ALIEN SHIFTER ROMANCE: Alien Tigers - The Complete Series (Alien Invasion Abduction Shapeshifter Romance) (Paranormal Science Fiction Fantasy Anthologies & Short reads)

by Tanya Jolie

  “Why do you feel the need to ask me that just when I've woken up, Hetty?” he asks me. “I've only just opened my eyes. How the hell should I know how I'm doing?” His deep, grumbling voice seems to lighten throughout the day, until he comes fully to life just before we’re ready to go back to bed. He’s got graying hair, which he keeps cut short and, for some reason, wears a pair of antiquated wire rimmed spectacles to correct an eyesight problem the medic could have cured in a matter of seconds. Deakins’ square face levers up to look at me, and a little grimace crosses his face.

  “We’re still really aboard this thing then?” I nod back at him with a sympathetic look on my face. “Shit. Thought I might have been in the middle of a nightmare,” he adds grumpily.

  We’re past the panic and fear of the first day or so. People can only go on like that for so long after all. I think it was Deakins who calmed down first, coming to the conclusion we weren’t in any immediate danger of being eaten, dissected or used for some other nefarious project. I felt the tension drain from me after about fifteen hours, exhausted and weak. Whoever, whatever, these creatures are, they feed and water us and haven’t shown any ill intent. When you actually take everything into consideration, we invaded their ship, and they saved us from the awful fate the others shared.

  I can see where the other two are coming from. They might have saved us, but we are in some kind of captive state and have been here more than long enough to be taken back to the nearest human settlement.

  We both look over as Nerravin whimpers in her sleep, waking herself up.

  “What you two looking at?” she says grumpily at Deakins and me.

  “Nothing,” I tell her, making a face at the older man. “Nothing at all.”

  “Good,” She swings her legs from the odd beds we have been assigned. These tilted ever so slightly toward the headend, increasing blood flow during sleep, even if you turned around so your feet were lower. It adjusted while you slept. “Cos I want you two to keep your eyes open now we’ve got some access to this bird.” Nerravin's military style of speech makes her sound as tough as she probably is. “Look for anything we might be able to use to our advantage. We can still get back to human space. We just have to find a way.”

  I shake my head. “I’ll get right on that,” I tell her with a more than a little sarcasm. “Just as soon as I overpower the crew of this...this...whatever this thing is, Deakins here can figure out their entire language, and we can pilot it all the way home.”

  Deakins snorts a laugh.

  Nerravin looks from one of us to the other. “Yeah, laugh it up while you can cos when the shit hits the fan, you two are gonna be looking to me to save your sorry asses,” Nerravin lectures.

  I roll my eyes in Deakins’ direction, and he laughs again, heading for the bathroom.

  Nerravin fixes me with a glare as she stretches, her lithe, muscled body a complete contrast to my own. “Seriously Hetty,” she says, while squatting and placing both hands flat on the floor. She grimaces, her face turning into a mask of abject disgust. “This fucking floor’s warm,” she spits, standing back up and abandoning whatever calisthenics she was about to do. “You need to make sure you know who your friends are.” She casts a glance in the direction Deakins just left.

  “Oh, I’m fairly sure I know who my friends are,” I tell her. “What about you?”

  Nerravin looks at me with daggers in her gaze. I had been keeping an eye on her since we came aboard, tried to talk to her a couple of times, feel her guilt and pain at failing to keep those people safe like she was supposed to. She pretty much rebuked me at every turn in the first couple of days, and I’d left her with it.

  In the last couple of days, her concentration turned to somehow taking over the ship we were on or stealing some kind of space-faring craft and escaping back home. I think Deakins and I have a better grasp of the situation. We’ve been taken away from our former lives, willingly I admit, by a species of alien we had no idea existed. Whether that is a kind intervention or not remains to be seen. However, neither of us is under the illusion we will be able to escape.

