The Mercenary's Dawn

by L P Peace

  ‘Alethia.’

  Alethia opened her eyes, startled by the anger and fear in Makios’s voice.

  ‘I have to get you to the medic,’ he said, turning.

  ‘I thought we have to get off the ship?’

  Makios shook his head. ‘You’re seriously concussed,’ he said. ‘I have to get you to a medic.’

  She remembered the planet. Thanesh was looking at her with concern. Her hand came away with blood on it. He held a patch to her head.

  ‘Med kit, escape pods.’

  Makios looked at her.

  ‘Concussion. Nanites. Thanesh used it on the planet. He won’t bite me anymore. I love it when he bites me.’

  ‘Err, more information than I needed, Alethia.’ Makios’s rich voice rumbled with laughter. It added texture to the blaring alarm that scrambled her mind.

  ‘You’re sure about the med kit?’ His voice was uncertain.

  ‘It’s good stuff,’ she said, her head falling onto his shoulder. Her eyes closed. ‘We need it.’

  ‘Alethia.’

  He was shaking her this time.

  ‘Hang on,’ he whispered. ‘We’re almost there.’

  Voices called out. Alethia couldn’t understand what they were saying, but Makios stopped suddenly.

  ‘No.’ His voice was stricken. ‘No, please. She needs help.’

  Alethia felt someone wrench her from Makios’s arms. She heard him shouting. Fighting. The indistinct slaps of meat on meat, dull thuds that promised pain and death.

  An electronic noise was followed by a roar.

  Darkness took her.

  Darkness let her go.

  She knew he was Cealin the moment she saw him, though she’d never seen one before. Her mother’s descriptions had, at once, been accurate and done his kind no justice.

  He was beautiful.

  ‘How is your head?’ he asked. His hands hung between them, holding a wet cloth in it that was stained with red blood. Her blood.

  Alethia thought about the question. Then remembered why it was important.

  ‘Better,’ she said, nodding at him in thanks.

  He smiled, watching her with a wondrous look.

  ‘Where is my friend? The Kathen?’

  ‘Hmmm, interesting species. White but they tattoo themselves with red markings that display their history and tribalism.’ Distaste curled his lip. ‘Primitive. It has its history in the Kathen’s tribal past.’

  He touched her face. Long elegant fingers grazing up her cheeks.

  Alethia wanted to shrink away but couldn’t move her head. A quick and panicked assessment told her she couldn’t move anything.

  ‘You didn’t answer my question,’ she pointed out.

  ‘He’s secure.’

  The Cealin’s long hair was tied back, but a section at the front, acting like a fringe, slipped forward to partially obscure his face.

  ‘Why can’t I move?’ She felt the panic spread.

  ‘I paralysed you,’ he said matter-of-factly. ‘But don’t worry, it’s temporary.’

  ‘Why did you paralyse me?’ she was whispering now. She didn’t want to know what this male intended on doing with her. All of her worst nightmares were suddenly coming true.

  ‘Do you see that?’ His finger appeared on the edge of her vision, pointing up. Alethia’s eyes followed. The array sat over her. It had thousands of tiny projectors set into the ceiling in the abstract shape of a humanoid. Alethia had heard of the technology but never seen it.

  ‘I’m going to graft some genes onto your DNA.’ He smiled at her, an excited gleam in his eye. ‘That will get rid of the UV sensitivity you have.’ He cupped the side of her face and ran his thumb over her lips. ‘It will make you as long-lived as me and the Protectorate lover of yours.’ He ran another finger over the still-healing scar left by Thanesh’s bite. ‘Along with the gene graft you got from this,’ he tapped the scar, ‘you’ll be a true female of his race and truly worthy of me.’

  ‘You?’ Alethia heard panic in her voice.

  The Cealin nodded. ‘Three hundred solars ago, I made them. But the general in charge wanted the credit.’ The Cealin sighed. ‘I set one of them loose to cause some chaos so I could kill him.’

  ‘Thanesh,’ Alethia gasped.

  ‘Is that who gave you this scar?’ He tapped her neck again. ‘Perfect,’ he whispered. He looked back at her, something akin to adoration in his eyes.

