Alien Apocalypse: The Complete Series (Parts I-IV)

by JC Andrijeski

  She didn’t want to see him tortured, either, or ripped apart by the Nirreth Royal Guard.

  She knew the “worse” thing that Richter referenced probably meant Retribution. From what Laksri told her about Retribution, Jet knew Anaze would be both tortured and killed, if that happened. They might kill his mother, too.

  “We can’t let them find him,” she muttered.

  There’s no way Richter could have heard her, given the sound of the water, but he must have read her lips, because he answered her anyway.

  “Not much we can do, pet. Wait. See what happens.”

  She turned, her eyes narrow. Suddenly, another thought struck her. “Laks,” she blurted. “Laks will have to go, won’t he? If they do it there? Retribution?”

  Richter gave her a blank look.

  “Richter,” she said, gritting her teeth. “Retribution. They only do it on Astet, right? At the detention centers there? So Laks would have to go there.”

  Richter only blinked again, his expression immovable.

  There was nothing in his eyes to indicate it exactly, but somehow, Jet found herself thinking she’d managed to surprise him for real that time. The realization only made her angrier, especially when he papered it over with another faux-innocent look.

  “What are you talking about, love?” he said.

  Jet gritted her teeth, keeping her voice low with an effort. “That’s what this is about, isn’t it? Going to Astet.”

  Richter gave her a bored look along with a dismissive wave of his hand.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about Jet,” he said.

  But Jet already understood. If she was right, they now had an excuse to go to Astet, the one place left where someone might still know who Laksri really was. Richter could make sure that Laksri’s tracks from his past were truly covered, and no loose ends remained.

  More to the point, he could do it before Trazen found his way back to Astet on his own...or someone from Astet found their way to Trazen.

  Folding her arms tighter around her chest so that she could barely breathe, Jet let out an angry sound, almost a growl of her own.

  “You bastards,” she muttered. “You manipulative, sneaky bastards.” She turned on Richter, feeling her mouth harden more. “Does Laks know?”

  Richter was smiling at her now though, that appreciative glint back in his eyes.

  “Know?” he said. “Love...it was his idea.”

  Jet left the meeting with Richter in the mood to strangle something with her bare hands.

  On the plus side, for the first time all day, her mind felt almost clear. She walked fast, not looking at anyone in the halls of the compound of the Royals. She didn’t really think about where she was going, not at first.

  Once she’d entered his room, however, she hesitated only for a second.

  Walking directly over to him, she sat on the edge of the low, blanket-less bed. The guard acting as sentry let her in without much hassle, but then, the Royal Guard had already likely blabbed about how they’d found the two of them together on the floor. They may have been worried about human terrorists more generally, but people like Jet didn’t usually make the list. However-many Rings matches she won, Jet still got the feeling they viewed her as a kind of sexualized child. Or maybe a sexualized animal.

  The thought didn’t improve her mood any, especially when she refocused on the Nirreth lying unconscious on the bed. He sprawled on the velvet-covered mattress without moving. His half-naked body lay exposed, without even a sheet to cover him. Like the usual Nirreth bed, the mattress didn’t come with pillows, or anything other than the plush upholstery wrapping the cushion itself.

  Jet looked down at him and fought to clear her mind, feeling a profusion of emotions as she watched his bare, moving chest. Even with the lingering venom, she felt a harder flush of anger as she looked at him, especially when her mind replayed Richter’s last words.

  She wanted Laksri to wake up.

  Now. Right now.

  Her mouth hardened more, the longer she stared at him, even as it occurred to her that the venom from his tail still had to be affecting her, at least somewhat. Her eyes lingered too long on his chest, for one thing. She found herself staring at his hands, too, and even the outline of his jaw, and his high-cheekboned face. None of those gazes was entirely neutral, as much as the admission pissed her off. She had to fight the urge to touch him, even now...even when it was coupled with an urge to punch him in the face.

  The second urge felt stronger, the longer she sat there.

