’d been.

>   As for Doug's questions, Naima hesitated. Under the calming lights and on the comforting solidity of the Nautica, the things she'd seen and done sounded even more absurd.

  "I don't know," she said honestly. "But I think that until we know what this is, we shouldn't tell anyone."

  Doug gave her a stern look.

  "If it is what we've been looking for–" he began, but Naima cut in.

  It was like her whole body pulsed pain when she thought of losing the stone. Every fiber of her being wanted to keep it as close as she could to herself, bypassing rational thought by a wide, sweeping mile.

  "Then I think it's better if we're sure before we hail the Palians. Doug, I'm telling you. I'm sure, but that thing... there is something going on with the stone. It's not exactly what we thought. Give me some time to study it. Please."

  "The Palians might know," Janey offered uncertainly, frowning.

  "We know," Naima countered. "This is our job. This is our one shot. I know now that they’d never let us see it again if we confirmed the location. There’s just no way. Not after… just trust me."

  Silence rang through the room and everyone looked at her. She wondered for a brief moment if they thought her crazy, but in the next second she decided that it would not matter. Not if it meant she could study the stone for a while longer. Whatever it was, she felt like the stone was now a part of her, attached as securely as a limb might be.

  She needed to know why that was.

  “Just a day or two,” Doug said finally, looking at her with worry. “As long as it is safe.”

  Naima’s mouth fell agape at his words. She’d never expected him to go for that crazy idea. Not Doug. Not the man who was always governed by rationality and knew exactly what it meant to hide scientific discoveries and the backlash that it could bring.

  Only when she got back to her room did she understand. The woman she saw reflected in the mirror was barely her. The long, red hair was still wet and Naima's green eyes showed her tiredness, but that wasn't the problem.