Fighting Lory (English Edition) (Lords Of Arr'Carthian 2)

by Cathy McAllister

  “No. It was hell. John, my foster father, was OK. He was only rarely at home and knew little of what was going on between me and Michelle, his wife. She was a jealous wretch. Her own daughter, Jenny, was a year older than me and a conceited cow. I was prettier than her and better at school. Michelle couldn’t stand that, of course. She always made sure that she got me shapeless, ugly clothes, cut my hair short and tried to turn my teachers against me. She ruined my books and made out that I’d done it or told horror stories about my supposedly bad behavior at home. She often hit me, shouted at me. She insulted me whenever she could and told John, when he came home, of all the bad things that I had supposedly done. It seemed to make John sad that I couldn’t fit in with his family, but he never knew that it wasn’t my fault. Of course he believed his wife. He thought it was because of what I had experienced, that I was psychotic. He arranged appointments with me with various therapists but I didn’t say a word to any of them.”

  “You’ve had to deal with so much, my little warrior. I’m proud that you’ve been so strong and brave. You must have been very strong, even as a child, to have been able to deal with all of that, but now you have a new family and we’ll help you forget what you’ve been through. And once we have children ourselves you’ll be the best mother that anyone could imagine.”

  “To be honest I’ve never considered having children. I’m not exactly the maternal type.”

  “We can take our time. You’ll see – at some point you won’t believe that you ever thought that way. Now sleep. I’ll hold you, mene carisha.”

  Lory really did fall asleep very soon and for the first time in years she slept without having any bad dreams at all.

  ***

  Y-Quadrant, Karrx7

  In Kordan’s House

  13th day of the month of Manao in the year 7067

  Federation Time

  “I think it’s great that you’ve come to visit,” said Lory, pouring herself and Charly some more tajaka, a wine-based drink with various fruit in it.

  Charly and Amano had come to visit for a few days. Whilst the two men had gone out hunting, Lory and Charly had made themselves comfortable on the patio of the huge house.

  “Yes, I’m looking forward to a few peaceful days. It’s really hectic at home. Amano’s having the house renovated. He wants to build me a bigger bathroom, as if the bathroom we already have wasn’t huge. Then he wants his own medical unit in case something happens to me and, of course, a wing for our numerous children that I haven’t even agreed to.”

  Charly laughed but Lory had not missed the strange expression in her friend’s eyes when she spoke about children. It was clear that some sort of problem weighed her down, but Lory did not want to pry.

  “I wonder what the men are going to bring home,” she changed the subject.

  “Yes, perhaps some huge, hairy creature with long, pointed teeth and red eyes. Or something green, slimy. Hopefully not a giant lizard,” she laughed. “I think I’ve watched too may sci-fi movies. Amano says that, too, since I told him that …”

  “That what?” Lory dug deeper, as Charly was not about to carry on speaking.

  “Well, I’m a bit scared about what will come out if I get pregnant by him. I mean, in films the women don’t usually fare very well when they’re pregnant with an alien baby.”

  Lory shook her head.

  “I think you really have watched too many films. It’ll be a completely normal baby. Amano is not one of those aliens from the film with Sigourney Weaver.”

  “I know,” Charly replied, sighing. “But he is a cheetah. What if the child is born with claws and fangs?”

  “I’ve found out from Kordan that children don’t have the ability to shift until they’re about three years old. Until then they’re completely normal kids.”

  “Oh, Amano didn’t tell me that. But then I haven’t told him about the fur and stuff, only that I’m afraid of what might come out.”

  The patio was suddenly darkened by a shadow and both women looked up.

  “Oh my God!” shouted Lory and Charly screamed in fright, too.

  “What’s that?” asked Charly, panic-stricken.

  “A spaceship. And it doesn’t look like the Cordelia.”

  Suddenly a beam came down from the spaceship hovering above them and before they knew it they were standing on a platform in the transporter room of the ship. In front of them at a control panel stood a lizard-like creature, and two men, whose entire bodies were covered in hair, including their faces, approached Lory and Charly.

  “What’s going on here?” Lory demanded. Her harsh tone did not give away the fact that her heart was beating furiously.