  She bit the inside of her cheek, tasting blood by the time she noticed.

  Impulsively, she touched his arm, maybe in a mild attempt to wake him, or maybe for some other reason. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about him, even now. He’d manipulated her...just like Anaze and Richter. Her more tactical side saw the logic in why he’d done it, but she could already tell her feelings were a lot more confused than she wanted to admit.

  She found herself remembering the things he’d said to her, not five minutes before Anaze burst into their room. Had that been part of the plan, too? Or had he improvised that part to get Jet to play her assigned role?

  She didn’t want to think about that, either.

  Anaze could die in their stupid plan.

  Still, it infuriated her, how blind she’d been.

  She’d noticed things, sure.

  There were a few times, when Anaze and Laksri both had their guard down, or when things got particularly tense, when the two of them suddenly acted a lot more like allies than enemies. Jet had even seen Laksri accept what amounted to an order from Anaze, and more readily than he had when Richter had been the one giving commands.

  Had the two of them been lying to her all this time? Pretending to compete over her, when really, they were putting on some kind of act for the other Nirreth, maybe even for Richter, too? Whatever game they were playing, Richter may not have scripted it, but he didn’t seem all that blind to it, either.

  Richter seemed to want Jet to know, too. At the very least, he hadn’t gone out of his way to discourage her from finding out.

  The longer Jet thought about it, the angrier she got.

  They’d played her.

  Laksri and his crap about her being a virgin. Getting her to admit she was nervous about sleeping with him again. Getting her to admit she was jealous, that she wanted him, that she didn’t want him sleeping with other women. Getting her to seduce him in the end, by pretending he was cool with waiting. Feeling her cheeks warm as she pushed the memory away, she gripped his skin tighter, shaking his arm roughly.

  “Laks!” she said, sharp. “Wake up! Now.”

  He didn’t move, not even to change the cadence of his breathing.

  “Laksri!” she said, louder. “I mean it! Wake up!”

  His closed eyes didn’t flicker.

  Jet was still staring down at his face, trying to note any possible changes, when a voice emerged from the silence behind her, nearly making her jump out of her skin.

  “I do not think that will work,” it hissed softly.

  Jet turned, jerking back on the bed so fast she nearly fell off.

  She stared up at the tall Nirreth standing there, thinking she had to be imagining him. Once his presence really sank in, a rush of adrenaline hit her bloodstream that tensed every muscle in her body.

  “Trazen,” she muttered.

  Without thinking, she glanced at Laksri on the bed. The hairs stood up on the back of her neck. Her mind whirled, even as her anger at Laksri and Anaze worsened when she realized she still looked to them for protection. Here, anyway, in the Green Zone. Outside of the Rings.

  Neither of them was here now.

  Her eyes shifted back to Trazen after barely a whisper. She tracked his movements minutely even as her mind churned, pulling together facts. The guards outside must be on his payroll, or afraid of him maybe, given who he was. She fought with whether to call out to them anyway, even as she rose shakily to her
feet.

  “...You startled me,” she said, fighting to smile.

  “A thousand apologies.” The Ringmaster smiled back at her, his eyes flickering down her dress. “I merely hoped to be of assistance.”

  Jet swallowed. Scanning rapidly through options, she settled on keeping her voice polite, speaking in her somewhat slow and heavily-accented Nargili.

  “You have come to see how the prince is doing?” She gave him a polite, if overly-stiff smile. “That is very generous of you, Ringmaster Trazen. There is a challenge match tomorrow, is there not? You must be quite occupied in its design?”

  His thin smile did not flinch.

  If anything, his eyes grew more shrewd.

  “Yes, Jet Tetsuo,” he said, matching her tone. “That design is almost completed now, however. I thank you for taking an interest in my work.” He paused, his dark eyes seeming to grow deeper as he studied her face. “...And you are correct, of course,” he added in a lower voice. “My duties are extensive. The new candidate of my mentor, Al-En Mosq, runs her trial match that day. Her very first, so the most important of all trials, as you understand better than many, even others of the Rings.”