  “My friends died on Erenius 3,” Nerravin says shortly. Her face changes, her expression becoming one of guile and sneakiness. “You’ve been keeping company with them haven't you?” she queries, meaning the alien species whose ship we had escaped aboard.

  “What do you expect? I'm an exobiologist this is like...I don’t know.” I feel the familiar excitement welling up inside me, “Every little girl's dream, every Christmas present, every hope, dream and wish I could ever have, granted at once.” She frowns at my obvious enthusiasm, but I continue. “I’m going to make every effort to communicate with our hosts, learn every single thing I can about them, history, culture, biology, everything,” I shake my head at her. “See this as the opportunity it is rather than working off a base of obvious mistrust.”

  Nerravin coughs a bitter laugh. “You’re fucking deluded, man! You got no clue what these animals are going to do to us. Experiments...fucking probes up the ass or some shit like that, man.”

  Deakins comes back from the head – it probably gave him head – and stares at Nerravin as if she is some kind of alien herself,

  “Ah, the eloquence of the ex-marine at work I hear,” he says, turning to me. “Beautiful is it not?”

  I smirk. Deakins could be really funny at times, as miserable as sin others.

  “Observant too,” I mutter. “As I’m a woman.”

  Nerravin spikes her middle finger up at the pair of us and storms off into the bathroom that wasn’t quite a bathroom. “What do you think, Deakins, about all this?” I wave my hand about the room.

  “All this?” he retorts sarcastically. “That’s a succinct way of looking at things. What do I think about all this?” He thinks for a few seconds or pretends to at least. “I think we boarded an alien space craft of some kind, living, of course, watched as everyone we'd known for the past four years got obliterated by...something big and now we're here.” He looks at me like I am stupid. “That’s what I think. Oh, and I also think I want a computer with a few million terabytes of space, a processor which can handle light speed calculations and some of my translation programs, so I can start to figure out what our hosts are actually saying.”

  “Jesus, dude, there's no need to chew my head off!” Deakins looks like a man who didn’t care, and I decide to get the hell out of there as fast as I could.

  ***

  Commander's Log, Sentient Ship Acrulla

  The three strange life forms we took aboard have begun to exhibit signs of extreme stress and are beginning to argue with each other. One of the team, assigned to monitor them, suggested we allow them some freedom to explore Acrulla and get to know him. I authorized such action and instructed Acrulla to make sure all security sensitive areas were tightly sealed to the life signs they emit. Although this has given them some time to be alone, expanding the amount of room they have to utilize has made little difference and ever more aggressive behavior has been recorded. Strangely, it is the smallest of the trio, who is also female, who displays the most aggression, shouting at and behaving in a threatening manner towards any crew she has encountered. The other female merely seems inquisitive with regards everything and has made several attempts at communication with members of the monitoring team although with limited success. The male is prone to mood swings due to several chemical imbalances the monitoring team is attempting to correct. However, it seems as if his demeanor is somewhere between the two females, not as aggressive as the smaller one and not as passive as the larger.

  Our present course and speed will bring us back into Intrellian space in the next five cycles, at which time the three can be turned over to the Royal Institution for examination. End.

  I tap the arm of my chair with my middle talon as Acrulla cuts communication between my thought center and his, ending the recording of my log. I can hear the proboscis being pulled back into his structural matrix and know my thoughts are now my o
wn. I have to make sure the connection is gone before I allow my mind to relax. It would be difficult for me if Acrulla knew of my true thoughts and feelings.

  What is wrong with me? What is this incessant, desperate need to see and hear the larger female? As soon as I laid eyes on her four cycles ago, she invaded my mind with her presence. I long for her in a way I have never done for an Intrellian female. She is soft and curved with some kind of long substance growing from the top of her head. My hands ache with the need to touch that fur-like, shimmering, golden mass, to glide them across her skin, which looks so soft and inviting. I would gaze into her large brown eyes until the Final Day and be happy to go into the darkness knowing she was there with me. Is she some manner of test from the Gods, sent to test my will, or is she, as I choose to believe, a gift from the heavens, a token of the delights to come? One thing only do I know, I must make her mine.