  ‘Thanesh,’ he said the name slowly, ‘was far more efficient a leader and killer than I designed him to be. I had to run. My people exiled me. I had to fuck aliens for three hundred solars.’ The Cealin ran his hand and eyes over her neck and collarbone.

  ‘I’m an alien,’ she pointed out.

  He looked into her eyes. ‘You were. Now you are my creation.’ His breathing grew shallower and faster as he stared into her face. ‘Mine.’

  Alethia’s breath caught in her throat. She stayed quiet as he seemed to gather control.

  ‘I was a loyal empire male back then.’ He moved back a little, his eyes resuming his exploration of her. ‘Our plan was to send the altered humans back to your planet and take control, use your people for our will. We would have had an army of billions to conquer an empire. I would have been the means of bringing that about. Celebrated and lauded by my people for centuries.’ The smile that briefly lit his face was, once again, replaced with an old, entrenched anger.

  ‘My plans these rotes are a little more ambitious. Those Cealin females rejected me for three hundred solars.’ Once more, he looked into her eyes. ‘So, you will be my empress.’

  ‘I’d like to decline that offer,’ she whispered.

  He smiled at her; it was cold and cruel. ‘Did you know that Amarans like to watch their partners fuck and be fucked by other people?’

  Alethia felt the bottom drop out of her world.

  ‘The Ilan, their emperor, goes so far as to find bonding species and bond males to their Ilia and Ilidan. That way, they have bodyguards willing to lay down their lives and he gets to enjoy watching them get fucked. I’m going to enjoy watching Thanesh fuck you, and I’m going to enjoy hurting you to punish him.’

  ‘I don’t think he really cares about me all that much,’ Alethia lied.

  The Cealin’s look told him he saw through her.

  ‘He’s been calling for you in his sleep, Alethia. He’s so scared something will happen to you.’ His smile was sadistic. ‘I think he would do just about anything to keep you safe.’

  He stroked her face and neck before leaning over and licking the scar Thanesh had left.

  ‘Did it make you cum? I used Fedhith venom and designed it to make your females cum. The more you cum, the more you want to fuck, the quicker it changes your body to become compatible to breed with him. His mating instincts should have kicked in by now. Has he started scent marking you yet? The longer he’s mated to you, the more possessive he’ll become. That’s the Sehn and Adosian genes I altered. He who controls the mate controls the warrior.’ He licked her scar again. ‘I’m surprised you’re not covered in bite marks. Have you only fucked once?

  Alethia’s head spun from the amount of information Kallis was hurling at her. She couldn’t get it all straight in her mind, so gave up trying. ‘You say fucked and fuck instead of vrok. Why?’

  He stood. His hand settled on her lower abdomen, over her womb. ‘Harrison Walker.’

  Alethia frowned.

  ‘Thanesh’s name, back before I began my work on him.’ The Cealin’s eyes travelled down her body. Alethia’s skin prickled under his gaze. ‘We had many conversations while he was strapped to this table. I learned all sorts of things about your species.’ He looked into her eyes, a heated look in his, a mischievous smile on his lips. ‘I prefer fuck and fucked to vrok. I think I’ll have to acquire my own pair of fangs.’ His eyes turned to her neck and he smiled again. ‘But first, we must begin.’ He disappeared.

  ‘Please don’t hurt me.’ Alethia stared up at the array.

>   His face appeared above her again. This time, it was filled with concern. He stroked her hair. ‘Hush, hush, it’s fine,’ he whispered. ‘The benefits will long outlast the pain.’

  With that, he was gone. Alethia listened to him cross the room and tried to move her head to follow him.

  ‘You have to be completely paralysed or the pain will have you writhing, and the lasers will blind you. We wouldn’t want that now, would we?’

  Above her, the array lit up and a thousand projections of light covered her, surrounding her with light.

  Despite being paralysed, Alethia could feel pinpricks, like pins and needles against her skin. The pins and needles penetrated and turned to daggers. The daggers heated and turned to molten fire.

  Alethia screamed.

  A face swam up from memory. It leaned over Thanesh and whispered plans; he woke, opening his eyes and saw the face from the dream before him.

  ‘Kallis,’ he sneered. His voice was gravelly, his throat dry.

  ‘Thanesh,’ Kallis smiled. ‘I wonder, did you choose the name or did you let the Amarans choose it for you like a good little pet?’

  ‘I would rather be their pet than your slave.’

