First Contact

by S. J. Sanders

  No one said a word as they followed her out the rear door and past the garden. Sarly made a plaintive sound but they ignored her as they walked across the open grass toward a lightly wooded area near the rear of the property. They passed several thick trees before Bea bent forward and pulled at a heavy wooden door half obscured by vines in the side of what looked like a hill.

  It creaked and groaned as it swung open. Geree peered into the cool darkness beneath the ground and shivered.

  “I’ll bet you anything there’s all kinds of bugs and spiders in there,” she muttered as she lit the lamp and began her descent. Ehmhy didn’t like his mate going down first but he felt obligated to wait until his family was secure in the cellar before he followed them in.

  He met Bea’s eyes as Ferikal slipped by with Suzee and followed Geree inside. “You will be well, Bea?”

  “I reckon. I don’t think they’ll actually do anything to me. I’m human and a citizen. It’s you I’m worrying about. Get in there so I won’t have to worry.”

  Her tone was irritated but he caught the concern beneath it. He clasped one of her hands between his in an expression of gratitude before turning away to follow his mate into the dark. The door swung shut behind him, so only the soft glow of Geree’s lantern could be seen. He could barely make her out in the low light but suspected that he and Ferikal were having an easier time seeing than Suzee and Geree.

  The females whimpered as they shuffled toward the wall. There, his mate found a small table to set the lamp on and she turned the flame up higher. They sat around the table and attempted to amuse themselves as a distraction from the seriousness of the situation. They played a card game from an old dirty deck that Suzee found on a shelf and regaled each other with stories of their own adventures and tales that they knew.

  When the hour became later and the sun went down, they all knew that night had come when the cellar chilled uncomfortably. Suzee huddled into Ferikal’s fur, her body shivering against the cool, damp air. Geree kept herself busy looking through their provisions before she finally allowed Ehmhy to pull her into his arms and surround her with his heat. She groaned and turned her face into his pelt.

  “Whatever happens,” she whispered, “I want you to know I don’t regret any of this. I love you, Ehmhy.”

  His hands stilled upon her back and he squeezed her tightly to him. Everything he’d ever hoped for and wanted had been given to him with those few words. He ran his muzzle through her hair.

  “My heart is yours, Geree. You are truly my mate, for now and all time. Do you consent in your joining with me?”

  “Yes,” she breathed and looked up at him, her face bathed in the soft glow of the lamp.

  “May I mark you as mine?”

  “How are you going to do that?”

  “With my claws here on your shoulder, just deep enough to scar, and then I lick over it. My saliva has enzymes to make it heal rapidly. By morning, you won’t even feel it.”

  “It’s gonna hurt,” she said steadily, looking him in the eye.

  “Yes,” he replied honestly.

  Geree studied him and then smiled. “Life is pleasure and pain. Can’t have one without the other. I’m willing to have a little pain for our forever together.”

  Her arms wound around him, drawing him against her, and she buried her face against his neck. He held her tightly to him, whispering words of love in his language as he raised his right hand over her shoulder and swiped down, scouring the flesh from just above her heart to the same place on her back. She cried out, her arms tightening, but he wasted no time in licking the trails of blood and coating her flesh with his saliva that relieved the pain and healed the wound.

  When he finished and could see the new tissue knitting itself together, he settled against his mate and held her close. He saw the flash of Ferikal’s eyes turn in his direction but he ignored his nephew. He would understand mating when he became older. No matter what happened in the coming days, Ehmhy felt content knowing that he had his mate beside him. Geree sighed and snuggled into him, proclaiming her love in a drowsy mumble once more as they fell asleep that way.

  The night, however, passed slowly, and Ehmhy drifted in and out. He was constantly checking with Ashdru for any sign of Nuralo. A weight settled within him when the weak streams of morning light pierced the boards of the cellar door. He opened a bottle of water and drank deeply from it, his eyes never moving from the door.

  His ears shifted as he caught a distant sound of an engine like the one that had searched for them before. His tail flicked angrily behind him and his fur expanded. It was instinctual, nothing more than nature’s way to make him appear to be a larger and more imposing predator, but Ehmhy did not try to fight against his natural battle impulses as he might have in more civilized fights during his time as a trader.

  A bright light flashed over their enclosure before moving on as the engine droned closer. Geree woke in his arms and Ferikal backed up closer to the wall to protect Suzee, who had begun to cry. The trees outside began to rattle as he heard a vessel lower near the house, and then suddenly it was quiet. Bea’s voice carried to them from somewhere nearby, probably outside her back door, as she yelled at the intruders.

  “I told you they ain’t here! You’re trespassing on private property. Get out! Right now. This is my home—” Her pained cry made Ehmhy peel his lips back from his teeth as he tucked his female behind him and tried to back her further into the cellar. His heart thudded painfully in his chest with dread. Geree wept into his fur, likely suspecting the worst had happened.

