Zivan (Scifi Alien Romance) (Galactic Mates)

by Luna Hunter

“A monster? I am a genius. You are cattle. You do not appreciate our work. Never have. Without us, you’d be nothing. We uplifted you. Elevated you from the dirt.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  My eyes burn when a sudden flash of images suddenly pass me by. I see a sea of people, all with different colored skin: red, purple, blue. Zorans. Or something like it. Their brow is more pronounced, but their large frames match. They are all working, slaving away, powering some strange mechanical device, like a ship that runs on the power of muscles alone. The next moment I see a world in ruins, going down in flames. Libraries, docks, entire cities… destroyed. The moment is gone as quickly as it came.

  “You don’t remember? You don’t know? Your kind is even weaker than I thought. How we ever… never mind. That is in the past. Ancient history. You are witnessing a new dawn, a new age. Hm. Yes. I sense a lot of strong feelings in you. Overwhelming. Passion. Love!”

  The alien is looking right at me with those dark, empty eyes, the tentacles on his face squirming and moving. I feel like he’s getting off on torturing me like this.

  “You love the human. I will make sure you get to watch when she is offered to the Sovereignty. Yes, you will witness the birth of the new order. You are lucky, Zoran.”

  His tone makes me sick. I do not fully understand what he means, but I understand the implication. Offering is not a good word in any circumstance, and especially not from this monstrous alien.

  Mia. I can’t let any harm get to her.

  I won’t allow it.

  I’d rather die. I’d rather sacrifice myself than watch her get hurt.

  My entire body burns with excruciating pain as I try to get my muscles to follow my command. The Tyk’ix leader smirks at me, my pain amusing him, but I do not give up.

  I do not surrender

  It is not an option.

  My pinkie is the first thing that moves. Only an inch, but it’s a start. It’s proof to me that I can resist, that I can revolt against this mind-controlling being.

  “You will lose,” I think. I repeat the words in my head like a mantra, aimed at the devil in front of me. “You have lost, and you will lose again.”

  “Never.”

  My hand twitches. The monster catches sight of it, and he frowns. I feel his power coming at me in waves as he tries to subdue me, as he tries his best to keep me down, and this current of psionic force only makes me fight harder.

  I manage to turn my head an inch, and I see Mia from the corner of my eyes. She’s forced into her chair, a terrified expression on her face. There is so much pain, grief and anguish on her beautiful face — it breaks my heart.

  A volcano of rage passes through my veins, and with a deafening roar I manage to stand up.

  “Impossible!”

  The alien is now looking at me with horror in his eyes, his arms raised as he tries to work his magic on me. However, seeing Mia so frightened has given me strength I didn’t know I had. The Tyk’ix soldiers around me raise their guns and point it at me, but the leader barks something in a language I don’t understand.

  I can hear him when he speaks to my mind, but I can’t speak their language.

  The men hold their fire. I realize he wants to control me, wants to show his men that he his still in charge. Every moment that I defy him is one in which his status diminishes.

  I take one step towards him, my movement jerky and stuttering. My muscle burn. My chest tightens with pain, and I feel like I can’t even breathe, but nevertheless I persist.

  I look back a Mia. We both still have our helmets on. “Hold on,” I mouth to her.

  I reach back and pull my blaster from its holster. The Tyk’ix didn’t even think to disarm me, thinking their mind control was powerful enough to stop a lovesick Zoran.

  A fatal mistake.

  My hand jitters. I could try and shoot the leader, but I might miss, and then I’d be cut down by blaster rifle. Even if my aim is true, I won’t be able to free Mia.

  I have a more desperate plan.

  I muster all the willpower I have left and raise my gun. The dark purple leader recoils, a frightened look on his tentacled face. I point my blaster at the large window behind him and pull the trigger.

  The glass shatters instantly. Instantly, everything in the room that’s not nailed down is sucked into the darkness of space — including me.

