by Luna Hunter
Koryn nods. “Of course,” he says.
The door opens and a female Beran comes in carrying a tray of hot drinks. Her fur is less thick and a lighter color, and her shape is different from the men’s broad, strong build – she’s curvier, and not quite as tall, though she would still tower over me. She’s wearing a dress made out of leather.
She places the drinks in front us, and I can instantly smell the aroma of a herbal tea.
“What kind of blend is that?” I ask.
The female turns to me, her face lit up in surprise.
“You are familiar with our chau-chau?”
“No, but I’m familiar with tea,” I chime. “And this smells delicious.”
I grab the cup and take a big whiff.
“It smells like lemon & ginger-tea – my favorite!” I say.
“Thank you,” the woman says with a polite bow. “I picked the herbs myself.”
Jillian’s secret stash back on Exon Prime is the only place to get a regular cup of tea in this part of the galaxy, but this will more than do!
Frostpaw clears his throat. “Maybe the females want to step outside and continue this discussion elsewhere?”
I look at Koryn, and he shrugs.
“Don’t mind if I do,” I say as I hop up from my seat. Zoran and Beran military capabilities might interest some, but honestly, I couldn’t care less. I appreciate the sight of a big and strong warrior, but the nitty gritty details of fleet and weapon specs? No thank you.
I extend my hand towards the furry female the moment we step out of Frostpaw’s cave. “Nice to meet you! I’m Kelly.”
She shakes my hand with her paw. “I’m Bey. Sorry for my mate. He’s got a lot on his mind.”
“You’re married to Frostpaw?” I say.
“Mah-ried? We are mates, if that’s what you mean. I hope my Universal is okay? We don’t get a lot of practice here.”
“It’s perfect!” I say. “Could you show me where you plucked those herbs, by any chance?”
“Of course!” Bey says with a big smile, baring her fangs. She guides me through the winding tunnels, all the way down, until we reach their fabled Boulder’s Basin.
It’s even more stunning than I ever could have imagined.
The small tunnel we’re in opens up to a wide underground dome. A lake so massive I can’t see the other side looms up in front of me. I stop dead in my tracks, my mouth falling wide open. It’s like my brain can’t comprehend what it’s seeing. The water is clear, emitting a warm blue light that lights up the entire dome. The ceiling dances with shadow.
I glance in the water to see it’s teeming with life. There’s fish and plants in all shapes, sizes, and colors, like an impressionist painting of old. I see the light is coming from a peculiar type of fish. It glows brightly, casting a light in the darkness of the massive pond.
“Whoa,” is all I can muster.
I wish I could say I made a bright, scientific observation about how life developed here, in this subterranean, aquatic, self-contained bio-dome, but sometimes, all you can say is whoa.
Bey is standing at the edge of the water, pointing at the plants that rise up from the depths. “Those are the plants I used to make chau-chau. I never thought an outsider would be interested in something so simple.”
“On the contrary, your species fascinates me!” I say. “This is amazing! What plant is that?” I ask, pointing towards a gorgeous, dark-purple flower.
“That is Nova’s Flower.” Bey says, her smile reaching all the way up to her hazelnut eyes. “And it is you who are the fascinating one, Keh-ly. Tell me about yourself, please. I’ve read all the logs in the databases we’ve found over and over again, until I could recite them from memory. I’ve dreamt about this moment for years!”
I’m touched by her infectious enthusiasm. I never considered myself the alien, despite living on Exon Prime for the past six months! The Zorans are so confident in their own superiority, they had little interest in my Earthly ways. Bey, however, is hanging on my every word.
“I don’t even know where to start,” I say, running my hand through my hair. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything!” Her eyes shine brightly. “Let’s go the pools and talk.”
Pools? Now she’s really grabbed my attention!
We head into another tunnel – I swear I’d be lost without her – and end up in a steam-filled cave. Round craters are interspersed all over the floor, clear-blue water bubbling invitingly.
An all-natural hot-tub. Oh yes. Bey doesn’t have to say another word. I hop out of my clothes and jump into the hot water, rinsing all the dirt, sand, and dust off of me.
Bey slips out of her leather dress, sliding into a crater across mine, as she stares at me, an amused smirk on her face.
I dunk my head under water, thoroughly washing every part of me. I didn’t realize just how damn much I needed this!
“Oh my,” I sigh, letting myself float on top of the warm, heavenly bubbles. “This is perfect. You can just leave me here. I’m never getting out.”
I’ve never felt water like this before. I’m floating on cloud nine, the heated water rejuvenating every single fiber in my body. This water must be heavy with evides.
“Your skin is naked,” Bey observes. “Are you not always cold?”
“I’m not built for the cave-life, that’s for sure,” I say. “Humans have a lot of clothes to keep them warm, if need be.”
“What about your mate?”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“The purple one. Is he naked under his armor?”
Oh yes.
Underneath that jet-black armor of Koryn’s there is perfection. I feel the blood rush to my cheek as I think back to last night.
“He is your mate, yes?”
My mate?
I mean, yes. We mate-d.
And it was every bit as perfect as I thought it would be.
