* * *
Nanto could taste the fear on her tongue; a putrid concoction of pheromones from a motley collection of races to test the imagination. The icy wind cut through her thick, heavy cape. She glanced back at the ship where Captain Drese and an armed escort kept a watchful guard on her. Their presence couldn’t dull the thumping fear in her chest—the aliens scavenging the ship’s perimeter were closer than ever, stoking up her people’s fear of invasion.
Nanto swallowed. What was she doing?
She walked on, one step after another, moving steadily closer to the rag-tag camp sheltering the aliens from the terrifying electric storms. Most aliens stayed at a reassuring distance. Bolder ones approached so close the scent of desperation became overpowering. Their curious eyes studied her as she observed them. One blue-skinned humanoid with green bug-like eyes had been watching her since she left the safety of the ship. A snarling to her left provoked a ferocious remonstration from others nearby that set her nerves on edge. Her stalker circled around to her right.
Nanto stood stock still, her heart hammering. The alien moved closer, emaciated skin covering a skeletal frame taller than her by a head.
When he emitted a high-pitched squeal loud enough to crack glass, Nanto started.
As the hovering pack broke into a frenzy of teeth-clicking and snapping, a primal fear exploded in Nanto’s belly. Drese and officers stormed in, their blades flashing.
Slaughter was a sword’s length away.
“Stop!” Nanto screamed.
Asterean and alien froze alike.
Nanto lowered her voice. “Captain, this moment will define our relationship with these aliens.”
Drese’ stern expression hardened, but then his eyes shifted behind her. She turned to find the blue teeth-clicking creature dropping down to sit cross-legged before her. Praying Drese would heed her words, Nanto followed suit. Tense seconds passed before Drese gestured his team to back off.
A clacking sound from her companion dispersed his friends in turn. Nanto offered a smile to her unexpected accomplice.
The alien teeth-chattered for several seconds and then sniffed the air. He scanned the ground. Nanto jumped when he plunged talons into the mud and pulled out a rodent by its tail. He offered the tiny grey mouse to Nanto. She shuddered with revulsion and the alien lifted his catch on high. Tilting back his head, he opened his jaws wide. Nanto couldn’t watch. When she looked back the sight of a large bulge passing down the alien’s translucent throat made her gag.
Heat flooded her cheeks. This starving alien had offered her food. Her rejection could have been more diplomatic. “But thank you,” she managed.
When her companion rolled onto his side and scrambled to his feet, her heart sank. She’d offended him. The alien moved several steps away, then stopped and looked back.
Curious, her hopes rising, Nanto joined him.
Her companion’s destination became clear when a trapdoor in the ground opened. A craggy face with a scraggly silver-dusted beard peered up at them.
A man.
So . . . there were others like them here.
The man paused briefly before climbing up the steps hewn into the substructure. He studied Nanto then scanned the broken ship dominating the desolate camp.
When he addressed her in an alien language, Nanto shook her head. “I do not understand.”
The man’s eyebrows shot up toward his thinning hair. “You be from the Galacticus Elecion then?” he asked in an ancient dialect she did recognize.
“No, we crashed here.”
“Aye, we heard your arrival from the mountains.” His expression shifted to a frown. “So you be prisoners of the Formorri.”
“The Formorri? I have heard that name before.”
“Woman, it be strange if you did not. They own this universe.”
“Universe?” Nanto struggled to adjust her thinking. “Where I come from the Formorri exist only as legend in ancient scripture.”
“Ancient be right. The Formorri rule supreme. But now the Galacticus Elecion is reclaiming back its territory. My ship was part of a defense line for the Susyt system. The enemy emerged out of nowhere and here we are—trapped on a Formorri prison trying to survive.”
Prison. This planet was a prison? Her people were caught up in a war not of their making.
“Is Earth part of your universe?” she asked.
“Dinna recognize the name.”
“What about Astereal?”
He stroked his beard and shrugged. “There be millions of planets.”
“Millions? Inhabited?”
“Many, some alien like Curbal here,” he gestured at her guide, “and the Formorri. Some be like your kind and mine. If you dinna mind my asking, you have no talent, but I can sense your people watching over you.” He nodded to their left.
“Something happened to me.” Nanto shuddered. “I do not know what.”
“Ah, the Formorri wiped you.” The man’s gaze softened. “That must be hard. Just you?”
“Yes.”
Curbal launched into a series of clicks that had the stranger scratching his head before his gaze returned to Nanto. “You be a bridge builder then?”
“I was.”
He nodded as if that explained everything then glanced at Captain Drese walking towards them. Nanto realized with a jolt that this stranger and Drese must have shared some telepathic communication she hadn’t detected.
The newcomer turned back to Nanto. “I am Echal. Introduce me to your escort and we will negotiate your membership.”
“Membership?”
“Of the Resistance. One day the Galacticus Elecion will come for us and we need to make ready.” The man’s eyes darkened. “For on that day, no god will save Lugus from the defeat we will inflict upon him.”
Lugus. The name had a haunting quality, an echo that struck dread into Nanto’s heart.
A World of Worlds Page 9