Brax

by Kelly Lucille

  "Are you sure this is wise?" The voice she recognized as the medic asked. "I have only programmed her to get the Tellox language, protocols of conduct and use of our basic technologies, such as the bath and food dispensers, but we have both seen the reports Commander Creeg filed on his mate’s reaction to the Teacher. They strongly suggested it was unsafe for humans without calibration."

  "If she is not strong enough to wear the teacher, as every child in the galaxy can," Rygan offered in disgust. "Then she is not fit to mate the king. Besides they reported that after a small rest, and some lost time the female Sara integrated the information beautifully, there is no reason to think her sister will not do the same." He laughed, his sardonic cruel laugh. "And if she sleeps away the days while I am gone so much the better. I do not need her wandering into trouble while I am raiding her planet."

  Raiding my planet? Ariel gritted her teeth at the blasé way he stated he was going off to kill innocents and take females for the Tellox. And since she now knew the history of the Tellox she knew exactly why they had suddenly decided to attack Earth, take its females, and what had happened to Sara, at least partially. She still had no clue where she was now, or what was happening to her, but she did know that Sara was found by Commander Creeg of the Tellox by some random twist of fate, he had recognized what she was by the smell and taste of her blood. Had mated her, and that mating had sparked a change in the Earth woman on a cellular level, changing her progressively into a Tellox female. A change that was only possible for a fated blood mating. The first one any of them had seen since a bloody destructive war had destroyed their future.

  Ariel also had a working understanding of the phenomenon of finding a blood mate once she used her own skills to access the medical files. Sara and Commander Creeg both had extensive files and Ariel helped herself to everything inside them. It reassured her as nothing else that Rygan was not going to be able to force either himself or his biology on her. Not when there was no real bond between them. No matter how deluded he might be about her, she felt nothing for the crazed ruler of the Tellox but a wish to leave his presence at the first opportunity. A Tellox could not mate with any but their fated blood mate. No sex, no transforming her, nothing.

  Once she assured herself she was not what he thought, she moved on to engineering, space travel, the mechanics and flight controls of their escape pods, computer codes and a layout of the ship. She nearly hummed her pleasure at the open invitation they had offered her.

  Finally, she sucked up every crumb of knowledge she could find on Tellox defense capabilities, shield engineering and the mechanics behind it. She hit pay dirt then because advanced mathematics of the Tellox were infinitely further along than what could be found on Earth. It was like having a crash course in everything their advanced civilization had managed to acquire in the last thousand plus years. And her brain did exactly what it did when flooded with a new discipline or hit a new learning plateau. It opened like a flower and absorbed all of it, fitting it neatly into her mind’s many houses so that it could be precisely and exactly called up when she needed it.

  "She does not appear to be in the pain we were informed her sister had experienced," the medic said into the extended silence. "Would you like me to check how far along she is in the program?"

  Damn it! Ariel thought even as her mind sifted through commands and wiped the teacher of all the paths she had taken so far and so fast. There was so much more that she wanted to see, but it would have to wait for another time. If they discovered just how much she had accessed while they twiddled their thumbs around her, Rygan could very well just kill her. She had entirely too much knowledge of his kind and their defenses to take the chance.

  By the time the medic had gotten a nod from the King and checked the device she had it wiped clean, but for the original programming. He sounded surprised when he reported. "The program is done."

  Ariel did not open her eyes. And she ignored both the command from Rygan to rise, and the medic’s prod at her arm.

  "Maybe I should run another scan. She does not seem in distress, but she might have slipped into a fugue state in reaction to the stress on her human mind."

  Ariel really had to fight the desire to snort at that little gem of wisdom. But it worked in her favor.

  "Leave her,” Rygan muttered his mind clearly on his upcoming destruction of Earthlings. "I will bring her in for a full medical when I return, for now she remains in my quarters. The portal sealed."

  "And if she gets worse while you are gone?"

  There must have been some look passed between them because the medic sounded apologetic when he spoke again. "Of course, you would know best what your mate needs. I overstep."

  "Yes," came the cold growl in response. "You do."

  She heard the swish of the door and would bet money it was the big scary medic getting as far away from that scary voice as his warrior legs could get him. She wondered how many Tellox had died at the whims of that unhinged voice.

  There was a long silence while Ariel kept close control on her emotions, and her heart rate easy. She listened intently for sounds of Rygan following his medic out of the room but heard nothing. Not even breathing. Was he watching her? Or had he left the room without her hearing him?

  The grip on her arm that wrenched her from her seat took her by complete surprise. Her eyes snapped open and she gasped to find herself up on her tip toes. The pain from his grip shooting down her shoulder to her fingertips. From the look of chilled rage on his face, his colliding emotions had taken another fast turn.

  "You like to play games, little human?"

  He spoke in Tellox and she answered him the same way without even having to think about it. "Just hoping you would be on your way. I know you have things to do, people to kill. No need to let me distract you."

