“I would think that you would be more upset to lose your little sex toy,” Clark bites out. Kajin narrows his eyes, reaching out to grasp the human man by his shirt collar. He draws him in closer, pulling him off his feet and meeting his gaze with a steely expression.
"I will thank you for showing my mate the respect she deserves," he begins, hesitating before turning to face me. "I know the Earth is your home, and I would not presume to ask you to remain here with me. However, I want you to know that my soul is forever entwined with yours. We are fated to be, in the everlasting afterlife. I love you, Kara," he says gently. My eyes widen, and I can do little but throw my arms around his neck, drawing him in for a passionate kiss.
“I love you too,” I whisper against his lips, drawing away and shooting Clark a dirty look. “I intend to remain here, with you and your people. Space travel has always been my dream, and you, Kajin, are a dream come true. I dare not lose you for the sake of a home that is no longer my own,” I murmur, holding him close. He inhales a shuddering breath, pulling away to consider me with his wide and dark eyes.
“You are sure this is what you want?” He asks gently, and I nod my head fervently in response.
“I could want nothing more. Let’s see Clark to his rescue pod, and I can finally return to my studies here, in peace,” I say, glancing to Clark with pursed lips. He watches the two of us with wide eyes, sputtering nearly incoherently.
“Kara! You can’t stay here! The Earth is your home! Have you gone absolutely mad?” He cries out, struggling as Kajin takes him by the arm and guides him out of our now-shared home.
“If love is a form of madness, consider me absolutely batty,” I say with a smirk. I lead the men to the crash site turned rescue site, spotting an earth vessel long before we reach the location. I hesitate, glancing to Kajin with a soft smile. “I will say my goodbyes, and then… it’s the two of us, here on out,” I murmur. Kajin nods obligingly, trailing after me as I make my way to the human vessel.
“Captain Nolan! You did survive! It’s so wonderful to see you in one piece,” the apparent captain of the rescue vessel announces. I nod my head politely, speaking before Clark can possibly interrupt me.
“I indeed survived the crash. However, I will not be returning to Earth with you and your crew. My research is needed on this planet. I simply wanted to bid Clark farewell, and establish that I am remaining here of my free will,” I say firmly. The captain’s eyes widen, and he glances to where Kajin stands behind me. He seems to consider my words, and I’m certain he will try to convince me to return with them. However, he simply shakes his head before guiding Clark into the ship.
“As you wish, Captain Nolan. If you ever wish to return to Earth, we will be but a signal away,” he says kindly. I’m more than mildly taken aback, but manage a broad smile.
"I don't think that will be necessary, but… thank you, captain. God speed," I say grandly. He salutes before ducking into the rescue vessel. Kajin steps up beside me, reaching out to take my hand.
“I will not be upset if you leave. I don’t want you to feel forced to remain here,” Kajin murmurs, watching as the thrusters for the ship begin to ignite. “This is your last chance, for some time, Kara. Are you sure this is what you want?” He inquires.
“I want you, Kajin. That’s all. I want only you,” I smile. He gathers me in his arms, and the two of us watch as the rescue vessel takes to the sky. Though I know I am leaving my entire life behind, I’m confident in the life I will begin anew. I’ve always been an explorer, my dreams to explore the vast depths of space. However, it seems that in my journey I have found something better, something so much more. My new dream is to explore this feeling, this sensation of love unlike any I have felt before. It wasn’t just my escape pod that crashed on this planet, my heart crashed alongside it.
Such is the splendid result of unexpected landings.
Slaved
~ Bonus Story ~
An Alien Abduction Romance
Lyra has always known Earth Two wasn't entirely under human control. Places called 'Out Zones' litter the planet - places uncharted by human explorers, and known to be inhabited by tribal natives known as the Ammarok. As a resident since childhood, though, she's always been curious, always wondered what life was like in the Out Zones, outside of the confines of the Compounds that housed human civilization. On evening trek leaves her stranded outside, in one such Out Zone, and she's taken in by two warrior Ammarok men. She quickly learns that she may be getting more for the price of her curiosity than she originally thought.
* * *
I
Lyra
The air was chilly that night, biting at Lyra’s skin despite the pull-over that she wore. She supposed that she could have worn something a little more appropriate, but to her credit, she had been so excited about this night that it had slipped her mind. I wasn’t every day, after all, that one found an opening in the Compound’s walls, a gateway into the outside world.
As she moved in the shadows, avoiding the blue-green beams of floating scanners moving here and there through the air, her heart beat faster than her legs carried her. The closest Out Zone was only another block or so away, and she had happened upon it by accident less than a week ago. It had been a wonder to her that she had managed to wait so long to go exploring, but preparations had to be made.
