by Nora Blaze
Right before my eyes, all of the aliens disappear. A flying knife passes precisely through the spot where the alien’s head was a split second earlier.
I struggle against the leather straps. A shadow passes over my face and ragged breath tells me that another alien is standing over me. Fresh fear jolts through my muscles as large purple hands grab the straps and rip them off effortlessly.
I turn and my breath catches. An alien, easily seven feet tall, stands before me with rich purple skin. A black harness crosses his bare chest, tight across his rippling muscles, and there’s a lightning-like pattern that looks tattooed onto his forearms in silver. The alien’s equally silver hair hangs back to his shoulders and I gasp when I notice two purple horns curving out, just back from where his hair begins.
But that’s not what really strikes me. It’s his eyes. They’re a pure, sparkling blue, with pupils like thin purple diamonds, but somehow, despite how strange they are, they meet mine and seem shockingly human.
The alien bends down before me until our eyes are level and holds me in his steady gaze. He taps his chest twice and grunts something I don’t understand, I think his name.
An explosion behind us grabs my attention and when I turn, a bluish alien is standing there, a bloody knife in his hand and a terrifying rage on his face. Confusion shaking me to the core, I stagger to my feet. My muscles are wobbly as I stumble backward, away from the alien.
The blue alien yells at him and he yells something back, each of their voices like thunder. They holler back and forth and, panicked, I turn to run. I don’t know where I think I’m going but I see an open corridor and I know that nothing else matters until I find Marie.
This is my chance to find her, even if only to say goodbye.
Then a bang ricochets through the air, light flashes before my eyes, and the world goes dark.
Chapter Three
UrTak
A laser grenade detonates, sending a blast through the laboratory. I try to shield the strange alien but she falls to the ground, unconscious at my feet.
I lift her and throw her over my shoulder. The give of her soft body ignites something buried deep within me, fierce and raw, but I battle down the powerful instincts.
There’s no time for that now, especially not when a massive cyborg charges into the room.
Even if there was a flash of light when I first laid eyes on her, as though the stars were showing me my destined.
The cyborg jumps forward. He is even taller than I am, with metal arms that are coiled with fleshy muscles. Technology has replaced so much of his body, I can’t recognize his original species. Instead, he’s just green flesh, metal alloys, and whirring energy blasters.
“See!” PryZor hollers and brandishes a bloody knife. “I knew I heard something big.”
PryZor is my Chosen Brother and we have survived many battles together. My instincts tell me to fight, to crush this cyborg guard in my hands, but the safety of the alien in my arms demands that we retreat instead.
The cyborg launches an assault of energy blasts and I dive behind the upturned laboratory table to take cover. While there, I grab the metal device the Wehizx had seemed to use to teleport. It’s a technology we haven’t seen them demonstrate before and our scientists will definitely want to examine it.
PryZor returns fire and provides me cover while I retreat. He has a few wounds, spilling gold blood against his dark blue skin. His long hair is silver like mine and his twin blue horns stand proudly as he fires his energy gun, each blast sizzling off the monster. At his feet lies heavy Wehizx machinery, ripped out of the ship, and his blue eyes shine.
He is potent with the battle.
So am I.
PryZor and I send twin blasts that knock the cyborg back, then charge back to the breach where we invaded the ship. A boarding tunnel extends to our own craft, and for a moment, I think we’re going to make it out.
Metal clangs against metal and I pivot as I hold the alien tight to my chest. Her biology is remarkably similar to mine and so I do my best to protect the places her vital organs must be. Any alien who has suffered at the hands of the Wehizx should be protected, but when the cyborg emerges again from the barely lit corridor, the urge to keep this alien safe thunders through me.
The blasts come so fast, PryZor and I dive and spin to avoid them. I cradle the woman in my arms as I return fire, but my energy gun and my throwing knife each bounce off the cyborg’s exterior. Instead, I charge toward the ship when I see an opening, my heart pounding.