  The two hairy beasts just uttered incomprehensible sounds and one grabbed Charly’s arm whilst the other put his clawed hand around Lory’s throat.

  ‘Why does this somehow feel familiar?’ thought Lory, self-mocking. ‘OK, folks, that’s the end of the adventures of Lory Andersson. Her heroic life ended at the tender age of twenty-five at the hand of a big, hairy alien whose breath stank like a cow’s ass. No! That would be an insult to the cow.’

  Just as Lory began to see stars the creature suddenly let go and she would have fallen over if this being before her had not grabbed her tightly by the arm and pulled her along with him.

  Lory and Charly were dragged to a lift and pushed in roughly. The two hairy aliens followed them into the small cubicle and stood blocking the doorway until they arrived at one of the upper floors and the doors opened with a hissing sound. Again they grabbed the women roughly and pulled them along a narrow corridor. They finally stopped in front of a wide door and one of the aliens pressed a few buttons next to the door to open it.

  “Ah! There you are, my beauties,” they were greeted by Ellyod Allegrass, grinning from ear to ear. “Come in and make yourselves comfortable. I’m pleased that you accepted my invitation.”

  The two hairy aliens pushed them into the room, then the doors closed behind them. Lory did not need to turn round to know that the two hairy beasts were still in the room. She could smell their foul breath.

  “Invitation?” Lory laughed drily. “Yes, you could call it that. Great. Can’t stop laughing.”

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Charly shouted at the pirate. “Why have you abducted us?”

  “Now, now,” he responded. “Just take a seat. I have something to drink for you and later we’ll eat together. I’ve told my chef to prepare something very special for my guests. No food from the food generator. Only the best for my beauties.”

  “I want to know what you’re playing at here,” Lory demanded.

  “Sit down, then we can talk better. Come over here.”

  He led them to a sitting area consisting of six large armchairs with high backs ending in a point and smooth, poisonous green covers. Lory and Charly followed him somewhat reluctantly. Once they were seated he poured them an orange-colored drink in tall, slim glasses.

  “Don’t drink it,” Lory said to Charly. “There could be drugs in it.”

  “No, there’s not,” Ellyod objected. “I’ve poured a drink for myself from the bottle, too. There’s nothing in it. You see?” He put his glass to his lips and drank a few sips before leaning back, relaxed, looking at them expectantly.

  Lory took her glass and eyed up the liquid suspiciously. After a tentative taste she took another sip. It was delicious. It tasted a little like orange and melon, but also had a sharp aftertaste, but a pleasant one. Charly took a sip now, too and her expression relaxed a little.

  “Good?” asked Ellyod, who had watched them attentively.

  “Yes, not bad,” said Lory. “But what’s the reason behind all this? Why have you abducted us?”

  “So, have you forgotten? We had an arrangement. I was beside myself with concern when I realized that you had been abducted.”

  “Well, if that’s the case, then I can reassure you. We are on Karrx7 completely voluntarily. So you can beam us straight back to the groun
d,” said Lory, although she already knew that he would not do that.

  “You don’t have any intention of taking us to earth, do you?” Charly joined in. “We know what you are now.”

  Ellyod smiled weakly.

  “And what am I, my little fire lady?”

  “A pirate!” Charly shouted at him. “You want to sell us as slaves.”

  Ellyod laughed. He threw his head back and laughed so much that he cried tears. Lory and Charly exchanged a glance, shrugging their shoulders.

  “Me? A pirate? That’s too precious,” he said, once he was calm again. “Tell me, did these cats bite you?”

  “What’s that got to do with you?” Lory asked indignantly.

  “Well,” Ellyod continued, “… these false, devious beasts have a drug in their sweet little bites. You wanted to know whether I was going to drug you with a harmless fruit juice, yet you’ve been drugged by the most inscrutable creatures in the whole galaxy. It’s a love drug, didn’t you know that? Didn’t you feel the drug enter your system and change the way you felt?”

  “Rubbish!” Charly objected. “I was already attracted to Amano before he bit me.”

