“My partner, Yahn is right. I have seen predictions of his that have come true. I know what a threat Demarin is. He is likely to come looking for me to carry out his revenge.”
“What are we supposed to do? If this is going to happen soon, how do we have time to prepare?” An older man asked.
“We will have to do the best we can. We can take about two families in our shelter, but that’s all the room we have. If you have storm cellars, stock them up, get inside and lock the doors tight. We want them to find the place deserted when they come. Then when they relax their posture a bit, we will attack them!” I said.
I went around the community helping people to build makeshift shelters and stock up their basements and cellars. It was not a minute too soon. One night when Jessie and I were feeling a little frisky, an alert sounded on our phones. The virtual reality player switched on and we saw an emergency report playing all around us. What it showed was Sarceastian fighter ships approaching Gwuarden. The report stated that the ships seemed to be attempting an attack on the peaceful settlement. It also said that a defense squad from Earth was sent to help Gwuarden mount a defense.
“It is about to start. We have to warn the others and then go to the shelter,” I stated. We walked to the amphitheater in the heart of the community and rang the alarm. It was understood that if someone rang this alarm, it was time for everyone to seek cover. As soon as the alarm rang, I saw several people running home. Once the alarm sounded, I ran back home with Jessie. Just as we entered our house, we heard the sound of an explosion.
“Quickly!” I yelled. We headed to the tunnel and made for the shelter as quickly as we could. We got inside the shelter; I sealed the two sets of doors and guided Jessie to the living room area. Then, I switched on the virtual reality player to see if we could get an update.
“Help!” someone yelled from the outside.
“Let them in,” Jessie shouted.
“I knew there would be some that weren’t prepared,” I said as I began to unlock the doors using the retinal code.
A young human family came in. It was a young man, a woman, and their five-year-old daughter. They could hear the sound of explosions in the distance. [G300][G301][G302]
“Get inside quickly!” I urged.
“Thank you so much, the young man said. “My name is Daniel Davis. I began building a shelter, but it is incomplete. If only we had a little more time. This is Jenny and our daughter Rosie,” he said.
“It’s not a problem. I’m actually pleased that we have more people asking to stay here. I have equipped this shelter with plenty of supplies for you and your family. Besides, we don’t have to wait long, I’m afraid before we must fight,” I said. Daniel had large, sad brown eyes. He seemed less than thrilled about this prospect.
“Are you sure we’re going to have to fight?” he asked.
“Would you like to keep Gwaurden from becoming a Sarceastian mining colony?” I implored.
We switched on the virtual reality player. It showed satellite cameras capturing explosions on the surface of the colony. Gwuarden was a small moon of the planet Gelatio and news cameras were now at a safe distance trying to hone in on what was happening.
It seems the Sarceastians are beginning to cease their attack as they are not finding many citizens there. They appear to have vanished. We can only hope that they are in hiding or have escaped altogether. We are hoping to hear back from Captain Thornton soon about the Allied Earth Federation troops that are on their way to the colony on the lush forest moon known as Gwuarden.[G303][G304]
“It’s working,” I pointed out. “We must mount our attacks soon. We can’t wait around!” I sent out a message that all able-bodied people who wished to help with the attacks should meet at my shelter. It would be risky getting people to move around, but most of the shelters people had built were some distance away from the main settlement where the Sarceastians had mounted their attack.
The group was so large that it filled the shelter. I wasted no time and got right to the point, “Citizens of Gwuarden, we must attack immediately. Our enemy is puzzled and has ceased their attack to evaluate the situation. This is when we should strike them!”
“Agreed! A muscular young man said.
“Yes, we attack now!” A middle-aged woman said. She was clutching a small laser pistol.
“We will launch a coordinated series of guerilla-style attacks on them until they are persuaded to leave or are completely destroyed,” I stated.
We began our first attack, taking a group of about fifty of us to the edge of the settlement. We saw armed Sarceastian soldiers marching around, but it didn’t appear to be a full army. They had more than likely sent some of their troops off into the jungle to hunt us.
"Now!" I whispered and we came at them with our laser cannons and pistols blazing. Many soldiers were hit and others were in full retreat mode. One of them tried to send a warning to the base, but I shot him with a laser blast just before he was able to get the communication through. Still, it was likely that Demarin would know that a counterattack was taking place soon enough. We retreated quickly back into the jungle and watched as more troops poured out of a Sarceastian cruiser like ants. They were swarming around the area where we had invaded. We attacked them again from the opposite direction, a couple of our people were taken out, but their casualties were much greater in number. [G305]
Their survivors began to retreat again. We pulled back into the jungle. Then we went to another position in the forest to carry out our third attack. I knew that this one would be the riskiest because Demarin would be better prepared. This last time, we attacked them from the south, but they shot four of us right away, expecting a third onslaught. Demarin himself made an appearance from well behind several lines of his soldiers. He ended up killing two of the humans and then hastily retreated back to the cruiser. We ended up fighting back and pushing the Sarceastians to a third retreat. There weren’t that many of them left to retreat, so I knew that we had dealt them with a devastating blow.