  He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at her mild tone and lack of inflection. She did not give him the satisfaction of letting him know just how much her arm was beginning to hurt under his digging fingers. "It occurs to me," he said his voice returning to that cold place of logic he liked to pretend he existed in. "That it would be foolish to leave you all alone here without making my claim clear to everyone. We would not want any of my warriors getting ideas, if they should happen to see you once again roaming the halls. As I take all my most loyal elite guard with me, it would be foolish not to take precautions. After all you have gotten out of a locked room before."

  This one certainly won't hold me, Ariel thought but was smart enough to keep it to herself. He was not waiting for a response from her anyway.

  "And I do not think I want to wait for your transformation once I get back. When I return it would be best if you had gone through at least a partial transformation to Tellox." Ariel stilled, and her eyes jumped to his to find that cold malice on his face again. "You are so terribly fragile this way."

  "Wait," she started but it was too late, he had already yanked her hard against the unforgiving length of his chest, his other hand found the neck of her t-shirt and yanked it, ripping it right to the arm hole. Before her gasp of protest shot passed her lips his teeth bit into her neck and pain the likes of which she had never felt ricochet from that bite, through her entire body then back again to burn savagely at her neck.

  That gasp of protest turned into a scream of pain and rage as she understood what that whoosh of hot pain meant for her biology. She would have bet a great deal that they did not have the genetic compatibility that he seemed to expect, but that was before she cataloged her bodies extreme response to that bite. A response she should not have for an incompatible mate. The pain and the way a burn had begun in that spot and was infecting every nerve in her body with fire made lie to her belief that he would not be able to claim what was not his. And if they were compatible, and he had just staked his claim, what did that mean for her?

  Rygan finally dropped her and stepped back, not caring that her suddenly weak limbs refused to hold her, and she hit the floor with her ass, hard. All she
could do was feel pain as her body betrayed her on a cellular level, being broken down and then rebuilt while she could do nothing but experience it. She fought the blackness that was trying to overtake her as she looked up at King Rygan.

  He just smiled down at her, clearly pleased with what he was seeing and then turned to walk away, leaving her frozen in pain on the floor. Her last look of him was one she would never forget. That crazed malice filled glee on his face while he smiled. His teeth and lips coated with her blood.

  ***

  As soon as Rygan was gone Ariel allowed herself to sink into the blackness that was trying to overcome her. Unconsciousness, however eluded her. Too much was bombarding her brain. Too much new knowledge to digest and too many new stimuli and sensations to understand. It would have been a comfort to be able to turn off her brain for a while, but it was not the way her brain worked. She was incapable of letting a puzzle go until she had all the pieces in place.

  The painful heat in her blood, and strain in what felt like her very bones was almost unbearable, but it was physical and so something she could and would ignore. Instead she turned her attention inward as her brain industriously cataloged the many changes taking place in her body. She relegated that into a small pocket of her mind. She was not a medical doctor, or genetic researcher so much of what she was noting was beyond her scope of understanding. She filed it and moved on to something she did understand. Something that would distract her from the burning of her body and savage ache of her muscles.

  The mathematics she had gleaned from the teacher came back to the forefront of her mind and immediately she was sucked into the language of numbers. The rest fell away as she examined what she had learned and allowed it to integrate with what she had already known or hypothesized. What she learned changed everything and distracted her from the pain she could not escape any other way.

  A plan was beginning to form in her mind. But even as she came up with a checklist to save the world she recognized a truth she could not shake. She was becoming something other than human, she could recognize change taking place even without an absolute understanding of the science behind it. Which meant she might be able to save the world, but she would no longer have a place in it. She understood human nature, as someone who had always been different she understood as few others could. There might be a certain level of awe and admiration for the gifted, but there was also a separation. Envy and fear of those that were different bred hate.

  She was not one to romanticize a situation. She could not stay where she was, because becoming the play thing of a mad king would be intolerable. But going back to Earth, even if she could come up with a workable plan to keep out the Tellox? Well, she also did not intend to spend the rest of her life as a lab rat in some government facility.

  Ariel shoved away the worries as superfluous at the moment. It was not something she could predict until she was fully transformed and could see the damage. It was possible the changes that were happening would be something easily hidden. If not, if she was obviously alien once her genetic make-up was finished remapping itself, well, she would deal with that when and if it happened. For now, the facts were as follows. She was laying on the floor in excruciating pain while her body tried to shut down and her brain refused to comply. She was on board an alien space craft and while she now had a working understanding of the technology there was a difference between having a working knowledge of how an alien ship worked and being able to fly it. Not to mention she was not even strong for a human woman, let alone up against the Tellox who were stronger, bigger and bred for war. The chances of her overpowering them was laughable. There were other women on board the ship and she could see no way to get them safely off and transported back to Earth. Not on her own. As far as she could see those that had been taken were staying taken. She would keep looking, but the odds were not in her favor on that one. But getting the technological knowledge to someone on Earth that could affect a lasting change on the planet? One that would give Earth at least a fighting chance? That was a different matter.