  I’m catapulted outside, just like the Tyk’ix leader and all of the soldiers in the room. I manage to catch a brief glimpse of Mia as I’m launched out the room. Her chair is nailed to the floor and her arms are folded around the armrests, keeping her in place.

  The glass window is well-protected from the outside, but vulnerable from the inside. It was a last ditch, desperate attempt, but it paid off. Mia is safe.

  If the price for that is my life, then that’s one I’m willing to pay.

  21

  Mia

  The explosion is sudden and overwhelming. One moment Zivan is standing in front of me, and the next moment, he’s gone.

  He raised his hand and pulled the trigger, and then the front window of the space-freighter was shot to bits. He told me to hold on, and that’s what I did. That’s all I could do.

  I watch in absolute horror as my mate is sucked into space, along with that Tyk’ix leader, all the soldiers, and the air itself. I have my arms and legs folded around my chair, holding on for dear life.

  Why? Why did he do it?

  The pressure is astounding. It feels like my limbs are being torn right off. The horrible sound of air being sucked out makes my eardrums pop, and the heavy pit in my stomach grows by the second.

  I’m either going to suffocate or die from the blunt force trauma. I just know it.

  And then, as sudden as it started, the terrifying sensation is gone. I glance up, gasping for air, and see that a metal cover has come down where the window used to be. An automated emergency response — but too late to save the crew.

  I drop down to my knees, tears streaking down my face.

  Zivan.

  He’s out there, in space. Alone.

  Just to save me.

  I don’t deserve such a sacrifice.

  Why did he have to be such a damn hero?

  No.

  This can’t be it.

  This can’t be the end.

  He still had his suit and helmet on — assuming his suit isn’t torn, he could still be alive.

  I don’t have time to sit here and wallow in self-pity. Emily is still on board, and she needs my help — and I’ll be damned if I let Zivan die for me.

  I rise to my feet, my hand moving to the rifle that’s still strapped to my back. I anticipate more Tyk’ix soldiers pouring into the command center, but the metal doors are locked down tight. Possibly another automated response from the ship?

  I run towards the control panel. I see a dazzling array of buttons, levers and lights, all flashing with symbols I don’t recognize, and the pit in my stomach grows.

  There’s got to be some way for me to control this damn thing, to lock onto Zivan and fly towards him. I’ll jump out there myself if I have to.

  “Xxtyhtr eyyt,” an automated voice says.

  That must be the ship’s on-board computer. The language feels strangely familiar. It tickles the back of my mind.

  The same place where that alien read my mind.

  That’s it!

  I could understand their language when those monsters invaded my thoughts. I could peer back into theirs, see visions, thoughts, and even language. For a brief moment, I could understand them…

  I need to channel that moment.

  I shut my eyes and concentrate. I have no idea how those aliens use their powers, but this is the only option I have left. I focus as hard as I can, my hands balling up to fists, thinking back to the feeling those Tyk’ix gave me.

  All the sounds around me dies away. I retreat into my mind, reliving those frightful moments.

  Suddenly, everything seems to click.<
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  “Emergency breach detected,” the ship says.

  I can understand it!

  My eyes fly open, and in an instant the strange, alien symbols in front of me form letters and words I recognize. I can’t say I understand how I know this, but that doesn’t matter.

  All that matters is saving Zivan.

  My fingers move rapidly across the keyboard as I search the ship’s control panel, trying to make it do my bidding. I’ve never flown anything more complicated than a cruiser, and even then I rely more on the autopilot than I’d ever let my colleagues at the New Atlanta Police Department know.

  My cruiser works on voice-commands. Perhaps this advanced ship works the same way?

  “Ship,” I say in the alien tongue. “Do you have a tractor beam?”

  “Affirmative,” the ship responds.

  I was afraid it wouldn’t recognize me, but the fact that I’m speaking Tyk’ix is enough, thankfully.

  “Can you lock onto lifeforms?”

  “Affirmative.”

  Yes!

  Okay, this is it. My hands tremble before I speak the next words. This is where I find out if my mate is still alive. If he’s not… I’ll lose my mind.