And if that damn guard hadn’t interrupted us this morning, I would have climbed right back on that saddle.
I hesitate for a moment. For some reason, I still find it hard to commit to the idea of introducing the purple alpha alien warrior as my mate. He’s a warrior at heart, and a part of me still fears I won’t be enough for him.
“You two look at each other like you are destined,” Bey says.
“What do you mean?”
“Destined. It’s what we Berans call… what’s the Universal word… love, maybe? I remember when I first saw Frostpaw. The moment we locked eyes, we both knew instinctively that we were mates.”
I listen attentively as Bey explains the details of the Beran courting process. It sounds perfect. Simple. Sometimes I wish my life was more like that. No fears, no holding back, no second guessing yourself. Just two people surrendering themselves, heart and soul to one another, from the moment they feel that spark.
Maybe I can learn something from these bear-folk.
“When you and the purple one look at each other, I see the same spark,” Bey says. “You two are destined, even if you don’t know it yet.”
Could she be right?
“What do you want to know about human life?” I say, changing the subject. “Feel free to pick my brain.”
Bey pounces on the opportunity like a bear snatching a salmon, and she fires question after question at me. Time passes quickly as we chat, and soon my skin is wrinkled and soft.
“Your planet is poh-lut-ted? What does that mean?”
“It means we didn’t care for nature as we should have. As you do. We destroyed it, and now in turn, it’s destroying us. That’s why Koryn and I came here,” I say, running my hand through the bubbling water. “For this. The water contains evides, an element which gives it so much life. My people need it to survive.”
“There’s more than enough,” Bey says. “We are but a small pack, and the planet is big.”
“Flint thinks otherwise,” I say, and Bey raises her thick, bushy eyebrows.
“I’ll hav
e a word with him,” she growls. “If we can help our friend beyond the stars, it is every Beran’s duty to do so.”
“Thank you,” I say.
She stands up, her thick fur dripping with water. “Come, let us return to our mates.” She shakes herself dry, the water flying off her skin.
Unfortunately, I don’t have that particular skill. In my haste, I’d completely forgotten I don’t have a towel!
“Err, could you get me a towel?” I ask Bey. “Do you even have towels?”
Bey laughs, a warm, full-bellied laugh. “You humans and your naked skin,” she says, shaking her head. “I’ll see if I can get you a cloth of some kind.”
“Thank you,” I say. “You’re too kind, Bey.”
The thick-furred bear-woman walks out of the cave, and I sink back into the warm water, savoring the heat a moment longer. I’m in no rush to get out and face the cold.
The minutes tick by, until I hear a skittering sound, like countless tiny feet marching across the stone, cavern floor.
“Bey, is that you?”
No reply.
The sound comes closer and closer, echoing off the walls, building up like a fanfare that’s right around the corner.
“Who’s there?”
The soft skitters turn into a loud stampede. My eyes are locked on the cavern entrance, the hair on the back of my neck standing straight up.
It couldn’t be…
The biggest, most disgusting insect I’ve ever seen comes around the corner, its body the size of a hover-car, its bulging eyes turning towards me. The only way I can describe it is as a cockroach on steroids.
I gasp.
The two antennas that dangle above its disgusting mouth stop abruptly and turn towards me, fixing onto the sound.
Shit.
The insect scuttles towards me. Its massive, pincer-like jaws snap menacingly, and the metallic sound echoes off the cave walls. I’m neck-deep in the water, completely naked, with nowhere to run to. I look around quickly. Is there a stick or something I could use to defend myself?
Nothing.
Koryn, where are you?
12
Koryn
“The weak spot is in their bellies,” I tell Frostpaw. “We haven’t had any luck fighting them with conventional weaponry. Their armor is too strong. A sword, axe, halberd or spear is the weapon of choice. Man-to-bug.”
The bear nods as he jots down notes, which he does surprisingly well, considering his species has paws for hands. He dips one of his claws in ink and writes with that, using it as a pen.
I’ve been talking to the Beran warrior for over an hour. He’s got countless questions, and I patiently answer them. Despite their primitive ways, the Berans could be a formidable ally in our war against the Ygg. A well-placed strike with a sword beats a fleet’s worth of laser cannons when it comes to fighting those bugs, and the Berans already come equipped with weapons: their menacing claws.
Nothing builds a solid alliance like a common enemy.
“You mentioned a queen?”
I nod. “There’s always a queen. They have a hive-intelligence. Wherever the Ygg are, there’s a queen somewhere close by, controlling them. How they do this, we don’t know yet. Could be telepathy of some kind.”
Frostpaw looks up, eyebrows raised.
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“Have you ever tried talking to one?” I growl. “They’re not a very talkative bunch.”
“My apologies,” Frostpaw says. “I didn’t mean to offend.”
The Zoran are advanced, but even we haven’t unraveled every mystery in the galaxy quite yet.
“None taken. We’ve tried to communicate with them in every way possible, but we’ve never received a response… except for invasions. Personally, I don’t think they possess any intelligence to speak of. They’re monsters bred for murder, and they need to be exterminated.”
Frostpaw nods, a grim look on his face. “I think we can both agree on that.”