  ‘When I wipe your memory, you’ll be my slave, my pet, my warrior, my protector and my lover.’ Kallis’s eyes sparkled. ‘After your actions got me exiled, I was sold as a slave and bought by an Amaran. We were in the same space at the same time.’ The laugh that erupted from him was mocking. ‘Did you know there is a whole subculture of Amarans who enjoy inflicting more pain on their Adalan than they can withstand? I was a replacement for a while, but then I got quite a taste for it. They taught me so much. I can’t wait to show you.’

  ‘Vrok you.’

  ‘I’m so glad the Ulidon didn’t get you, or I’d never have gotten our girl over there.’ Kallis lifted his head and looked across Thanesh’s body.

  He knew what he would see before he looked. A cold fist closed around his heart when he saw Alethia lay on a platform several fenth across the room from him. Her hair was soaked with sweat, which gleamed in the light coming from the ceiling above them. Her partially naked body was covered by a sheet which fell from above her breasts to her thighs. She was twitching and spasming; moaning and gasping, in obvious pain.

  ‘She’s stunning,’ Kallis breathed next to him. ‘I can only commend your taste, Thanesh. I’m so thrilled you brought her into our lives.’

  Thanesh tried to sit up, but his movement was restricted by thick chains. He looked from the manacles on his wrist to Alethia beyond them and pulled with all his might, feeling a desperate, overwhelming need to get to her. After a while, he realised Kallis was laughing at him.

  ‘I see your mating instincts are well on the way. I asked her, but she declined to answer. Have you scent marked her yet?’

  Thanesh turned to Kallis and envisioned a hundred different ways he could kill the Cealin, ranging from quick to solars.

  His smile widened. ‘I see you have. Excellent. She is how I intend on controlling you. Such a gift.’ He looked back to Alethia. There was a raw need in Kallis’s voice now.

  ‘What have you done to her?’ Thanesh couldn’t keep the fear and panic out of his voice.

  ‘You started the process when you bit her. I’m simply completing it quicker. I’ve made some refinements to the graft over the centuries.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  Kallis smiled down at him. There was fondness in his face.

  ‘I designed your venom.’ Kallis reached out and peeled Thanesh’s upper lip back. ‘It alters human females to make them compatible for breeding. You had figured out you used to be human by now? Am I correct?’

  ‘We ‘figured’ it out and I already knew about the venom. Get back to Alethia and these ‘refinements’,’ he snarled.

  Kallis looked at her. There were lust and adoration in his eyes. ‘Her body will react more violently to the venom. We’re going to enjoy that so much. She’ll be more fertile, able to give us both many children.’

  ‘Will she change?’ Thanesh looked back at Alethia. ‘Physically?’

  ‘Not obviously,’ Kallis said. The scientist’s cold tones returned. ‘When we created you, I decalcified your bones so that they could grow into your larger size. That was a small but crucial part of the process. We lost dozens of your people. I won’t risk her. By the time this is done, she’ll no longer be sensitive to the sun. She’ll have your increased senses, somewhat of our strength, though we don’t want her too strong, do we?’ he said in a conspiratorial tone. ‘More importantly, she’ll have our longer life span. We’ll have so much fun with her.’

  ‘You will not touch her,’ Thanesh vowed. He strained against his bonds.

  Kallis looked down at him, the fond look was back.

  ‘By the time I’m done here, you won’t remember anything I don’t want you to. You and I will be best friends, and we’ll enjoy sharing Alethia. Though I do intend on hurting her to punish you when you fail me.’ He looked back down at Thanesh, a cruel look on his face. ‘Now that will be fun.’ His voice had become thick and husky.

  Kallis looked back to Alethia. Dark thoughts crossed his face as he licked his lips and smiled. Then suddenly, his reverie broke.

  ‘Enjoy.’ He nodded at her. ‘I have work to be getting on with.’

  Thanesh heard the door close behind him. His eyes were locked on the other platform and the pale, pained figure atop it.

  ‘Alethia,’ he called out to her. ‘Alethia, wake up. Alethia.’

  Her head turned to him, her eyes opened, They were definitely paler. Though she still flinched and moaned, her body became still.

  ‘Alethia, hold on. I am going to get you out of here.’