  Neither the crew nor the ship can be allowed to understand the depths to which I have fallen for this creature, for them to do so would mean my complete undoing, loss of my ship, loss of my life and, worst of all, loss of her.

  The pull was too much. I had to see her again.

  ***

  Temporary Log – Hetty Vorgies, Exobiologist

  I have finally managed to communicate to these lifeforms that I needed something to write on. It took more than half an hour, by my watch, of almost endless charades in which I attempted to mime writing and reading, through a sealed door with a sheet of something like glass set into it. Whether these beings do not have a written language or if it is so otherworldly different to ours is still unclear. Eventually, they seemed to understand something of my wishes as they began offering things from our supply kits. Luckily for me I have always kept a pad and pencil with my belongings and the excursion on Erenius 3 was no exception.

  ***

  That was an interesting half hour! At least now they've allowed me to have something to write with. I can keep some kind of record in case we end up getting back to Earth. The other thing I managed to communicate was my hunger, which was rewarded with a bowl of the same substance we've been served since our arrival here. Astoundingly, for a deep space going vessel, the bowl appears to be fashioned from some kind of wood, and we have no utensils, having to rely on fingers to scoop out the mass, which has a texture somewhere between rice and porridge with a sweet and hot flavor I can't compare to anything I've had before. Deakins appears from wherever he’s been as soon as he catches scent of the food and grabs himself a bowl from the tray (wood again) then stalks off to eat alone.

  Nerravin won’t eat anything they give her, even though she’s seen me and Deakins are fine after eating it. I just hope there’s some variety to the menu at some point.

  Once finished, I try and look through the window, which leads to the rest of this weird ship, but I can’t make much of anything out. It’s made from something like fingernail material, hard and plastic with a little give to it and only a little easier to see through than something completely opaque. It has been enough for me to communicate my needs through so far, and I’d managed to get both food and my journal, but seeing through to anything beyond was impossible.

  I looked to the left of the odd window to the slide and slot system, which they put things through, mainly the food so far, and take the bowls back through. A gentle push confirms it’s locked, which I pretty much expect, and it feels like it’s made from the same hoof or nail-like material as the window yet completely opaque this time.

  The scream erupts from me before I can’t even register what is happening. Then I can feel the laughter at the relief in my chest as I realize it is one of our hosts, peering at me through the window. I can barely make out any features, just a vague outline through the keratin, and I approach the window to get a better view. Without any warning, the door slides silently up into the ceiling, and I’m face-to-face with a sentient alien species!

  Even though this is a moment I’ve fantasized about since childhood, it’s one I never thought would happen. Extra-terrestrial life has so far been confined to a few species of bacteria, some unusual plant life and one planet which seems only to be populated with nematode worms. No one ever actually believed we would ever come across another sentient species, certainly not within the next few millenniums anyway.

  Yet, before me stands such a creature. My curiosity and fear of the unknown battle inside my chest as we stand there, evaluating each other. Eventually, my professional side comes out, and I start to scribble notes down on the paper I’ve been allowed. It’s – I don’t want to make any speculations about gender so ‘it’ will have to do for now – approximately six feet in height with astoundingly similar construction to that of humans with four limbs, two of which it is standing on, and two more, which are similar to arms. Its musculoskeletal design is impressive, as it is thickly covered with corded muscle. I wonder what it would feel like to run my hands across those...

  What? Where the hell did that come from? Get a grip, woman. You’re on the cusp of human-alien history and thinking about sex?

  I shake my head, trying to clear it of the rogue thoughts. Who'd want to have sex with an alien anyway?

  Me.

  Christ! What’s happening to me? I can’t focus on anything.

  Okay, the head has two eyes, set wider apart than a human’s and has no discernible iris. They are deep blue with hidden depths, like falling into a warm sea...

