by Smith, S. E.
* * *
A’ryk couldn’t feel or read anything from H’tch as they approached what appeared to be a smoking meteor crater. What struck him most was that it had the familiar smell of burning electronics. Then he saw it when they cleared the tree line, an Invader ship.
Every organ in his body felt flushed. No. This couldn’t be happening. How did the humans find this planet?
The only good thing about the ship was the state it was in. If there were no survivors, it was unlikely anyone else would be coming.
Movement by an outcropping next to the ship revealed K’mi. She hopped and turned rapidly in circles, yapping loudly. Next to her lay a bipedal shape in a flight suit. So much for no survivors.
A’ryk could not understand what K’mi was saying, as a Korthan could only understand the mogha he was bonded to, but he could guess.
“No way,” he said. “That human can rot out here for all I care.”
Memories and emotions he spent so much time suppressing hit him all at once. He felt bile in his mouth as anger curled his lip. The humans destroyed his world and changed his and every surviving Korthan’s life forever. There was no way in all that was holy he’d be helping one. He’d made that mistake before, before they’d betrayed Korth and started all-out war.
K’mi whimpered, picking up the human’s hand with her teeth. She says we must help her, H’tch said.
A’ryk shook his head, talking to both moghas even though he knew only H’tch would understand him. “What is wrong with you? The Invaders nearly made moghas extinct.”
As he turned to leave, K’mi grabbed hold of his furry boot, pulling and whimpering in desperation. She let go to bark and yap. A’ryk started walking again. She grabbed hold once more and he didn’t stop, pulling her along the ground as he stepped away.
She says this human is her alpha, H’tch said.
A’ryk stopped dead in his tracks. He looked down at K’mi and then at H’tch. “That’s not possible. Tell her she is mistaken.”
I did tell her, H’tch said. But she is exhibiting the signs.
To deny a mogha its master companion was to inflict the worst sort of pain on the animal, something no mogha deserved.
A’ryk started walking away anyway; it just wasn’t possible. This time, K’mi did not latch on. After several more steps, a sorrowful howl sounded behind him.
The sound tore at A’ryk’s soul. It wasn’t right. A mogha should not be able to bond with a human. As the sound turned into a sorrowful song, A’ryk finally stopped. If this really was K’mi’s alpha, then he was duty bound to the mogha to help.
When he turned, K’mi jumped up, tail and antennae twirling. He walked back and patted her head, “Okay, I’ll do this for you, but there’s no guarantee the human won’t die anyway.”
One could hope.
H’tch translated, and she hopped around them both enthusiastically, all leaning over the prone form of the human.
A’ryk knelt beside the helmeted figure. All of the human’s clothes were scorched and brown skin was badly burned. Unable to remove the helmet, he pulled a knife from the pack he always carried and began cutting it free of the person’s flight suit. Finally getting it free of the surrounding fabric, he pulled.
A jolt of electric energy coursed through his body at the sight of the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, tight dark brown braids falling loosely about her face. Rocking back on his haunches, he took a deep breath, hand rubbing across his mouth. Okay, so humans could be beautiful. That didn’t change anything. But what was with the electricity?
I felt that, H’tch said and he turned wide eyes on his mogha.
“You felt nothing,” A’ryk snapped, jumping to his feet, easily tossing the human female over his shoulder. It didn’t matter. Was nothing.
2
Lyra woke with a start, surroundings unfamiliar. This wasn’t her ship. Oh no, she crashed on the frozen planet she found, didn’t she?
The events were fuzzy, but she did remember a malfunction on her ship. She remembered the surface of the planet rising to meet her. Fire and searing pain. Then nothing.
Throwing several furs that were covering her aside, she patted her arms and face. There were a couple of small bandages on her right forearm and around her hands, but she didn’t seem to have many serious burns. Well, that was good, but where were her clothes?
There was a voice and she looked up, quickly pulling the furs back over her naked body. The walls of wherever she was looked transparent, mesmerizingly so. A few crudely cut boards were stuck at various heights, serving as shelving, judging by the various tools and utensils stacked on them.