  Uncomprehending eyes searched his face, then her lids fluttered closed and the pained movement and noises began once more. Each flinch, each whimper felt like a spike to his heart.

  Thanesh looked back down at the manacles and pulled against them until they cut into his flesh and blood poured to the floor. He continued long after red puddles had formed beneath him.

  Dairon poured himself a drink. ‘Want one?’ He looked at Keral, who sat on Dairon’s bed dealing another hand of Dunsorrot. Keral nodded in answer.

  Of course, this bed wasn’t actually Dairon’s. He and the ex-slaves he and his sister rescued had been picked up several days before. They were given quarters; Invictus was currently sitting on a pad in Keral’s landing bay. The Aavani and Mvari, Niada and Idila, were sharing a room on the deck below Dairon’s. The human, Kyle, was in Medbay recuperating from the life-threatening injuries inflicted by his Tinar owner.

  Pouring Keral a drink, Dairon returned to the bed and sighed.

  ‘I really don’t want to play again,’ he said.

  Keral nodded and continued dealing. ‘Dunsorrot is a Kuyon game.’ He looked up at him. ‘You should know this. It is your heritage.’ The male’s voice was guttural and quiet. He’d spent much of the last several days in Dairon’s room keeping him company.

  ‘How’s Kyle doing?’ he asked.

  ‘Better,’ he said. ‘Much better.’ He finished dealing the cards and laid the remaining deck on the desk he’d dragged to the bottom of the bed. Dairon placed their drinks beside the deck. ‘He is eating. His leg has healed. Still does not trust non-humans. Cannot say I blame him.’

  ‘He’s had a hard time of it,’ Dairon said, picking up his hand and inspecting it. It wasn’t that Dairon didn’t like the game. He had played it as a child with his parents. It was just that he was no good at it and he hated playing knowing he was going to lose.

  ‘Sir?’ a voice rang out from a device on Keral’s uniform. Keral touched it.

  ‘Go ahead.’

  ‘We have reached the Teralis system, we are taking a stationary orbit behind the gas giant, but there is no sign of High-Protector Thanesh’s ship.’

  ‘Hmmm. Check the scan diagnostics. Is there a fault?’

  ‘I already did,’ the
voice continued. ‘The scanner’s fine. There’s just no sign, sir.’

  Dairon felt a tickling, creeping sensation in his brain. Immediately, he knew what it was.

  Keral frowned at Dairon as he stood, dropping his hand on the bed.

  ‘Deyuul?’

  ‘Thank vrok, Dairon. It’s a trap,’ Deyuul’s voice overlaid across Dairon’s mind. ‘They took the Protectorate ship; they have ships in the gas giant.’

  ‘They have ships in the gas giant,’ Dairon repeated, his voice panicked.

  Keral looked down at Dairon, confusion on his face. ‘What?’

  ‘Deyuul, where are you?’ Dairon asked.

  ‘In the clouds, avoiding the Cealin ships.’

  ‘What are you on about?’ Keral snapped, panic on his face.

  ‘I have an Uunda friend. His ship is in the clouds of the gas giant. He says there are ships in there waiting for us.’

  ‘Deyuul, where’s the other Protectorate ship?’

  ‘Here,’ his voice returned. ‘They took everyone to the planet, including Makios and Alethia.’ There was a pause. ‘They’ve detected you. They’re moving out.’

  Dairon looked at Keral.

  ‘The Cealin are about to attack.’

  Keral stared at Dairon for a moment, an assessing look on his face. He touched the communicator on his uniform.

  ‘Bridge prepare for an attack. We have incoming.’ He took his hand off the comm. ‘If you are lying to me—’

  ‘I’m not.’

  Keral nodded.

  ‘Their forces are strong, Dairon,’ Deyuul’s voice returned. ‘Their technology is advanced. Get to your ship.’

  ‘Just do it,’ Keral’s voice answered a confused query from the Bridge.

  ‘Deyuul thinks they’re too advanced for us to fight. He wants me to get to my ship.’

  Keral stared at him for a moment. He looked like he was second-guessing the last minute.

  The impact threw them off their feet. Alarms blared as the lights switched to red.

  ‘Turn that vrokking alarm off,’ Keral snapped into his comm. He sprang to his feet.

  ‘They’re boarding,’ Deyuul said.