  “Ship,” I say carefully. “Lock onto the Zoran lifeform and bring him in.”

  The ship is silent for a moment. My fingers fidget as I wait for the response. I don’t dare to even breathe, my entire body locked down as the seconds count down.

  “Affirmative. Lifeform will be transported to docking bay.”

  I explode from relief, jumping up and punching the air. Yes! I rush towards the docking bay, my heart beating in my throat.

  Please be okay. Please, please, please be okay.

  Luckily I don’t encounter any enemy resistance on my way to my target. I’m so anxious I’m throwing all caution out the window and sprinting full-speed towards my destination.

  I turn the corner to see the docking bay doors open and Zivan float in. I’m peering through a glass window, my hand clasped in front of my mouth.

  He doesn’t seem to be moving.

  As soon as the doors close and the room is pressurized I rush in.

  “Zivan!”

  Tears spring to my eyes, obscuring my vision as I drop to my knees next to my mate. I yank his helmet off. His skin is pale, his lips having lost their full, rich color.

  “Zivan! I’m here!”

  I touch his cheek. He’s cold.

  “No! No no no!”

  In shock I pat down his body, and to my horror I find a tear in his suit. When he was sucked into space he must have hit something. How many seconds has it been? 60? 90? I have no idea. It feels like a lifetime ago, but it could have been less than a minute.

  “Come on, baby, don’t give up now,” I say as I apply CPR. “Pull through!”

  I press my lips down on his, breathing as much of my love into him as I can.

  “Come on! Come on come on come on!” I yell. “Don’t do this to me!”

  I do it again. And again. And again.

  My heart is beating like mad, my pulse going through the roof as I do everything that’s in my powers to save my mate’s life.

  With a loud gasp Zivan rises, his golden eyes flying open.

  I fall back, elated, crying, exhausted, happy — everything at once. My knees are pulled to my chest, my entire body rocking as I bawl my eyes out. I thought I lost him. For a second there I lost hope…

  Zivan coughs and tries to get up, but I push him back down with one hand.

  “Calm down,” I say. “Calm down.”

  “Wh-where,” he stammers, his chest rising with every heavy breath. The color is already returning to his magenta cheeks “Wh...at?”

  “You’re safe,” I tell him. “I got you.”

  I wrap my arms around him, warming his body with mine. I bury my face in his neck and cry to my heart’s content, letting it all out.

  “You saved me?” he asks, finding his voice again.

  I nod. “Don’t do that to me ever again,” I say. “Don’t you ever dare to do that again. I’ll kill you!”

  He holds me tightly, rocking my body from side to side. “I’ll stop shooting out of spaceship windows. You have my word.”

  I can barely believe it, but we’re safe.

  Finally.

  22

  Zivan

  Mia’s warm body is lying on top of mine, my hands wrapped tightly around her. I’ve got one hand holding the back of her neck, the other one resting on that nice ass of hers.

  Feeling slowly returns to my numb fingers.

  I thought I was dead.

  Hell, I think I was, for a moment.

  I shot that window and was pulled into space, tearing my suit on the way out when I smashed into some debris. My suit tore, and I knew that was the end of me.

  I made peace with it. Of course, I’d much rather spend an eternity in Mia’s arms, but this way, I was saving her and Emily’s life. I had died with a purpose.

  That’s all a man can really ask for.

  My last thoughts were of Mia, and the wondrous time we had shared. In a short period of time, she had not only changed my life, but me as a person. I wish it could have lasted an eternity, but I was thankful for every second of it.

  And then I closed my eyes for what I thought was the last time.

  When I felt Mia’s lips on mine, her warm breath in my mouth, I thought I was in heaven at first.

  And then my reflexes kicked in and I gasped for air. Mia looked at me with a mixture of shock and elation, emotion overwhelming her. Tears streaked down her face, her green eyes all red and puffy.

  I don’t think I’ve ever been happier than in this moment. We’ve been through hell together, I died for her — and still I get to hold her in my arms.