She realized the walls were made of ice, or perhaps the room she was in was dug out of ice. Further investigation confirmed that the bed she was on was simply a slab of raised ice covered in animal skins and furs. It was surprising warm and comfortable. She marveled that the ice wasn’t melting.
Next to her makeshift bed sat what looked like a fox; more alien than a fox, but she couldn’t think of any other word to describe it. The top of its body was white, but had a belly the color of the sky. Long thick strands of hair shot straight up from its pointy ears, looking for all intents and purposes like antennae. Was that feathers on the ends of them?
Looking at her, long white tail wagged like a dog, the tip of the tail the same blue color as its belly. There wasn’t anyone in the room, so she had no idea where the voice came from. Maybe the lonely life of a surveyor had finally made her crazy.
Can you hear me? She heard the voice again.
Looking at the fox, her eyebrows knitted in speculation. “Are you talking to me?”
The fox jumped to its feet and danced in a circle, antennae whirling.
I knew it, the voice said. They said it wasn’t possible because you’re human, but I knew I could hear you. We have a companion bond! I’m your mogha and you’re my master companion, my alpha. This is so exciting. I’m so excited! Are you excited?
Lyra looked around the room again. The voice wasn’t coming from the fox’s mouth, but she could hear it in her mind. Yet all the fox’s mannerisms and what the voice was saying suggested it was coming from the animal. Yup, this confirmed it; the lonely life of a surveyor had definitely made her crazy.
“Is that voice I’m hearing coming from you or—?”
You know what I really love? the fox said. I mean, I’ve been waiting for an alpha my whole life. But we’re alone here on this planet and there really hasn’t been a chance for me to find one.
Lyra’s eyes widened as she propped herself on her elbow. A twinge of pain, but she dismissed it. Holy hell, the fox really was talking to her.
Anyway, it continued. What I really love is for someone to scratch my ears. Four long fingers extended from the beast’s right paw and touched the back of its ear. The back, right here.
Leaning forward, head slightly bowed, it presented the ear for Lyra to rub.
Staring suddenly became the most interesting thing Lyra could be doing. She supposed she should rub the animal’s ear, but she couldn’t get past that it was talking to her.
The fox sat back down on its hind legs, Maybe later.
A minute of awkward silence as they stared at each other, the fox scratched the back of its ear with its fingers. Lyra’s eyes were drawn to the strange appendages. It seemed to notice and retracted the fingers back into its paw. She leaned over the edge of the bed to get a look at the animal’s other paws. Did it have fingers like that in all of them?
Do you have a name? the fox asked. My name is K’mi.
Lyra realized the fox was probably a girl, if there were girls and boys in whatever kind of alien fox species it was. “My name is Lyra. What kind of fox are you?”
What’s a fox? K’mi jumped to her feet, tail wagging.
“What you are,” Lyra ventured as she struggled to sit up, body stiff.
Me? No, I’m a mogha. K’mi leaned in, nuzzling her back.
Lyra jumped, pain shooting up
her spine, then realized that K’mi was trying to help her sit up. She slightly relaxed into the touch, but the animal seemed to notice her unease and quickly moved away once she was fully sitting.
She needed to figure out what happened, how she got here. Where was she, anyway? Where was her ship?
“Hang on,” Lyra rubbed at a sore spot on her leg. “You said, ‘They said it wasn’t possible.’ Who are ‘they?’ And would it be too much of an inconvenience to find my clothes?”
As if on cue, a very large white wolf-like creature entered the room. The tip of his tail blue, he had long blue hairs sticking up from the tips of his ears that looked just like K’mi’s antennae.
There was something very familiar, very terrifying, about this animal. She realized K’mi was a younger version. This “white wolf” was a full grown mature adult and her mind was spinning with what it was about these creatures that was suddenly familiar.
Don’t be afraid, K’mi said. This is H’tch. He’s my sire.