  STOP!

  The nose is broad and flattened with a ribbed, possibly cartilage-based, appearance, which runs up between those...beautiful...blue eyes.

  Shit, what IS going on?

  All I want is to touch this creature before me, to run my hands across his – it has to be male, please God – muscles. The skin on my hands is actually aching with the want to touch him, and I can feel my face heat with embarrassment.

  Arousal?

  Apparently he’s got four chest muscles, two larger ones above two smaller ones. I can’t see any evidence of nipples, but he has got some kind of material covering him. If I could just figure out a way of getting him to take that off, I’d be able to lick...

  Fucking stop!

  I’ve got to get away from him. I have to, or this whole thing is going to be a huge, huge mess. I put my right foot back to step away, I can’t turn because I’d have to stop looking at him, and he’s so sex...

  Nope. Not going there!

  My left foot follows my right, and I’ve managed to move away from him a little. Good, okay. Now, just to do it again.

  ***

  I must frighten her. My appearance must be too horrible to bear because as soon as the door retracted, her eyes widened in fright. She managed to scratch at the thing in her claws with the thing in her other claws. Then her flesh changed color! It was a sight both beautiful and terrifying to behold. From beneath, what I assume is some kind of clothing, she has the ability to turn her face red! I can only guess as to why she would do this, but I assume it to be fright because she immediately took a step backward, distancing herself from me.

  I cannot understand why I feel a pain in my thorax. I have sustained no injury, yet it feels as if this is linked to the disappointment her fear of me has provoked. I cannot bear to frighten such a beautiful, gentle, creature as she, so I must leave even though my hearts do not concur.

  “Farewell, sweet one.” I say to her as she takes another step backwards. Her head snaps up to look at me, and I am amazed because she can not only change color but alter the shape of her face too! The furry things over her eyes have pulled down through some magic of her species, and her mouth...her mouth has opened a little. She breathes out a little huff of air. The soft lighting from Acrulla reflects from the soft-looking, red sections around her mouth, and I wonder what they taste like. This is odd to me because I cannot ever recall a time when I have wished to taste the mouth of another.

  A burning spike of heat rushes to my sex organs when I see her put the lower red section in her own mouth and bite it. What pu
rpose this serves is beyond me, but at the same time, I find it utterly arousing and overwhelmingly endearing at the same time.

  I can hear a member of the monitoring crew returning, so I must leave. I cannot let anyone discover I have broken quarantine regulations so easily. It is as if my thought centers have been taken over by another, someone bent on my downfall. I have worked for thousands of cycles to get to this position and now seem utterly content to throw everything away to get the attention of this alien female.

  Maybe I have entered madness. Perhaps something has gone wrong inside my thought centers and I need attending to. Should I go and see the healer to rid me of these feelings?

  The truth is I do not want them gone. Never before, not in the heat of battle, nor in the fires of passion have I felt so completely alive. It is this feeling I crave, and the only way I can gain it is to access the large female. This is what I must do.

  I allow the door to close, cutting off the closeness between us and feel bereft of something I cannot identify. I have to find a way to be close to her, to be with her, maybe even to touch her. Just once, so I could feel how soft she is.

  “Commander!” Bhentus’ voice is full with shock. “I did not expect you to be here.”

  I give her a dead stare, quiet for a long moment before telling her, “I go where I wish aboard my ship.”

  She reads my tone instantly and returns to subservience. “Of course, Commander. I was shocked to see you. That is all.”

  “I care nothing for this,” I tell her bluntly. “Continue.” My order is also my final word, and I leave the hastily installed monitoring station. I leave, yet it feels as if I have left something behind, something for the female to keep safe with her, and I find it completely baffling to understand what any of that means.

  ***

  He spoke to me! I’ve got no idea what he said, but he did speak to me. I was trying to get away from him until I heard him, but his voice sounded so heart-breaking, so utterly bereft like whale song, and so sad I had to comfort him.