  There was nothing but the noise of human males outside and then suddenly the door was pulled open, the light spilling in from the flashlights blinding him. He tucked Geree behind him and spat angrily as the males flooded in around them. Ferikal attempted to swipe out at several of them, but he was restrained and Suzee taken captive. Ehmhy watched in horror as they were dragged out and renewed his efforts to fight. Blood flowed easily from the deep wounds he carved into males who dared to get too close to him or Geree.

  A large male came at his left and Ehmhy turned to intercept, not realizing until too late it was a diversion for another male to grab Geree and pull her away from him. He whirled around and attempted to attack her captor, but the male he put behind him struck him with what felt like blades shooting electricity into his hide. He roared and arched his back in agony. A male he’d slashed across the face glared at him through dripping blood.

  “Fry, you son of a bitch,” a human snarled.

  Ehmhy struggled against the pain, but he was helpless to resist it. Even when the current was turned off, he fell limp on the floor of the cellar. The humans laughed and several hands grabbed his pelt brutally and pulled him outside. He could hear Geree’s shouts and Ferikal’s moan of dismay. He wanted to reassure them but couldn’t force the words past his lips. His vision was fuzzy, and he seemed to veer in and out of consciousness. He was aware just enough to see that they were hauling him to a black vessel with four blades at its top that were already beginning to turn. An air vessel, he decided. They were going to separate him from his family. Ehmhy tried to move his limbs, to protest—to do anything, but his body was no longer his own. He could see one male carrying the beacon nearby.

  They’d removed it. Despair settled in his belly.

  “Detection of Forad trade vessel Lucky Runner. Vessel due to breach Earth’s atmosphere in five minutes,” Ashdru purred.

  The humans froze, hands tightening on him painfully and then there was a flurry of movement. They dragged him faster, not caring if he struck anything in passing. To the side, Ferikal screeched angrily as they wrestled him toward another vessel. The females were being rounded up and herded into a third vehicle. Ehmhy roared and clawed without strength but born solely of desperation. His mate, his family!

  “Ehmhy!” Geree screamed.

  GERRY CRIED OUT IN misery. They were dragging her and Suzy to a third helicopter. They were going to separate them. She dug her feet
in and resisted with all her might. A man nearby yelped when Suzy sank her teeth into his hand. The girl nearly got free but was snatched off her feet by another soldier. Ehmhy roared as they dragged him away and Gerry’s eyes filled with tears.

  This couldn’t be how it all ended.

  A loud burst overhead deafened her for a moment, but Gerry followed all other gazes up above them to a massive starship quickly lowering to the ground. Red strobe lights flowed over the ground and suddenly humans began to scatter. In the confusion, Ferikal managed to get free and he wrapped his arms around Ehmhy and pulled him away from the fleeing troops. A few weapons were fired but laser blasts hitting the ground too close for comfort quickly discouraged any further shots.

  As Ferikal arrived at her side with Ehmhy, she watched in awe as a door slid open and several Forad males wearing outfits like those of Ehmhy and Ferikal—in addition to armor and a shit ton of weapons—rushed down and surrounded them. Gerry looked around nervously and caught sight of Aunt Bea limping toward them.

  “Bea!” she shouted happily and ran to embrace her. Bea nearly crumbled against her, but her arms hugged her tightly.

  “It’s all okay,” her aunt whispered through tears. “They’re here and you’ll be safe.”

  Gerry pulled back and frowned sadly. “They’re not here for me. They’re here for Ehmhy and Ferikal.”

  “Don’t be foolish, girl. He loves you and you love him. Besides, you won’t have any life here anymore. The government will never leave you in peace.”

  She watched as the males surrounded Ferikal and Ehmhy. Several of them worked together to lift the injured male. He stayed them with a growl and turned toward her, his hand stretching out to her, his eyes pleading.

  “Geree?”

  The males looked from him to her and then one separated from the group and moved toward her, his hand beckoning her to go with them.

  “Go on, Geraldine,” Bea said.

  “Come with us,” Gerry pleaded, her hands tightening.

  “You know I can’t go anywhere without Sarly and the chickens. They depend on me to take care of them. It wouldn’t be right to abandon them.”

  “Not the damn goat,” Ehmhy said with a groan. He turned his head and growled to the male standing near her. The male looked aghast at Ehmhy but nodded. Several of the Forad separated and moved toward the livestock.

  Gerry laughed. “Looks like you’re all coming with us,” she told her aunt.

  The Forad in front of her—she guessed Ehmhy’s cousin Nuralo—smiled and gestured again for her to come. She nodded and pulled her aunt beside her as the male turned away and began to walk to the ship with a lazy lash of his tail. Despite his demeanor, his ears moved as if on constant alert. Ehmhy sank back into unconsciousness as he was carried inside.