Lyra wasn’t sure what she felt about having some kind of bond that allowed this animal to read her mind. The mogha plopped the black elasti-synth fabric uni-suit she wore under her flight suit onto her lap.
The new one, H’tch, bowed his head. The action made him seem less scary.
“Hello H’tch,” she said, despite being far from comfortable, doing her best to keep herself covered while she pulled the uni-suit under the covers.
“Do not talk to my mogha,” a male’s voice boomed just as the fiercest man she’d ever seen walked through the door.
Enormous physique covered in animal furs, his furry booted feet thundered through boards on the floor that covered the ice. Black hair sprinkled with white cascaded over his shoulders, matched by his long, unruly, beard. He was likely ten years her senior.
His nostrils flared, but his eyes unnerved her the most. They were silvery white, so striking and intense that she found she couldn’t meet them. She stalled, only having managed to get one leg into her clothing. This man had undoubtedly seen her naked.
Knowing exactly what he was, she realized why the creatures were so familiar. She’d only ever heard stories from veterans of the war, but their descriptions were spot on. Nakedness was simultaneously the least of her worries and her worst fear.
“Hellhounds of Korth,” she breathed.
“Moghas of Korth,” the fierce man corrected in perfect Common. “Only an ignorant Invader would call them that.”
“Human of Earth,” Lyra countered in a huff. “Only an ignorant Savage of Korth would call me that.”
The savage snorted in obvious contempt, taking a step forward. Whatever stubborn courage she felt fled at his movement. What was he going to do with her?
“How did I get here?” she demanded, a little courage sinking back in. “Am I your prisoner? I will not be your sex slave.” She would rather have died in the crash, as was becoming abundantly clear that’s what happened.
There was a flash of something akin to mortification that crossed his mostly hidden features. “I wouldn’t think of having you that way if you were the only female on the planet.”
K’mi suddenly went into a fit of snickers and barely contained giggles. Her sire stomped on her tail and she yelped. Lyra didn’t get the joke, finding it as funny as H’tch obviously did.
“And I make the demands around here,” the savage snapped. He slashed the air with his fist. “How did you find this place?”
She looked around their icy confines, finally meeting his intense gaze with the most long-suffering look she could muster. “I didn’t find this place. You found me, apparently. I have no idea where we are.”
“You crashed to my world three days ago.” Did his voice always have a growl to it?
Lyra’s heart jumped. “Three days ago? Did I get word to the colonists that I found a habitable world?”
“You better hope not,” the Korthan’s voice was deathly quiet. Oh, so he could speak without snarling, but the quiet sound he just made was more disconcerting. She hoped he’d get back to growling. “This is my world.” There it was.
“Your world?” According to her survey of the planet from her ship, this planet possessed life but was otherwise uninhabited.
None of her lifescan scanners detected any sentient lifeforms, but single life forms could be missed by the scans. As far as she could tell, this Korthan was the only person here. Oh, now she got the joke. Reading her mind, K’mi snickered again.
Resisting the urge to tell K’mi to stop it, Lyra said, “According to the treaty, humans have rights to all uninhabited worlds they find. I am a surveyor for the Earth Council of Habitable Worlds. This planet is uninhabited. It has been claimed for human colonization.”
“I don’t give a hibernating squirrel’s dung about your treaty,” the Korthan said. “And you’re just as blind as every human. These two moghas and I inhabit this planet. It belongs to us.”
“And you’re just as blind as every Korthan. Last I recall, you’re the ones that lost the war.”
The savage’s eyes flashed. Lyra didn’t think it possible, but his stance managed to become more menacing.
I finally have a master companion, K’mi’s voice in her mind. Provoke him further and I’m going to lose you. I really don’t want to lose you, even if you are a human.
“I didn’t ask for this bond,” Lyra’s voice was sharp.
“You are here because this mogha insisted you live,” the savage snarled. “You do not deserve to have a bond with a creature such as this. Say whatever you will to me, but do not disrespect her.