Earth Two had only been occupied for about fifteen years. She had been five when her father, an Admiral in the Earth’s Intergalactic Navy, had been stationed there as a part of the starting colony. She barely remembered what Earth was like – but she loved everything about Earth Two (except perhaps the uninventive name; scientists, it seemed, weren’t always the most creative people.) It was a beautiful planet, nearly three times as large as Earth with more sustainable resources and untapped potential. The colony had flourished in the fifteen years of its start, expanding into more territories, save for the Out Zones.
The Out Zones were unexplored terrain, occupied by native colonies of creatures that were rumored to be warrior-like tribes. The original masterminds behind the colonization of Earth One had wanted to avoid the many problems that had happened on Earth is mass colonialization – namely the destruction and near extinction of native populations. It was different… perhaps a little trickier when the native populations were alien and not human in nature, but a full-scale extermination wasn’t something that anyone wanted to have happen.
Lyra could understand that. She respected life. It was a creed that she had lived and breathed, what with being raised by her father, and him being the kind man that he was. When technology quite literally gave you the ability to span galaxies, you couldn’t approach your exploration with conquering everything in your path in mind.
That being said, she was painfully curious. She wasn’t a scientist in practice – she didn’t like the stuffy conditions, really – but she desired exploration. There was only so much of that that would be done within Earth Two’s Compounds – the great expanses of colonized lands that were surrounded by reinforced holographic walls – and she had always wanted to see what was out there, what more there was that the world had to offer. She wasn’t afraid of what she would find; in all honesty, it made everything all the more interesting and thrilling not knowing what she would find out there.
It was that thrill that kept her ducking around through the night. She was prone to late-night jogs, and it had been one of those jogs that led her to the breach in the wall she had discovered. As she came upon it again, she was excited to see that it was still there. The holographic walls weren’t conventional brick and mortar walls. They were completely invisible, aside from the steel pillars that rose about twenty feet into the air every fifty miles or so around the Compound. One wouldn’t be able to notice the wall itself, aside from these pillars, but when there was a hole in holographic code, rather than appearing as nonexistent, it was a vibrating shimmer. It was easy to overlook, but Lyra hadn’t.
She was immensely happy for that fac
t.
Flashlight in hand, she looked left, then right, and slipped through. The break in the holographic code was just large enough for a person to get through, and she wondered if it had been someone going in or coming out that had made it – perhaps it was an animal. That was curiosity that she didn’t have time to indulge, however. She was outside, now, and she breathed in.
The holographic walls had an image projected onto them, which made everything past the wall look as though it were merely an open plain of grass. It was pleasing to look at, but what Lyra found on the other side was far more interesting. There were trees, huge, magnificent trees, farther than her eyes could take in. Even in the dimness of the evening, the moonlight illuminated the great collection of foliage in front of her, almost making the rich greens and browns glow beneath the shine in the sky.
Lyra didn’t even need to make use of her flashlight, though she kept it in hand. She walked forward, stalking almost like a cat through the forest. There was the occasional croak and snap of an animal, but she wasn’t attacked, nor was she approached by anything. Her exploration was peaceful, encompassed by the sights and sounds of the unexplored nighttime, and the satiation of finally, finally, stepping out of the encased world that she lived in.
She had every intention of wondering her way deep into the forest, letting her feet take her wherever they cared to let her go. The deeper she got, the darker it got, though. Her attention taken off her footing in order to pay attention to turning on her flashlight was the single second of lapse that was needed to lose her footing, and send her spiraling down the steep incline of a hill she hadn’t realized she was stop.
Everything went black.
II
Lyra
The first thing Lyra picked up was the scent of cooking meat. It was succulent, almost a little sweet, and it made her stomach rumble in want and her mouth water voraciously. The next thing she noticed, as she rolled over on – was that a bed? Cot, perhaps? – was the sound of voices speaking. She was able to pick up that there were two, distinctly male.
Though she knew she should have been, she wasn’t afraid. Concerned, perhaps, but not afraid. She wasn’t dead and aside from the persistent throbbing pain in her ankle (that became a bit more prominent the more conscious that she became) she didn’t feel like she was harmed in any other way – and to be fair, the ankle was her fault. She remembered the tumble, the black out. Lyra tried to wiggle her foot a bit, and stopped as soon as the stab of pain shot through the joint.
Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea…
She sighed, though, and sat up after blinking a few times. Her surroundings where… Well.
It was an intricate blend of technology and nature. The room she was in looked to be made of wood – but the grooves within the bark glowed in green light, looking like circuitry set into the bark. There was a window to one side, and Lyra could tell it was made out of the same sort of holographic program that the walls surrounding the Compound where; wind whipped through the trees on the other side, but none of that wind made its way inside.
Other than that, the room itself was bare, aside from the cot that she was on. The door to the far side of the room was nothing more than an entryway – no actual door to speak of. It was through there that she heard the voices. It sounded as though they were speaking a different language, and it was at that she weighed her options.
