The Alien’s Stowaway

by Alyx X

  Once we were back in the cool darkness of the cave, "I wish there was time for one last bath," Evvie lamented as she hurried over to the tiny stream and ran her hands through it one last time.

  I handed her one bag and took the other two. "There will be water to spare where we're going," I promised. As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them. What if we never made it? The planet was only a rumor, as far as I knew. I was fairly sure it was real, but I'd never laid eyes on it. Or knew anyone that had. Well, she needed bolstering. If it wasn't real, we'd find another uninhabited planet to land on and make a life instead.

  The distinct sound of an engine whine reached my ears a few seconds before it did Evvie's. "Evv, is there anywhere nearby to hide besides here?" I asked.

  She shook her head, panic growing in her eyes. "I don't know, why? I've only been to the camp and here. I know there's nowhere in between. Other than that, we'd be searching."

  My back straightened in resolve. Finally, it was time to fight. "There's nowhere to go. They're here."

  I knew the moment she heard it, too. Her eyes widened and filled with tears. "That's a transport ship," she said. The noise grew steadily louder. "I'll never forget that sound. I hear it every time they bring in new workers to the camp."

  "I don't think they're here to bring us workers," I said. I gazed at her as she slowly stood. She didn't know me. Not the part of me that might have been able to get us out of this. The fear on her face turned to stronger determination in me.

  "We know you're in the cave," an amplified voice called from outside. "Come out and you won't be injured." I scoffed to myself at their lie. We were backed into a corner.

  "Well, this is it," Evvie whispered. "I never thought I’d go down this way, but I’m glad that I have you here with me.” She reached over and grabbed my hand. As my adrenaline came back in a wave, my muscles begging me to let loose on these TerraLink representatives, I grinned down at her. Her face showed confusion, but I said nothing, just tugging her along to the cave entrance.

  I was a trained warrior, and it was high time I started fighting for the woman I loved.

  16

  Jarix

  "Stay here," I said once we were in danger of being seen from the outside of the cave. Evvie arched an eyebrow at me. "They'll find me in here after they kill you. Then they'll stick me on day shift in the mines. I'd rather go out resisting and die on the same day Alice did."

  I squeezed her hand. "We aren't dying today. I'm a warrior, remember?"

  "Jarix, I know you’re very strong and skilled," She softened her gaze at me, making me slightly angry. I guess I’d be proving to more than just the soldiers out there that I was not to be trifled with. She continued, "These are trained TerraLink soldiers. They won't have sent grunt workers to capture you like the guards that kept us malnourished women in line."

  My lips spread in a smile that made Evvie lean back and look at me appraisingly. "I should hope not," I growled. "I'd be insulted."

  "I may not be as much of a warrior as you are," Evvie said with a laugh. "But, by nature of the trials of my life, I am just as willing to fight."

  She wouldn't stay in the cave, so I gave up trying to convince her to, even though it went against my protective nature. "At least stay behind me in the fight."

  "Fine." She crossed her arms. "I'll hang back and see where I can be the most useful."

  I set the water bags against the wall and puffed myself up to appear as large as possible. It wouldn't help my fighting to appear bigger, but any iota of intimidation to an opponent was always helpful. This was simple warrior training, like an animal appearing intimidating.

  I stepped out of the cave. A dark gray, boxy ship idled beside my sleek silver and white pod. The comparison was laughable. The technology on this planet was primitive at best. The humans had killed their planet before they'd had a chance to advance. Walking out into the sun, I glared at the men. Six soldiers in full battle gear surrounded the cave entrance. They pointed guns at us, but they were unlike any I'd ever seen. The technology was simplistic, but from what I could tell, it was computer-based.

  The difference was enormous to someone with my abilities. I couldn't control a simple machine that had no programming, but anything that had even the simplest internal computing was mine for the taking. All I had to do was touch it.

  "Alien, drop to your knees and submit. You won't be harmed. We are aware of the search for you, but as you have no bounty on your head, you're more valuable to us as a worker or fighter if you come from the planet I suspect." The man in charge was almost as tall as I was.