“Now, get some sleep. Tomorrow I take you to your ship and you will call any humans you have summoned here and tell them this planet is uninhabitable.”
“I will not,” Lyra said. Who did this man think he was?
“You will, or you will die. Your choice.”
K’mi growled, showing her feelings on that matter. The savage stomped out, slamming the door, in as much as it could slam against the ice it was framed in.
“If you kill me, they will still come,” Lyra called out. What a stupid threat.
I don’t want you to die, K’mi said, whimpering.
“Well, then, help me get out of here,” Lyra said. “Maybe I can fix my ship and get off this frozen rock.”
K’mi looked dubious, but Lyra had to use every advantage she could. If this mogha was so taken with her because of this bond, then she’d use that.
There was rattling and banging in some other part of the domicile, beyond the door the savage left through. What in the world was he doing? Maybe the life of a lonely savage on this ice world had driven him crazy. Great, she was stuck on an otherwise abandoned planet with not only a Korthan, but a crazy Korthan.
He isn’t any more or less savage than a human, K’mi said.
“Huh?” K’mi’s statement seemed like it came from nowhere.
You keep thinking of him as a savage, K’mi clarified. He’s about as savage as any human I’ve met.
“Have you met many humans?” Lyra countered, curiosity piqued.
Well, no, K’mi admitted. But he’s pretty nice when you get to know him.
“I’ll try to remember that as he threatens to kill me,” Lyra rolled her eyes, quietly relieved that was all he was threatening.
* * *
H’tch followed his alpha, taking one quick look back before A’ryk slammed the door. K’mi was worried, but it was the human that had his eye. What was it about this woman? His daughter somehow kindled the once in a lifetime mogha companion bond with her, something that should only happen with a Korthan.
He turned to watch A’ryk’s retreating back as he entered the single bedroom of their icy domicile. And now the woman was affecting A’ryk. He could feel it through his bond with the Korthan; unmistakable.
H’tch entered the bedroom, watching with a gimlet eye as A’ryk paced the floor. I thought you were going to kill her after that ‘you lost the war’ comment.
A’ryk halt
ed abruptly, “I was.”
But?
Throwing a sharp glance his way, A’ryk turned and scraped the contents of one of his wooden shelves to the floor with his right arm. The objects banged together loudly before hitting the fur-covered ice floor with comparably soft thuds.
“I couldn’t bring myself to do it, not with K’mi watching,” he said at the floor.
And? H’tch knew he was pushing. He thought the first glance was harsh. Now the look on A’ryk’s face was positively deadly.
H’tch lowered his eyes in deference, but noticed something else about A’ryk’s lower anatomy that would have had him laughing under any other circumstance. Stars, you’re attracted to her!
The Korthan turned from his gaze and pulled at his pants, “I am not.”
Now he did laugh; he couldn’t help it. When he started rolling on the floor with laughter, A’ryk turned back around. “This is not funny,” he said.
No, it isn’t, but you’re cracking me up.
“Okay, fine. I’m a man. We’ve been alone on this planet for, what, ten rotations? A woman drops in and,” he looked down at his crotch, “well, a hard-on is inevitable. But I am not attracted to a human.”
The Korthan started pacing again. H’tch snickered, Whatever you have to tell yourself.
“Stop laughing,” A’ryk demanded. “How are you even finding humor in this situation? You are as repulsed by her as I am.”
A’ryk’s eyebrows knitted as he crossed his arms and cupped his chin with his right hand. “She has to go. Since her ship is scrapped, she can take mine, but only on the condition that she contact whatever star-forsaken colonists she’s talking about and mark this planet as uninhabitable. We can get back to our lives and never be bothered by any humans again.”
The warring emotions coming from his alpha were dumbfounding. H’tch’s mouth dropped open. Oh my stars, she’s your life mate. You’re bonded to her already.
A’ryk snarled, but it sounded more frustrating than menacing. “There is no way I am bonded to a human. You know it’s not possible.”