She could try to sneak out. That would have been the first choice – had her ankle not been shot to shit as it was. She tested trying to put weight on it as she listened to the men talking in the other room, and hissed as the pain shot worse through her foot.
Okay. So, she wasn’t going to do that.
She could easily just wait around until they came in to check on her, if that was something that they did. Or… she could bring them to her.
“Hello?” she called out to them. “Anyone out there?”
The talking stopped. She heard a low exchange of voices, before footfalls came. In the doorway of her room appeared two striking men, and she openly gaped for a moment.
They both had to be about six feet tall, if not taller. They’d certainly dwarf her figure if they stood next to her (well, if she could stand) and had long, thick onyx-toned hair. Their skin, which was inked in intricate black tattoos, curling and winding over their supple flesh, was near the same shade of deep russet as her own – but it was their eyes that made them more other-worldly than anything. They were bright green, and set into feline-angled faces made them look distinctly panther-like in nature, and all the more alluring.
An embarrassed flushed rose up on her skin, deepening her complexion as she realized she was staring so blatantly. The man on the left tilted his head at her, a thick brow raised in curiosity. He said something lowly to his companion, who nodded, and they both stepped forward. Instinctually, she sat up a little straighter, but neither made a move to hurt her in anyway – the man on the left reached out, and brushed some of her thick, auburn hair out of her face.
“How do you feel?”
The shock was evident on her face as she heard the words come from him.
“You speak Galactic Common?” she asked him, surprised. His brows furrowed, before he chuckled.
“Most people do. You – are from the Outsiders’ colony, yes?”
She assumed that meant the Compound, and she nodded.
“Yes, I am.”
“Did they abandon you?”
“Abandon me? Oh… no. No I came out here exploring and I didn’t pay attention to where I was going and fell. I think I tripped down a hill.”
He nodded.
“We found you while hunting at the edge of the village. You were surrounded by a pack of Starkee… They would have eaten you.”
Lyra had no idea what Starkee were, but she was under the impression that she should be thankful that she hadn’t been eaten by them, whatever they were. She nodded.
“I suppose I owe you a thanks.”
“It is unnecessary.” This time, the other man spoke, drawing her attention. “It is the way of the Ammarok.”
Curiosity continued to burn at her. Starkee… Ammarok… Words that she was unfamiliar with in all ways, and wanted to know more of. Lyra had honestly not expected to come across people when she ventured out – she had thought that there weren’t any so close to the Compound – but here she was. She owed them her life.
There was one thing that pressed at her mind, though. Considering she hadn’t expected to find anyone, let alone be injured to the point of being unable to walk properly, she wondered how she was supposed to get back. The Compound had a strict rule against interacting with any of the native populations; it was part of the reason that the walls projected the images that they did. Out of sight, out of mind. People couldn’t be curious over what they couldn’t see to exist.
She wondered if these people, these two Ammarok men and their village, were of the same mind. She shifted, biting her lip as she thought about it, not wanting to appear rude in asking, but also feeling the need to know.
“I hate to ask,” she said. “But when will I be able to go back? To my home, I mean. I had only intended exploring, after all…”
The two men exchanged a look.
“Go back?” the one to the left said. “Why would you go back?”
“You’re staying here, aren’t you?” the other asked.
He sounded confused that she would even suggest such a thing, which only made her furrow her brows, her own confusion showing in abundance. She bit her lip.
“No?” she questioned, slowly, thinking perhaps there was a misunderstanding of sorts.
“Yes,” the one to the right corrected. “We found you. You’re ours.”
Suddenly, the two men weren’t so alluring.
III
Lyra
The pain in her ankle persisted, but she didn’t stop. She needed to get home, and there was only one way that she was going to be able to do so – escape.
Le’on and Karron – the two
Ammarok warriors who had briefly been her salvation – hadn’t harmed her. She could at the very least say that. They hadn’t laid a hand on her the four days that she had remained in their home. That being said, those four days had taught her enough information about their people to know that perhaps she had bitten off more than she could chew when it came to being curious about the Out Zones.
We found you. You’re ours. That was quite literal to them, their people. The Ammarok weren’t male-dominated in the traditional sense. Most of their people tended to be male, and therefore most of their warriors, their leaders, were male. Their female population was drastically low, so much so that… well…
She had learned they often shared their females, and if they found a woman, as they had found her, wondering about, that appealed to them, they would take her as their own. It was as common as eating, and it was accepted among them – by the men and women alike.
Le’on and Karron were two of the Ammarok’s prized warriors, and had their pick of any females that they wanted among their kind or the neighboring groups of natives on Earth Two (which was called Ma’terra, to those who had lived there before the colonization of the Compounds.) They had been best friends since childhood, had shared their lives, battles, and women all their lives. It was their time to take a permanent mate however, but the only females available in their village were the elderly Mothers of All, as they were called, or young girls far too fresh in their youth to be bred off to warrior men.
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