  “Yes,” said Ellyod. “They’re good-looking devils, and charming. But isn’t it right that you still didn’t want to stay with them at first? And hasn’t anything changed since you were bitten?”

  Lory felt an unwelcome feeling of doubt rise within her. It was true that she had felt him inject something into her bloodstream and her feelings really did go crazy after that. A glance at Charly showed her that she seemed to be having similar thoughts.

  “I’m sorry,” said Ellyod with a hint of irony in his voice, “if I’ve had to shatter your illusion of true love, girls. But these shape shifters are known for abducting women. They have too few themselves because their women are dying like flies. Giving birth is killing them. That’s because most of them have four or five younglings at a time.”

  Charly clutched her chest and uttered a quiet cry of horror. Lory knew what she was thinking.

  “I’m sorry,” said Ellyod. “But you’ll get over it. The longer you’ve been without a bite, the weaker the dependency becomes. I’ll take you home, as I promised to.”

  ***

  “”Damn it, this can’t be happening!” cried Amano, as a spaceship appeared in the sky.

  Kordan groaned. Fear clutched at his heart with an icy claw. The spaceship was hovering directly over his house.

  “The women,” he cried, looking at Amano’s horror-stricken expression.

  “We have to go back! Fast!” growled Kordan. They shifted into cheetahs, as they could cover the ground more quickly as cats. Again and again he looked into the sky. When he saw the beam travel to the ground he uttered a blood-curdling roar. Amano joined him in shouting wildly.

  Just ten minutes later they reached his house, but it felt like an eternity to him. He knew he was too late and it almost killed him. He knew exactly who the damn ship belonged to. Ellyod Allegrass, that miserable son-of-a-bitch. On his estate everyone was in complete disarray. The men that he had left behind and all his servants were running about in distress and the women were crying and wringing their hands. His mate had been very popular with everyone. In the brief time that she had been in his house she had captured everyone’s heart.

  Kordan and Amano assumed their human forms.

  “Warro, Spurka and Nanek, prepare the gliders. We’re flying straight to the palace,” Kordan called to his men.

  Chapter 7

  Y-Quadrant

  On board the Karragon

  15th day of the month of Manao in the year 7067

  Federation Time

  Lory and Charly had been on board the Karragon for two days. They had studied numerous star charts with Ellyod’s navigator, but still had no success. In the meantime they were flying in the direction of Xevus3 because this was the point from which their destination lay one month away. So they would begin afresh from there to try to work it out. At least that is what Ellyod told them. He was behaving exceedingly considerately towards them but Lory could not get rid of the feeling that he was hiding something from them.

  “I still miss Amano,” Charly complained. “When is this stupid drug going to wear off? I feel as if it’s getting worse and worse, not better.”

  Lory sighed.

  “I feel the same. But I’m really angry, too. That was the first and last time that I’m going to let a man get so close to me. Damn it! I knew the bastard would hurt me. Guys that look so good usually have a flaw.”

  “I want to cry. But I’m glad that I can no longer have five babies to kill me at birth.”

  “Well, I don’t quite know what to make of that yet. It could well be that Ellyod exaggerated a bit there. I can’t imagine that it’s true. For a start Marruk only has one daughter and not four or five.”

  “Yes, but where is her mother, huh? She died. No one has contested that, have they?”

  “But Moreena’s not dead. And she’s only got two sons who are of different ages. So it doesn’t apply to her either.”

  “No idea, but I had a bad feeling straight away about having alien babies. Instinct, I tell you. No, as much as it hurts me right now, it’s better this way. And somehow I’m looking forward to being at home, too.”

  Suddenly the red lights above the door began to flash and a loud siren boomed through the room. Lory and Charly looked at one another, shocked.

  “I think we’re being attacked,” said Lory.

  “But by who? Pirates?”

  Lory shook her head miserably.

  “I hardly think so.”

  “You don’t mean …? Do you think Amano and Kordan are after us?” Charly’s voice was wavering between hope and panic.

  “Yes, I don’t think they’re intending to let us go that easily.”

  A jolt went through the ship, explosions could be heard and the ship was shaken again and again. Lory went to the door, pressing the buttons to open it, but nothing happened.