  After helping Bea board the ship, Gerry took one last look at her home. It had been the place she’d lived after her parents had died. It held all her dearest memories. She smiled and whispered goodbye before turning and walking up the plank into the starship.

  Epilogue

  Ehmhy’s arms came around her as they stood at the viewscreen. He’d been a terrible patient as the ship’s doctor patched him up in the medical bay, but much to her pleasure, he made a quick recovery. He hadn’t complained too much but had been very vocal about not being separated from his mate. She smiled and touched the raised scar on her shoulder. The doctor had patched her up with a small handheld healing unit that finished the healing process after implanting her translator.

  Everyone recognized them as mates. She could hardly believe it. They had survived everything and were going to Forashual as a mated pair. His family couldn’t contain their enthusiasm. She stared out, a smile playing on her lips, as she watched Earth shrink as the ship moved further away from it.

  She had marveled at her first glimpse of outer space and her planet. Never in her life had she imagined she’d witness such a sight. It was made all the better by the warm brush of Ehmhy’s fur behind her.

  “Where are Suzy and Ferikal?” she asked.

  “I believe my nephew said something about showing the female how to work a replicator.”

  She laughed. “Of course. He’s a growing boy. Food would be his first priority.”

  “No, Suzy is clearly his first. Food comes at a close second,” Ehmhy said. Gerry turned in his embrace and stared up at him. In all the time they were together on Earth, she’d never heard him sound so carefree. His face was relaxed as if all the worry he’d been carrying had been lifted off his shoulders.

  She brushed her lips against the soft fur of his jaw and smiled with contentment. A sudden shadow passing between the ship and the light of her planet broke the peace that had fallen over them. Gerry frowned and turned her head back to the viewscreen. A few of the other Forad on the flight deck, all cousins, Ehmhy had informed her, approached with expressions of concern.

  A large ship, easily three or four times bigger than the one they were on, passed in front of them. Lights flashed along its side in what appeared to be a subtle warning. Nuralo’s frowned deepened.

  “Morik, pull ahead and prepare to enter the celestial stream,” he said with a growl. “May Earth be fortunate and wise in all dealings that they now make.”

  Gerry whipped her head between Nuralo and Ehmhy in confusion.

  “Wait, what’s going on?”

  Ehmhy sighed. “Nothing that is within our control. The Budo appear to have intercepted the beacon. They are a merciless race of traders and have a reputation for dabbling in slavery. We can only pray for Earth and bring your planet to the attention of the Intergalactic Union as soon as possible.”

  “And what about us?”

  “We will live our life, Geree. My uncle will speak to you and bring you before the council to make them aware of your race but after that, we will be free.” He brushed his lips down her jaw. “We will travel on our trade routes, see the universe, laugh, love, and truly live.” He hesitated. “It is best if we do not speak of our young if we wish to keep any semblance of privacy in our lives.”

  Gerry agreed with that. She leaned into her mate, her eyes drifting shut to block out the sight. She felt an edge of guilt for looking forward to her future when her planet stood in the face of danger, but then her anger rekindled as she thought of what her government had tried to do to them.

  No, Ehmhy was right. She would represent her species and then let it go. They deserved to know freedom and peace.

  Gerry was looking forward to the adventures they would have. She ran a hand down her belly and smiled. The doctor had scanned her to check her health when they’d come aboard and found her to be pregnant. Ehmhy had been both shocked and excited; Gerry felt blessed. Their family was going to be the best adventure yet.

  Her head snapped up when a view screen snapped open and a sudden squawk and a curse came over the line from the cargo bay. An elderly Forad who Ehmhy had introduced as his uncle Fazur wore a fierce scowl, his ears snapped back flat against his skull.

  “Ehmhy, come to cargo immediately. This female is insane. She let out all of her damned birds to feed them and now they are everywhere.” A yowl followed by low snarl sounded in the background. “This whole situation is intolerable. None of our crew are able to safely capture the creatures and the human refuses to help. Insists that they need exercise. The birds and their owner are a menace.”

  A loud cackle followed and suddenly Aunt Bea came into view and waved cheerfully.

  “Don’t you mind Fazur here, the old stick in a mud. We’re all doing just fine. These boys are learning something useful. No need to come down.”

  Fazur growled at her but she reached up and patted his cheek with a broad smile on her face that made Gerry bite her lip to keep from laughing. She recognized her aunt’s way of flirting, and by the way the male’s ears were starting to twitch forward it was obviously working. He finally sighed reluctantly.

  “Cancel that, Ehmhy. I am sure we will work something out.” He turned his a
ttention back to Bea. “We will talk, female.” The viewscreen closed, and Gerry doubled-over with laughter.

  She had a feeling this was the beginning of a new adventure for everyone.