  "If you know from where I come, why do you assume I would come willingly?" I asked. My people were not known for submission.

  He shrugged. "Do you have guns?"

  I held out my empty hands. "These are my only weapons." In more ways than one. They couldn't be aware of my ability. If they had been, they would've shot first.

  "Then we have you at a disadvantage," he said reasonably. "Will you come easily?"

  "I suppose," I lied. Stepping forward, I kept my hands outstretched and allowed them to close in on me until their guns were within arm's length. "Then again," I continued with a contemplative look on my face. "It would be a shame to dishonor my people by submitting."

  With a manic grin, I grabbed the closest gun and yanked the soldier holding it toward me. Without letting go of his gun, I pulled him in front of me as a shield. It took only seconds to get into the technology of the weapon. It was such simple technology, I had it disarmed in a second. Perhaps less. The best part was that it was linked to their transport ship. Through the gun, I delved into the computer on the ship as my body defended me without the need for my mind to be fully on my movements.

  My first task was disabling all the other guns. That took another couple of seconds, and a lot happened in that short time. The other soldiers kept their weapons trained on me, and Evvie must not have liked that. She came screaming out of the cave, straight for the soldier closest to her, who now had his back to the entrance.

  I laughed out loud, momentarily distracted from my work disarming the guns as the attention was pulled to her. She jumped high into the air and landed on the soldier's back like a monkey. Once there, she screamed in his ear. I lost track of her movements for another second when I found what I needed to disarm the guns.

  The soldier threw Evvie over his shoulder, and she landed in the center of the circle of guards with a grunt. I let go of the guard shielding me and his gun. My work was done for the moment, although I would need to grab one of the weapons before we left if I wanted to disarm their transport. There was no point in stealing it. Mine was far better equipped.

  "Shall we kill them?" I asked.

  Evvie jumped to her feet and looked at the guns pointed at us. "I think they're going to do that to us first."

  "Let them try," I growled. Going from utterly still to launching myself into the air without a sign that movement was imminent was a special skill of mine. My coaches and instructors always praised my ability to hide my intent. I swung my foot around and connected with the man's head that I'd already used as a shield. He fell to the ground hard as the other five soldiers clicked the triggers of their guns frantically. Evvie flinched, but when the guns didn't fire, she opened her eyes and looked at me hopefully.

  I hadn't had time to attack anyone else when she snatched the gun from the closest soldier's surprised hands. Turning it up like a club, she swung and hit him in the head with it. By the time the gun smacked across his head, I'd begun moving again. We'd used up our elements of surprise. These were highly trained soldiers, after all. They knew how to fight. Evvie only got off that hit because he was so shocked at the turn of events. After that, I watched her out of the corner of my eye as she went on the defensive.

  "Just duck his blows," I called as I dispatched another soldier with a tackle. The soldier and I went down with a grunt, and I managed to twist his neck as we fell. Two down, four to go. Evvie had one d
istracted, so that helped. I prepared to fight three trained men at once.

  Two rushed me while one hung back, watching and waiting. He was likely the biggest threat of the group, saving himself for when I was winded. Too bad for him I wouldn't get winded. I didn't tire that easily. I waited for the soldiers to be so close they had to have thought they'd be able to best me, then I dropped and swept their feet out from under them. One of them caught on in time and jumped over my leg, so I continued around, pulling my leg back, then pushing out as hard as I could to kick his knee.

  It made a horrible cracking noise that I ignored as I focused on the man still on the ground. He'd rolled backward and out of my range a bit. He'd been taught how to take a fall. After rolling to his feet, he came at me, swinging his arms in a fighting style used on Earth and my home planet. I'd learned it as a child.

  He was fast, but I was faster. I blocked his blows and swung my head down to connect with his nose. Blood spurted all over both of us as Evvie's scream filled the air. The man she'd been grappling with had her by the throat. "Stop, Alien. Or she's dead," he threatened. She was a small woman, short and underweight. He nearly had her lifted off her feet. My anger surged, and I leveled the man holding her with one of my signature terrifying glares.