I wonder where Kelly is. She left with the Beran female a while ago, and truth be told, I miss having her by my side. I couldn’t have imagined that when Vinz assigned me this mission – I’d stormed out of the throne room steaming mad, having to babysit a human – but now, I don’t want her to leave my sight for even a second.
Last night was something mystical. Suddenly, I understood Vinz’s devotion to Jillian. It’s as if a veil has been lifted, and I can see clearly for the first time. I’ve been alone for so long I thought that was how things were supposed to be, but now I see the error of my ways.
I belong with Kelly.
The hide-flap covering the entrance flies to the side, and the female Beran I saw earlier runs in.
Without my mate.
Her eyes are wide with shock, and without her saying a word, I know things are bad. Real bad.
She growls something, and Frostpaw’s face loses its color underneath the fur. He shakes his head, but the Beran woman nods aggressively.
“Kelly!” she says, turning towards me. She points down the hall. “She’s still there!”
“What’s going on?” I growl. Outside I hear people running down the hall, panicked shrieks, children crying.
I’ve heard chaos like this only once before. On Cotonia VI, in the town of Bahaan.
The slaughter of Bahaan is what our historians call that day. If I had known beforehand what a dark, traumatic moment that town would come to represent in our species history…
I never would have bought my mother a house there.
“They’re here, aren’t they?” I say, standing up so fast the chair flies back. “The Ygg.”
Frostpaw is still shaking his head, unwilling to accept the truth. The sounds of sheer terror echoing through the cavern walls tells me everything I need to know.
“Where’s Kelly?”
“Down at the hot springs,” the female says, her paws clutched to her heart.
“Impossible,” Frostpaw mutters. “Impossible.”
I grab him by his silver neck fur, lifting him up in the air. “Snap out of it,” I growl aggressively.
When he sees the fury burning in my eyes, I see the focus returning in him.
“Gather your men. Remember what I told you. Fight for your life. Everyone’s survival depends on it,” I snap.
He nods decisively, and I let him down. I pull a small, obsidian dagger out of my boot, the handle feeling familiar in the palm of my hand. I would have preferred a spear of some kind, but there’s no time to lose.
Kelly’s life depends on me now.
I run into the hallway, and I’m nearly knocked off my feet by the fleeing Berans. They’re running on their hands and feet, like true bears, and at quite a pace. I wade my way against the current, cursing under my breath.
I can’t lose another second.
“Where are the hot springs?” I bark at one of the Beran guards shepherding his people down the hall when I come at a cross point. He points me towards the left and I run down the tunnel, as fast as my legs can take me.
I pick up the scent of water. I’m on the right track.
The fleeing crowd thins quickly and the sound of panic dies away as I take a few turns, following my nose, until the only thing I hear are my own footsteps and my heavy breathing.
My knuckles have turned white from holding onto the dagger so tightly, every fiber in my body prepared for a giant bug to jump at me from the darkness.
That’s when I see them.
The bodies.
Several Beran lay strewn all over the floor, their limbs severed, their guts hanging out. Ygg have feasted on their insides, and the bodies are crawling with smaller insects that follow the Ygg horde like a pest, feasting on the scraps left behind for them.
I gag when the scent hits me. No matter how many times I’ve smelled it, I never got used to the stink that clings to those insects. Never.
“No, no, NO!” I growl, my voice echoing off the walls. Not again.
I run
forward, squishing the bugs under my boots as I go. I take a left, a right, another left, another right. Did I go the right way? I lose the scent of water among the stench of the insects and the bodies.
Where is she?!
A high-pitched scream breaks the silence.
“Kelly!” I yell, following the sound.
I turn the corner, and the horrible sight stops me dead in my tracks.
A giant bug stands hovering over Kelly. It’s got her body pinned underneath it, as its pincers snap menacingly. The metallic sound makes me sick to my stomach. Kelly is struggling, but the monster is much too powerful.
“No!” I roar, jumping forward, the knife in my hands.
Before my blade gets a chance to connect I’m knocked backwards, the beast’s hind legs kicking me with the power of a starship. I smack against the wall, the wind knocked out of me.
“Koryn!” Kelly cries, stretching her hand towards me.
A second later the beast strikes.
Its pincers come together in a sickening, gut-wrenching snap as it cuts Kelly’s left leg clean off.
I feel her bloodcurdling scream in my very bones.
Gathering my strength I rise up, sprint towards the beast and slide down onto my back, gliding underneath the monster. I roar as I stab its soft, unprotected belly with my dagger, over and over again, until its foul, green innards spill out on top of me. It lets out a high-pitched howl, and I only just manage to roll away before the beast collapses on the ground.
“Kelly!”
I crawl towards my mate. She’s still breathing, lying on the stone floor, her body unclothed. My hands reach for her neck, feeling her pulse.
“Stay with me!”
Her eyes open, but they are unfocused. My gaze drifts down, towards her leg.
It’s severed above her left knee. The monster swallowed it whole. The pincer injected a venom into her as it struck, instantly cauterizing the wound, keeping her from bleeding out within minutes. The Ygg like to keep their prey alive as they devour them.
“Stay with me, Kell,” I say, my hand resting on her cheek.