“Yahn, we have too many wounded. I don’t think we have the strength for a fourth attack,” Daniel said, clutching his bleeding arm.
“That’s alright, Daniel, three may prove to be sufficient. I believe that Demarin came at us with the fullest force he has right now,” I remarked. “You go ahead and lead the others back to safety and ask Dr. Harris to set up a triage for the wounded. I don’t think anyone’s wounds are life-threatening. I want to stick around and keep an eye on what the Sarceastians are planning next,” I instructed.
However, we had made one mistake during our third attack. We did not immediately go back into hiding. Out of nowhere, two Sarceastian soldiers came out of the jungle and took Jessie's weapon. After that, they vanished with her. I desperately searched for them and finally I did catch up with them as they were trying to board the cruiser. I was closing the distance between us very quickly but still I wasn't close enough to be able to hit them with the laser fire.[G306][G307][G308][G309]
They boarded the cruiser and took Jessie with them. I was able to climb onto the bottom set of wings as the cruiser was taking off. I managed to crawl to the cargo hold and get inside it as the ship was taking off. It wasn't the place ideal to hide but it was spacious enough that I could sit up or at least stretch out my legs. One thing was for sure. I was going to rescue Jessie from that ship if it was the last thing I ever accomplished. For now, I had to wait patiently for the ship to land. I tried to send Jessie a message to let her know I was there.[G310][G311]
Jessie, it's me. I hope this message gets to you. I managed to get on board the ship. I'm in the cargo hold. Wherever they are taking you, I will be there to set you free. I promise you.[G312]
Yahn! I'm so glad that you are here, but please be careful. The last thing I want is for Demarin to capture both of us. It would be better if one of us remains free.[G313][G314]
We will both soon be free. I will take them by surprise and force them to let you go. Then, we will escap
e again just like we always do. Nothing in this universe can stop me from getting to you. I love you, Jessie.
I love you too Yahn. I will see you whenever we get to where we’re going. I suppose it’s probably Sarceastium.
I’m sure you’re right about that. Sarceastium is not my idea of a honeymoon destination, I joked.
After several days of surviving on pillaged Sarceastian food in the cargo hold, I could hear that the ship was preparing for a landing.[G315][G316]
Chapter 3
Jessie
As soon as they walked me down the moving ramp way, I knew we had landed on Sarceastium. All of the rumors I'd heard about this planet seemed to be confirmed. It was a white and gray landscape of tundra and snow. The Sarceastian city was all glass and steel with nothing green or natural about it. The buildings were stacked very close together and the amount of smog and traffic made LA seem like a country retreat. I got one good look at the snow-swept sea of steel spires and glass domes before they took me deep into the bowels of a warehouse-like building. Once the upper levels were office like rooms and larger meeting rooms. Then, we got to the prison levels. I saw several suspended cells with invisible barriers where unhappy men and other aliens sat and waited out their sentences. Finally, we reached a level that seemed to be at the very bottom of the facility, the basement so to speak. On this floor were several lab-like rooms where I could hear screams of pain. I knew that the most horrible experiments were probably carried out there, and I wanted more than anything else to escape this place and help the people being tortured.[G317][G318][G319][G320][G321]
I was placed in a chair next to a control panel. Attached to the chair there were all sorts of instruments of torture, some with blades and drills, and others with heat and laser rays. I struggled, but the soldiers would only strap me more tightly. They turned the chair around and there was Demarin, facing me.[G322][G323][G324]
"Oh, my dear, Jessie. What a state you found yourself in. Oh, you are worried about those hi-tech torture devices attached to your chair no doubt. Do not worry. I don't use such unsporting weaponry. I much prefer whips, maces, knives and more primitive ones. I shall only be a minute while I select what is most fitting for today's sport," he said with a wicked laugh.[G325]
“You can do what you want with me, but your kind’s days are numbered,” I threatened.
“You’re in no position to make threats, my dear,” Demarin said as he got closer to me. He pushed a button and a heat ray scorched the side of my neck.
"OUCH!" I yelled. The side of my neck had a red burn on it. [G326][G327]
“That’s only the beginning,” he said, turning away from her. He went over to a tall closet of sorts and opened the door. Inside the closet there were myriads of weapons, including a whip, a mace, a club, two spears, a series of swords, throwing stars and daggers.
“I’ve always said a coward needs a million weapons,” I chided.