  "If you kill her, all six of you will die this day. I had planned to disarm you, not kill you, though I apologize for that one.” I jutted my chin at the man whose neck I’d snapped. “Shall I switch tactics?"

  "Kill them," Evvie gasped out. "Rip out their hearts."

  I smiled at her. Her bloodthirsty words were a turn on for a man like me who so loved battle. "My lady desires your hearts." I saw fear reflected in the eyes of the remaining men. Good, finally they understand that I was the superior warrior in this situation, as I was in most fights.

  If only I had a way to get to Evvie before the soldier crushed her windpipe. He wasn't holding her hard enough now to kill her, though her neck would be sore tomorrow, but if I moved, he might. She'd been scrabbling at his wrists, holding herself up as much as possible to take the weight off of her neck. As I deliberated, she reached back and grabbed his fingers. Yes! That was what she needed. She yanked as hard as she could, and his finger snapped. As the crack filled the air, I moved. Ignoring the two men I'd been engaging, I launched myself at the man with the broken finger. He was howling, and Evvie was rolling out of her fall from being dropped.

  Using the momentum from moving toward him, I raised my fist and slammed it into his face, driving forward after the connection to ensure the maximum force. Evvie smiled at me from where she crouched, but her eyes flicked behind me. It was all the warning I needed to duck and roll, jumping to my feet beside her in time to see the soldier that had been about to hit me in the neck stumble.

  I kicked as he went forward and connected with his jaw. His neck snapped back so hard I couldn't have been sure I hadn't killed him. Not that I cared for the life of an unknown TerraLink soldier. Not when my female was in danger.

  "Five down," I said in a sing-song voice. "One to go." I saw Evvie nod out of the corner of my eye, and my heart smiled to see her so determined. She truly was a warrior, my little human. The last soldier, the one that had been doing the talking in the beginning, shook out his arms in preparation. This was the man that was likely my biggest threat.

  "Evvie, get the water," I said softly as he and I began to circle the moaning soldiers I’d downed. "Put it in the ship." We moved in the sand away from the men lying unconscious or bleeding on the ground.

  "Now we see," he whispered. I smiled wickedly at him. So we shall. He hadn't trained like I had. He was good, for a human, that was sure. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been saved for last. But when he moved, I already knew where he was moving and what he'd decided to do. I couldn't read his mind, but I did not need to. His body told me everything.

  When his shoulder stiffened, I knew he was going to throw a punch from that arm. I ducked it. His thigh clenched, and I jumped to the other side of his body so his kick met air instead of my flesh.

  "You're good," he muttered. Then, he surprised me. His right arm prepared to swing, but his left fist came out of nowhere and connected with the side of my head. He was strong enough that the blow rattled me for a split second. Long enough for Evvie to dart forward and stab something into his side, underneath his vest. He grunted and backhanded her. She flew away as I watched, landing in the sand with a puff.

  As much as I wanted to rush to her to make sure she wasn't hurt from the blow, I couldn't move. He hadn't hit her hard enough to kill her. She'd endured much worse in the mines, I was sure. The soldier wouldn't have been difficult to dispatch without Evvie's help, but with it, I took him down in another couple of seconds. He couldn't seem to take his hand off of his side, which left him open to a few quick punches to his gut. When I hit the area that she'd stabbed and a small piece of glass fell to the ground, he cried out in pain and jerked away from me. Finally, I jabbed his nose with a short, powerful burst that sent him to his ass.

  He rolled, crying out, but didn’t rise. I was breathing hard, assessing everything. All of the soldiers were down and I knew we needed to get the hell out of there before they could call for backup. "Let's go!" I yelled.

  When I turned, I realized Evvie had run back to the cave and was struggling with all three water bags. I hurried to her. Blood dripped from her nose, but we didn't have time to assess our wounds. We had to get out before my imaginary future could be shattered. Someone had to have noticed the guns go off the network. I hadn't taken the time to check for a mission roster on the ship's database, either. There could've been more people on board.