  “Shit!”

  “What is it?” asked Charly.

  “We’re locked in.”

  “But that’s good, isn’t it? I mean, so none of the … So whoever’s attacking us, can’t get in here. We’re safe in here.”

  “Safe? We’re sitting here like mice in a trap. We’d be better off if we could run freely through the ship. And don’t think that they won’t get in here. They have laser pistols. With those they’ll definitely be able to override the mechanism somehow. No! I’d feel better if we could get out of here. I’ll try to short-circuit the door.”

  Lory took a good look at the small keypad box next to the door.

  “Have you got a nail file?”

  “Yes, I saw one in the bathroom.”

  Charly got up and hurried to the bathroom. She soon returned with the nail file and watched Lory use the file as a screwdriver to open up the box. The ship was shaken again and again and Lory stuck the file in her hand.

  “Ow! Shit!” she swore, putting the injured side in her mouth to stop the blood flowing.

  Quietly swearing and grumbling, she finally managed to unscrew the cover and expose the wires.

  “Now comes the tricky bit. Either the door will open straight away or …”

  “Or what?” asked Charly.

  “Or it’s well and truly locked!” snarled Lory, setting about the task.

  “Bingo!” she cried, as the door opened. “Now let’s get out of here!”

  They ran along the corridor. Red lamps were flashing everywhere and the siren was deafening.

  “I know where we should go,” said Charly, out of breath. “Come on!”

  “Damn it, what are you doing?” shouted Lory, watching Charly angrily. What was she thinking, just running off?

  Charly stopped and turned round.

  “Get on with it! Come on! Just trust me, OK?”

  Lory muttered indignantly, but got moving, following Charly through the corridors until she suddenly stood still, looked t
o the right and the left, and then opened a door. Lory hesitated, but Charly grabbed her by the hand and pulled her inside the dark room. Charly hastily closed the door and it went very dark.

  “Where the hell are we?” snarled Lory, not happy.

  “It’s a kind of broom closet. But it’s got …”

  “Broom closed? I got us out of our cabin because we were sitting in a trap there and you’ve brought us into a broom closet?”

  “Wait till I’ve explained,” replied Charly, offended.

  “Hmpf.”

  “This room has two doors. The first door is the one we came in by. The other door is behind me here and it leads onto another corridor. This room is, so to speak, a connection between the two corridors. So if danger comes from your side then we’ll disappear through the door behind me. If danger …”

  “Yes, yes! I get it! OK! Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea.”

  “Not such a bad idea? I might have just saved our hides with my not bad idea !”

  ***

  “We’ve shattered their protective shields. Their eight engines are damaged - five of them irreparably. Shall we go on board?” Palic spoke.

  “Yes,” bellowed Kordan. “Man the fighters.” He turned to Amano. “We’ll both go with the first fighter.”

  “With the greatest of pleasure,” Amano snarled solemnly.

  “Good, let’s lose no time,” Kordan urged haste.

  They hurried to the docking station where technicians cleared the fighters for take-off. The small, agile spaceships were built for a maximum of six people. Kordan and Amano climbed into the first fighter with four other men. Kordan sat right behind the steering wheel. The seat belts locked automatically as soon as the men sat in their seats: the launch in the fighter was always very powerful and without seat belts there could be fatal injuries.

  Kordan counted down from ten: “… three … two … take-off!”

  The fighter shot forwards with such acceleration that the men were forced back into their seats and their bodies shook. Kordan’s hands clutched the armrests. The high-speed mini spaceship was catapulted into the depths of space. Once the extreme acceleration reduced to normal flying speed the men relaxed and Kordan let go of the arm rests. He made a frontal attack on the main laser weapons of the pirate ship. He maneuvered the fighter skillfully, escaping a series of shots. With ice-cold precision he fired at the laser cannon until it broke into smithereens. Debris was flung everywhere but Kordan dodged it expertly. It would be catastrophic if one of the large pieces were to hit them: because of the impact of the explosion the pieces of wreckage had reached a high speed and could damage the fighter which, at worst, could be fatal.