  Walking in a casual loop that brought his body closer to hers, he added just as smoothly, “...There are many eyes on whether I make that trial difficult or easy for her.”

  His dark eyes continued to bore into Jet.

  “Perhaps you will break precedent and make a wager, Jet Tetsuo?” he said. “I would be happy to place any bets you may wish. It would be my honor.”

  Jet hesitated.

  Her eyes flickered to the Nirreth’s tail, almost in spite of herself. She watched it as it snaked lazily behind him, deceptively casual. Glancing again at Laksri, she knew even before she met Trazen’s eyes a second time, that she was in trouble. She wasn’t about to just stand there and cringe, though, like one of his usual human sacrifices.

  “I will think about your offer, Ringmaster Trazen,” she promised coolly. “Once I am able to examine the stats for the relevant candidates.”

  He smiled, a vague humor touching his eyes.

  Jet continued before he could speak.

  “...I must now apologize for the brevity of our meeting,” she added politely. “But I really must be going.” She stepped pointedly to one side, her eyes level on his. “Since it is clear that Prince Laksri is unlikely to awaken until morning, I should really take myself––”

  “I hear you are going on a journey soon, Princess Jet,” Trazen said, cutting into her words.

  When she turned, his coal-black eyes focused densely on hers. The look there wasn’t threatening exactly, but it held her briefly in place regardless. After studying her reaction for a few beats more, Trazen let his lips rise in another subtle, Nirreth smile.

  “Perhaps you have not yet heard?” he said, his voice all politeness. “They have caught your human...the one you call Anaze. Judgment by the Guard was swift. They have recommended that he face Retribution.” Pausing, Trazen folded his hands at the small of his back. “Their judgment requires only the approval of the Prince. No one has any doubt that he will approve, however, once he awakens...considering the severity of the human’s crime.”

  Jet felt her hands grow cold.

  For a moment she couldn’t speak at all, but neither could she tear her eyes off the probing gaze of the muscular Ringmaster.

  Even so, her mind whirled. Had Richter known they already had Anaze in custody? Or had he simply known what would happen once they did?

  “Are you not relieved, Princess Jet?” Trazen pressed. “I would have thought you would be most pleased that they found him so quickly. After all, it is not a good time to have a terrorist running loose inside the realm, whatever his...racial limitations.”

  Ignoring the mammal dig, Jet cleared her throat.

  “Where?” she forced herself to say. “Where did they find him, honorable Ringmaster?”

  Trazen shrugged, as if the detail was inconsequential.

  “I am told he was found in the canals,” he said. “They were forced to send other humans in after him...and a culler ship, when the former did not work. Whatever the truth of the matter, this Anaze was collected after a struggle. The Guard passed their judgment less than an hour later.” He paused, still watching her expression. “...I am told the Queen has already given approval. She awaits Laksri’s word out of respect, but the arrangements have begun.”

  Jet nodded, without looking at the Nirreth that time.

  She knew what “collected after a struggle” meant, too.

  It meant they’d beaten him...stung him...likely in excessive quantities, possibly to the point of unconsciousness. They would have questioned him after they stung him, under the guise of needing the information to inform their decisionmaking.

  Jet wondered why that aspect of things didn’t worry Laksri or Anaze more, given what he might say under the influence of the venom...then she decided she didn’t want to know. Knowing them, Anaze had taken some drug...or built up an immunity in some other way.

  As the thought rose, it occurred to Jet that she’d started to think almost like them.

  She couldn’t think strategy now, though. She couldn’t.

  She knew a few of them might not have stopped with a simple beating, depending on what Anaze had done to get into the Prince’s quarters. Even if he managed to get past them without killing anyone in the Guard, the embarrassment of a human slipping past their security would be enough to infuriate them. Jet fought back and forth in her mind about asking to see Anaze, then realized Trazen wasn’t the person to ask that question of, either.