"You will only make me take more pleasure in hurting you, my dear if you keep talking that way," Demarin assured me. He proceeded to pick out a large whip with spikes at the end of it. [G328][G329][G330]
Just as he was about to turn around, I saw Yahn come up behind the guard at the door. With a flash, he hit the guard in the back of his head with the back of his laser cannon and grabbed the digital keys to the locks of the torture chair. Demarin turned around quickly and saw that Yahn was about to shoot him. He dove for cover and managed to escape through a door in the back of the chamber. Yahn came over and untied me from the chair. [G331]
“Let’s go after Demarin!” I said.
“We really need to focus on getting you safely out of here,” Yahn insisted.
“We have to take him out. Once we do, the Sarceastians will be substantially weakened.”
"All in good time, my dear," Yahn said as he began to take the hooded uniform off of the guard that he had knocked out. Then, he tied up my hands. "Here, put these around your hands," he said. [G332][G333][G334][G335][G336][G337][G338][G339][G340][G341]
“Ah, I see where you’re going with this, but will they buy it?” I asked.
"We'll find out." Yahn led me out of the torture area and we wandered back through the floors where the torture had been taking place. We tried our best to ignore the screams we heard. At that moment, we had to get out of the lion's den before the lion came to attack us. I knew that Demarin was going to warn the whole place of our presence there, so we had to hurry out of the area. We passed a couple of guards as we made our way to the upper levels on the moving, suspended walkways that linked the levels together.
“Where are you taking this human?” one of them asked Yahn.
“Demarin has asked that I take the prisoner to his quarters so that he may do with her as he chooses,” Yahn stated.
“Hmm, we haven’t received any word of this,” the guard said. Then, another guard ran up from behind us.
"Sir, we've just received word that the prisoner has been kidnapped by a Karkastian." [G342]
“Get them!” the guard yelled and they drew their laser guns. I drew mine first and took out the guard nearest to us. The other guard began to shoot at us and we had to jump from the platform to the lower level to avoid being hit. We exchanged fire and finally one of my shots hit its target and the guard fell over the rail.
“Let’s get to the upper floors and get out of here!” I yelled as we climbed back up to the next level. Prisoners shouted at us as we ran through the prison complex. Laser shots were flying everywhere, barely missing us as we ran through. The whole place had been alerted to our presence, it seemed. We ran down a side hall and hid in a utility closet while the bulk of the guards on that level ran on. We gathered our breath so that we could continue our escape.
We made our way up to a supply and maintenance level. There were vast storerooms of weaponry and machinery. Sleek, new space cruisers were being built for the Sarceastian military and heavily-armored hover copters, the likes of them I had never seen. [G343][G344]
"I guess I never realized just how well armed the Sarceastian army was," I remarked. We passed through this level exchanging more gunfire with the soldiers, but again, we managed to get through to the next level. Soon, however, the access doors to the upper levels were being closed. We could hear an alarm sound and an announcement that intruders were in the vicinity. We realized that we were trapped on that floor and the guards were moving in fast.
"Quickly, in the armored assault vehicle there!" Yahn exclaimed. The Sarceastian armored assault vehicles were basically huge hover tanks, armed with missiles and laser fire. We climbed into one of them and began to take out several guards at a time. The rest of them retreated to the exits. I began to drive the vehicle out of the warehouse it was stored in. [G345][G346][G347][G348][G349]
“Where are you taking us?” Yahn asked.
"Through the armored door!" I exclaimed and began to make the vehicle operate at full throttle. I activated the large battering ram at the front of the vehicle and first fired several missiles at the door. These all bounced off, but the door was now burned black. I rammed the door with the battering ram and we managed to punch through the door. We got out of the vehicle and continued our escape through the upper floors. Now we were on a floor with what looked to be offices and meeting rooms. In fact, we ran into a room where several well-dressed Sarceastians were in an important meeting. The soldiers were close behind us as we made our way through this floor. We hid out in a place that looked like a bathroom, losing many of the soldiers, but soon they found us hiding there and began to fill the room with laser fire. We barely escaped out of the door. [G350]
We were now on the ground floor of the building. Right away, we could feel the colder temperatures coming from outside. We were both nearly out of breath and needed to stop and rest if we could. We found a clothing supply closet with many hooded military uniforms and other supplies. We got far back in the closet and remained completely quiet as a group of Sarceastian soldiers moved through the room, searching it. F
inally, they left and we both breathed a sigh of relief. [G351][G352][G353][G354]
“We are really close to the outside, I can feel it,” Yahn whispered.
“In that case, we had better stock up on these uniforms. I hear that the landscape is a lot like Yukon, back home. Oh, but you probably wouldn’t know about that,” I said.
“Yes, Yukon is in northern Canada,” Yahn pointed out.
“How did you know that?” I asked him.
“As I’ve said before. We Karkastians would study Earth culture. Mostly as a cautionary tale about how not to give rise to civilization,” he joked.
Alien Romance Box Set: Romantic Suspense: Alien Destiny: Scifi Alien Romance Adventure Romantic Suspence Trilogy (Complete Series Box Set Books 1-3) Page 21