  "Get on the pod!" I shouted. I took one of the bags of water, leaving her two, and I ran for the soldiers' primitive transport ship. With my free hand, I delved into it and discovered I could take their guns offline and put on a safety feature that could only be disabled onboard. Handy feature. Then, I checked the roster. There was nobody else on the transport. I moved quickly through the supply list and realized they had several days' worth of rations on board for six soldiers.

  It was a small vessel, barely bigger than my pod. I found the rations, an emergency kit, and a first aid kit easily. Taking the guns was tempting, but they wouldn't work out of their home network, not even with my abilities. I left them and ran for the pod. The communication log said the soldiers were due to check in any second now. If they didn't, a second ship that had taken prisoners to the labor camp would come to check on them.

  "They're sending backup. We don't have much time," I yelled and threw everything in my hands onto the floor of the pod. Evvie jumped away from the chair and closed the door behind me. When she pressed the button to lock it and I pulled back the lever to get us off the ground, we stared at each other in shock, the pod rumbling around us.

  We were doing it. We were leaving our old lives, our old selves, behind. We’d fought like hell to be here, and even though we hadn’t yet left the ground, I felt like shouting my triumph.

  Time to start something new.

  17

  Evvie

  As we rose into the air, Jarix fiddled with the controls on the dash, then turned to pick up the mess on the floor. "I can do that," I said.

  He laughed and shook his head. "I'm the one that threw it everywhere."

  We continued going upward, in a smooth rise toward the heavens. I didn't mind letting him pick up the food packets and things he'd gotten from the TerraLink transporter. I wanted to watch Earth melt away as we got closer to escaping her atmosphere. As I pressed myself against the window and watched the camp grow smaller and smaller, I sighed with pure happiness. The surrounding desert was an enormous expanse of land, going in every direction. It was so large I couldn't even see The Glass City in the distance. Except for a couple of small, insignificant human settlements, The Glass City was the closest to our camp.

  Even though I was exhausted, sweaty, distraught about Alice, and still had a mix of fear and adrenaline coursing through my vei
ns, I smiled. We’d fucking done it. It had been messy and ill-planned, but we’d done it. We were getting the fuck out of here, and I couldn’t be more elated. I was leaving the mines, and with an alien I deeply cared for no less. What has my life become? I asked the question to the vast expanse of brown sand as it spread out below me.

  I was jolted out of my happy thoughts as the pod began to shake. "Uh, what's that?" Whirling, I caught Jarix staring at me from his spot crouched on the floor.

  He looked around. "Oh, let me see." Leaning back, he sat on his butt and pressed his hand on the console. Within a few moments, the ship stabilized. I raised my eyebrows. What the hell was that?

  "You put your hand on the TerraLink ship before going inside, too. I'd forgotten until just now. Why, do you have some secret alien ability to communicate with ships?" I chuckled at my joke, but still waited for his reply.

  He laughed at me, tilting his head in confusion. “That’s… surprisingly accurate.” He looked away as he put the food packets back into their satchel. "I guess it's safe to tell you now. I was afraid it would scare you at first, then after I hadn't told you for a while, I worried you'd get mad that I was keeping secrets."

  Wait, what? I was right? More intrigued than worried about him keeping secrets—it’s not like I hadn’t kept my own from him—I gestured for him to continue.

  "I told you I stole money to try to save my sister, but I didn't tell you how."

  I crossed my arms and waited for him to explain, glancing repeatedly out the window to watch the land slide farther and farther away. "Well? How'd you do it?"

  "I can control technology," he said. "If it has a computer chip and programming, I can make it do nearly anything I want it to, no matter what species the technology comes from. Within its physical capabilities, anyway. I can't make a gun produce water or make a flight ship swim. But, for example, I was able to modify this pod to withstand a journey in space when it was built for short-range escapes only."