  Ariel examined her plan and recognized the many variables that could derail the entirety of it, but while the odds of being successful were not in her favor, they were also not mathematically impossible, she would take the long odds over no chance at all any day.

  And so, she planned, examined, hypothesized and stewed distracting herself until exhaustion finally overcame her brain’s processes and she miraculously and with great relief, passed out. Knowing as she finally drifted off into the black of sleep that when she woke up, nothing would be the same.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Brax watched the main command ship of the Tellox carefully from his shielded and cloaked pod. The pod was identical to every other Tellox ship pod in the armada so once he got the signal that Rygan’s communications had been cut off and the plan was underway he should simply be able to join up with the command ship and find the Earth female he was there to find.

  He had the correct codes, and while it was out of character for Rygan to return to the ship without his elite forces and in a pod rather than the ship he left in, the codes, and Brax himself should insure that no one questioned him too closely. After all, General Brax of the Tellox, twin brother to King Rygan had long been presumed dead.

  Infiltrating the Tellox Command, pretending to be Rygan should be the easy task. His men were the ones taking on the more dangerous job of disabling the Kings shuttle coms and knocking out the King and his men, then hiding their unconscious bodies and ship while Brax played King in his brothers’ absence.

  For Brax's part he would have rather joined his men in the battle, even if everything went according to plan and the new weapons they had discovered in their journeys negated the need for actual fighting, he still hated that his men were out there facing off against a superior force while he played pretend. But, he was the only one who could pose as his brother, so it was up to him to find the female and get her out before his brothers’ disappearance was discovered and they lost their chance.

  Theoretically, once his men knocked out the King and his crew they could hide them away for any length of time, but his brother rarely went anywhere without at least some of his elite fighters with him, so they would eventually be missed. Brax needed to get in and get out before then.

  Lucky for him the same command habits that might trip him up, were the ones he was counting on for success. Rygan travelled with the full contingent of ten elite guards because he was too paranoid to allow anyone else close. His paranoia, in this case would be an asset.

  No one was allowed to question their king. No matter how crazy he acted or how quickly he flipped from emotional extreme to cold blooded practicality and brutal discipline.

  He was taking a chance that any of the warriors left on the Command ship would not get close enough and curious enough to notice the subtle difference in his scent and his brother’s. He had removed as much of his scent as he could just in case, but time and proximity would be his downfall.

  His brother had also left in his command ship and was returning in one of the nondescript pods that all Tellox ships had for short range flights, also out of character for the King, so it was no surprise that he was hailed, despite having input the correct code in the defense system query.

  A Tellox warrior Brax had never had dealings with appeared on his view screen as soon as he answered the hail. The warrior looked surprised when he recognized who it was demanding to be docked.

  "Sir," he said hiding his sudden nerves quickly. "We were not expecting you to return in a pod."

  "Did you receive my override code?" Brax asked grimly imparting a snarl into the words.

  "Yes, sir. But..."

  "But nothing. Lower the shields."

  "Of course," the male said. Making a quick motion with his hand. "But where are your men?"

  Brax growled low, angry cold icing his eyes. "Are you questioning your King?"

  The Tellox warrior who had probably seen countless battlefiel
ds without flinching, went pale in the face of his King’s chill.

  "No sir." Whatever else the male wanted to know he bit it back and assumed a blank face. A good way to survive, Brax acknowledged, when your king was both paranoid to the extreme, and prone to fits of brutality.

  "I will not be coming directly to the bridge, nor do I wish to be interrupted. If there is anything to report you have until I dock to communicate it." He would find the hold where the females were being held easy enough on his own.

  "Of course, sir." The male stood straighter, and if possible, became even more emotionless. "Per your instructions no one has entered, and the door has remained sealed on your quarters. According to the ship sensors the female is still in the room and is alive but has not made use of the food synthesizers or bathing facility for the three ship cycles you have been gone. We were about to send you a message asking for instructions fearing medical intervention might be needed when we received your hail."

  Brax felt a rage unlike anything he had ever experienced. He was aware that it showed plainly in his glowing eyes and in the sudden granite of his jaw line. He could not speak until he took three deep breaths and brought himself back under control. He did not even notice the dent his hand had caused in the nearly indestructible solodite metal that made up not only the abused arm rest but most of the rest of the pod as well. Even for a Tellox the feat should have been impossible. It was no wonder that the bridge crew were suddenly looking collectively ill.

  "Are you telling me that the female has not had food or water in at least three cycles, and you are only now reporting this."

  If anything, the warrior looked even paler, though he showed none of his thoughts or fears on his face. "Your exact instructions were that no one was to enter or leave your quarters, that if she was not strong enough to survive the change on her own than she was not a worthy mate."