  Nodding, she tried to look relieved, and likely failed.

  “Well, the Prince will be pleased with that news,” she said finally.

  “I am quite sure he will be,” Trazen agreed. “Although I would imagine going to Astet, at a time like this, could be inconvenient...for both of you,” Trazen added politely. “I admit to some disappointment, as well. Given the high scores that Al-En Mosq’s human acheived in her demonstration, I had hoped to see you introduced to this new candidate sooner rather than later. From what I have seen, the two of you might make for an interesting challenge match...one I would be quite honored to design.”

  Pausing, he gestured again in a small flourish.

  Jet watched his tail so carefully that time, she almost missed the last of his words.

  “...But it appears my services will be required on Astet, as well,” he added.

  Jet blinked, looking up. “What?”

  Trazen paused, giving her a look that struck her as carrying more scrutiny than Jet would have expected. Shrugging, he seemed to dismiss whatever he found.

  “Yes,” he confirmed in a low murmur. “There appears to be a shortage of game designers on all of the worlds these days.” He glanced at Laksri on the mattress. “That, or there is some other reason. One they did not see fit to share with me, in asking me to participate in this auspicious event...” Again, that razor-sharp smile.

  “Either way,” he added. “I can only hope I am to be flattered by this inclusion, rather than the reverse. It is so difficult to tell sometimes...is it not?”

  Jet found her mind whirling again. What was he up to, exactly? Did he really think she would buy this feeble attempt to seem conspiratorial? Or was he implying something else? Maybe he thought he was being lured to Astet to be killed, too?

  Actually, knowing Richter, the idea wasn’t totally crazy.

  Getting rid of Trazen would make all of their lives easier.

  The look in Trazen’s eyes confused her though, even with most of the effects of the venom finally leaving her system. He seemed to be trying hard to get some kind of reaction out of her, but she had no idea what it was. Did he think she had something to do with Anaze’s attack on Laksri? Maybe he thought she and Anaze were working together, or that she was some kind of plant for human terrorists? Was he making some kind of veiled threat about something happening to her if she wen
t with Laksri to Astet?

  More unnerved than before, Jet took another cautious step towards the door of the recovery room. She glanced at Laksri on the bed, willing him to get up, to at least open his eyes.

  Her nerves rose higher when Trazen followed her openly that time, stepping just enough into her path that she felt her body tense. Looking Trazen over in spite of herself, a low pulse of panic reached her. This guy had won every Rings match in which he’d ever been, including challenge matches against larger opponents.

  Unlike Al-En Mosq, he also hadn’t let himself go.

  Jet had even seen some of Trazen’s matches, as a part of her training. More than one had been brutal enough to make her turn away. Trazen may not be in top form now, like he had been then, but she had no illusions about his abilities.

  Laksri had called him a killer.

  She didn’t even have her sword.

  In fact, she wore a flimsy dress and sandals, and her hair hung down, reaching the middle of her back. Truthfully, Jet felt better equipped for a lawn party than any kind of smackdown. Looking at Trazen’s muscular arms, she fought to think.

  After the barest pause, she decided the direct approach was her only option.

  Well. More direct, anyway.

  “I really do need to go, Ringmaster,” she murmured, gesturing politely. “So if there isn’t anything else...?” She stepped forward as she said it, ready to slide past him.

  That time, he dropped the pretense, stepping directly into her path.

  Jet forced her eyes up. “Ringmaster?” She cleared her throat, keeping her eyes on his, not looking directly at the tail weaving sinuously behind his back. “Did you require something else of me?” she said, sharper.

  He didn’t answer at first.

  Jet fought to keep her expression still, but grew more and more aware of the motion of his tail. It swayed far enough out to the sides to make her nervous, although he hadn’t threatened her with it directly yet. Still, it floated near enough to her body that she struggled not to flinch. She was about to speak to him again, when the tail whipped around abruptly, catching her in the thigh. Jet jumped back, smacking down with her arm.