A laser grenade detonates in front of me and I spin once more. Grov emerges at the entrance to our ship and unloads on the cyborg with a blast cannon, knocking the monstrosity to his ass and providing us the cover we need.
We land in the loading bay and instantly the doors fly shut behind us. We shoot into space, leaving the boarding tunnel behind. Many Wehizx ships would have been able to keep up with us, but that kind of transporter is made for the long hauls and can’t sprint for shit.
My heart pounds. We’re safe. And those disgusting Wehizx were never going to get their hands on this strange, warm creature ever again.
“How many did you kill?” I ask PryZor as the internal doors swing open, welcoming us back into safety.
“Two when we breached the side and two more when we got split up in that hallway. How about you?”
“One at the breach and three in the laboratory. We’re tied.”
He catches my eye, grinning. “We just pulled off the first successful attack on a Wehizx ship in three generations. How do you feel, man?”
I hold the woman closer and take another deep inhale of her intoxicating scent, sweet as the long grasses on my home moon.
“I feel fucking amazing.”
Grov pilots us across the Borderplanets as we speed toward Resistance Stellar Alliance territory, leaving me and the rest of the warriors free to examine the alien I recovered from the Wehizx ship. Considering her tiny size, she’ll likely be passed out from the blast for a while. I gently deposit her on a sleeping pad and watch as her round, full bosom rises and falls with each soft breath.
That deep, dormant need in my body responds, craving her. I remind myself that the Wehizx ship was filled with flashing light. It is foolish to think an alien of a different species could be my destined, even if the stars did seem to flicker when we met, as my ancestors always claimed.
A charming blush plays across her round cheeks and pinks the skin above her breasts. She wears her brown hair long, like a KrysOlakn warrior, and were she awake I might ask to run my fingers through it and feel its softness again.
There are so many similarities with the biology of my species, although I am surprised that I don’t detect any armored plates, sharp claws, or defensive biological enhancements.
“She must come from such a peaceful planet,” I say.
PryZor snorts. “Maybe it was peaceful. But if the Wehizx have discovered creatures like this, it won’t be peaceful much longer.”
I tighten my hands into fists. He’s right that the Wehizx would see her as an ideal host body. I’m infuriated by the thought of the disgusting parasites laying their slithering hands on another innocent species. Never will one of our sworn enemies hurt this woman again, I swear it to the most ancient of stars.
“She tried to run,” I point out. “Her species must be brave, like ours. They must not easily give up.”
Mokrov steps forward. He is the most intellectual and learned of all our squad and he squints his eyes beneath his furry red brow as he studies her. He wears the defensive skintight silver suit that he favors in battle but his face is peaceful as he studies the sleeping alien. Still, though, from the way his bulky, furry muscles have inflated, I know his biological system is still pumping him with rage hormones.
“Where in all the stars did the Wehizx find such a strange creature? I’ve never seen anything quite like her.” He sighs. “They will not let an alien like this go easily.”
A possessive urge ri
ses to the surface and I step closer to the woman. “I’ll put her in a sleeping chamber for now and treat her with healing meds.” I turn to Mokrov. “Liquid hydration should be appropriate for this species?”
He nods. “Almost certainly. Do you have any idea what they did to her? She was in the laboratory?”
I nod, gritting my teeth to banish thoughts of the harm they might have caused. “They hadn’t started any of the procedures. There were others kept in the incubators, but I could not see if they were of the same species. As for who else the Wehizx imprisoned on that ship, I don’t know.”
Mokrov nods. He understands that there are limits to what we can learn on a single raid, although I know he hungers to uncover much more.
In the chamber, I deposit the woman on a soft mat. I take a moment to arrange her limbs and make sure she is comfortable and I try not to fixate on the warm folds between her legs. Short brown hairs grow there, different than the ones on her head, and they fascinate me.
The urges make me dizzy.