  I’m more lucky than I deserve to be.

  “Where’s everyone?” I ask when I regain some more of my strength.

  “They’re all gone, I think,” my mate answers. “The Tyk’ix. I haven’t seen any of them.”

  I try to stand up, but Mia wraps her body around mine, not letting go.

  “Stay,” she says, nuzzling her face into my neck.

  “Let’s go save Emily,” I say. “We can sleep for as long as you like afterwards.”

  Her eyes grow wide. “I almost forgot,” Mia whispers, feeling guilty.

  My left ankle feels a bit sore, but besides that, I feel perfectly healthy. I grab Mia’s rifle — my blaster was lost in the explosion — and head down the hall, keeping my guard up.

  She’s right. We don’t encounter a single soul. That leader must have gathered his entire crew in the command center, wanting to show all of them what a powerful and decisive leader he is.

  Didn’t turn out quite how he expected.

  Once we reach the bowels of the ship Mia grabs my arm.

  “This is it,” she says. “I saw this place in my visions. We’re close!”

  She breaks out into a run despite my objections, and I quickly chase her. We turn to corner and she cries out Emily’s name.

  The young redhead is chained against the wall, a collar around her neck. Her clothes are dirty and stained, and she’s lying on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest. She looks thin and malnourished — but most importantly, alive.

  She looks up when Mia calls out her name, a look of shock on her face.

  “Are you okay?!” Mia asks as she runs up to the girl.

  Emily scrambles up, placing her back against the wall.

  “Wh-who are you?” she asks. Her eyes dart across the room.

  “Relax,” Mia says. “We’re here to save you.”

  “S-save me? B-b-b-ut, there is no safety, there is no…”

  “Calm down. Please, calm down. You’re safe.”

  The girl’s green eyes are opened wide.

  “She’s in shock,” I tell Mia. “Who knows what horrible visions those monsters have shown her.”

  My mate turns to me. “What can I do for her?”
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  “We’ll care for her,” I promise. “All we can do is be patient, and care for her as best as we can. That’s all we can do.”

  Mia nods decisively. “You’re right.”

  It takes a whole lot of convincing for the traumatized girl to trust us. I don’t blame her — she’s been through hell. Miraculously, Mia can now speak Tyk’ix — she can’t explain to me why, exactly, but I’ll take it — and she directs the freighter back to the Alliance cruiser we abandoned.

  The sooner we get Emily off this wretched ship, the better.

  Luckily, we won’t have to do another extremely dangerous space jump this time. We just link up the two vessels and board the ship as usual. It’s only when the empty freighter is a distant blip in the horizon that Emily dares to speak.

  “T-thank you,” she says, looking down at the floor.

  Mia wraps a blanket around her shoulders.

  “You don’t have to thank us,” she says. “We’re just happy you’re safe.”

  The young girl twiddles with her thumbs.

  “I thought I was, you know… they, they did things… showed me things…”

  “We understand,” I say.

  She glances up. “You do?”

  I nod. “We too were captured, and we both saw visions, as well. But that’s just what they were — thoughts. Dreams. It’s not reality. You’re safe, now. I promise.”

  Emily swallows the lump in her throat.

  “Thank you,” she cries again, tears welling in her eyes.

  Mia hugs her, and the young girl wraps her arms around my mate, burying her face in her neck. Mia rubs her back and lets her cry her heart out.

  My own heart swells as I watch the two redheads. It has all been worth it.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  Mia is staring out the window, looking at the stars in the distance passing us by. Emily is fast asleep in her room downstairs after having eaten a meal fit for a king and showered for a good hour.

  Meanwhile, I typed out the account of all what we’ve seen, learned and experienced, and sent it to the Zoran Command.

  Now it’s up to them to make the next move.

  I don’t care about the Order’s involvement, or what those Tyk’ix meant by the ‘Sovereignty’. Mia is safe. Emily is safe. That’s all that matters to me at this moment.