Were these the urges of my ancestors? Even if she is not my destined, my body responds as the bodies of my ancestors once did.
I shake the question away, compose myself and finish tending to her. I attach a hydration and nutrition pod to her arm and when she is replete again, I clean the injection site.
I stroke the callused pads of my fingers along her golden skin, which glows with pink as it heals before my eyes.
Once I have the woman safely resting, I force myself to walk away, although my instincts say I should stay right there and keep her safe. There is much else to discuss and the warriors wait for me.
Grov steers the ship. He is a Triovian, like Mokrov, although smaller and less furry, with sparser dark fur growing in hereditary patterns across his pale blue skin. Beside him, PryZor and Mokrov stand, casting their eyes over the stars.
Grov turns to me, furrowing his brow even as a smile plays on his lips. “I still can’t believe you convinced us to attack a Wehizx ship,” he grunts.
PryZor snorts. “I can.”
I cross my arms over my chest, proud that we have succeeded. “Why would the High Council name us warriors if they did not want us to attack our sworn enemies?”
“On a mission to explore and patrol the far boundaries,” Mokrov points out. “This attack was not our charge.”
I decide not to argue. We have a full sleep cycle of travel before we return to our home system. Once we do, the bounty of our raid will speak for itself.
PryZor grabs a bottle from underneath the secondary control deck then swigs the bright pink twomka inside. “Men, we have just vanquished a healthy number of Wehizx. It is a time to celebrate, not to argue!”
Grov grabs the bottle from him, takes a swig, then offers it to me. “Now that is a warrior tradition I am happy to revive.” He punches a few buttons on the dashboard. “We’ll need a new fuel cell before we make it back to Irisiak if we want to keep running our cloaks at high capacity, but that stop can wait until we pass the final defensive barrier and leave the Borderplanets.”
“I’ll head to the lab and begin the work of studying the technology we seized,” Mokrov offers. “In the meanwhile, keep the scanners operating at full power. If there are any Wehizx trailing, we need to know it now.”
Grov sucks in a breath. “Damn it,” he snarls.
Mokrov’s face falls. “Wehizx already? This far in the Borderplanets? Where did they come from?”
“No,” Grov taps the scanner. “But there’s a whole fleet of Pohilkans deploying behind us.”
Adrenaline floods my body as I step forward. I have taken an oath to lead these warriors into battle, and victory means surviving to fight another day, too. Our squad could definitely eliminate a few Pohilkans without any problem, but a fleet of the Wehizx’s chosen henchmen is beyond our capacities. “We can’t take this many on at once. Is there anywhere safe to land until they pass?”
PryZor chuckles. “They must really want to retrieve something that we stole if they’re sending a whole damn fleet. I didn’t realize they even had the capacity to mobilize like that.”
The scanner beeps even louder. “The nearest port is the Cocrex Moon,” Grov answers.
I narrow my eyes. “The Cocrex Moon it is.”
“The Beast Market!” PryZor objects. “It’s crawling with gangsters, that’s hardly safe port.”
I cast my eyes to the scanner, now dotted with Pohilkan crafts in the distance. If they cross much closer, they might be able to see past our cloak. The Beast Market does indeed have a dangerous reputation, from the criminal underclass it attracts to the toxic, inhospitable swamps of the terraformed moon, but I see little other choice.
“We can park our craft outside the northern swamps and take the old road in. Mokrov will fetch a fuel cell and I can bring our alien in to get her equipped with a universal translator. If the rest of you guard the ship, we should be ready to leave safely by the time the Pohilkans pass.”
The rest of my squad share a concerned look. “You’re going to take that strange woman into the Beast Market?” Mokrov asks. “Half of the planet will see her as dessert, the other will want to sell her to the Wehizx. Not to mention the leaping fangs you’ll have to dodge on the old path.”
I bristle at the suggestion that I cannot keep her safe. “I will disguise her. With some simple rags and a chain, it will be easy to obscure her form and she will appear to be nothing more than my prisoner. And the sooner we install a translator, the sooner we can ask what she saw on the Wehizx ship.” I consider it once more, then nod with confidence. “The woman may have vital information. This is the best way to keep us all safe.”
They grumble their assent as Grov pilots us toward the Cocrex Moon. All that I said is true, but I am overcome by a much more potent motivation.
Even now, with the alien sleeping safely in our craft, it pains me to be apart from her. The only way to know she is safe is to keep her by my side and to learn what she has learned as soon as possible. Her planet may well be as advanced as ours, and the information she holds in her sleeping mind could save all of our lives.
I cannot tell the squad of the other instincts gripping my heart. They are my Chosen Brothers, and I trust them as surely as our moons circle Irisiak, but the implications of what I feel are too large to consider until we are safe at home.
The future of my species may well depend on it.
Chapter Four
Loretta
I wake to a deep, growly voice that I don’t recognize. Blinking and confused, I see the giant purple monster, staring down at me with a furrowed brow.
Damn it. Not a dream.
I take a quick glance around. The walls are made out of a sleek chrome material and against the far wall a strange plastic contraption hangs. Across the ceiling, a few glowing blue orbs float, lighting the room. I’m still naked, but at least this place isn’t as cold as the last place, the air pleasantly warm on my skin.
Definitely another spaceship. And there’s no doubt I’m looking at another alien.
He’s the same one I encountered on the ship and like then, it’s his eyes that really strike me. They shine from a face that could be human if not for the unreal purple skin. He sets his square jaw and tightens the sharp line of his brow as he stares at me with something that looks like determination, although I wonder how possible it is to read an alien’s emotions.
Or if he even has emotions.
My heart pounds but I pull myself together. The alien taps his chest and grunts. I sit up slightly in response, my gaze still locked on his blue and purple eyes. “Hello,” I offer weakly.
Did this guy save me or steal me from those other freaks?
I want to trust him. I want to believe he’s a good guy who saved me from all the bad guys, but I don’t know if I actually have the luxury of doing that.
And even if I am somewhere safe, it doesn’t look like Marie is here with me.
“Marie,” I say, although I know there’s zero
chance he’ll understand me. “My sister?” I gesture, throwing my hand to the side like she’s standing there. “Are there any other women here?”
The alien grunts again. He offers me a folded brown cloth, gestures to the corner of the room, then walks away. I unfold it and realize it’s some sort of garment. Eager to cover myself, it only takes me a few minutes to figure out how to drape the strange fabric around my body, obscuring almost all of me. It feels like wearing torn up old sheets and there’s a big, heavy hood that hangs down the back, but the fabric isn’t warm. It’s like wool against my skin, but it breathes like cotton.
I turn to the corner of the room where the alien had gestured and find a seat with a hole in it that resembles a toilet. Relief washes over me as I let out pee I’d been painfully holding.
Maybe this is a good alien. I had never really thought about extraterrestrial life and flying saucers before, but if there are evil aliens like those seaweed freaks, there must be good ones, too.
And if he is a good alien, can I convince him to go back and save Marie?
To take us home?
He returns, nods to me, and I follow him through the ship. My hands and legs are shaky and I have to step slowly. There are weird technological devices built into the wall everywhere and some of the glowing blue light orbs project digital screens in the air, but the spaceship includes plenty of seating and bizarre potted plants, too. It looks designed for comfort, unlike the last spacecraft I was in. The grunting alien stops and gestures to what looks like a doorway, and a strange red light shines in from outside while a metallic smell drifts on the air.
Outside. My heart jumps to my throat as I look between the alien and the passageway. I almost can’t believe it, but there is almost certainly an alien planet on the other side.
I hesitate and step back. Although refusing to leave the spaceship hardly seems like a feasible plan, fear spikes my heartrate as memories of my first alien captors return.