Worlds Apart (Warriors of Risnar)

by Tracy St. John

  “Look sharp!” Jape yelled. “They’ll be able to close and use capture fields!”

  Anneliese tried not to think of how far the company still needed to go. Another side corridor came up, and she saw the first Monsuda joining in the fight. Over eight feet tall, the Monsuda looked like a nightmare come to life. Quivering antennae hovered over ink-black lidless eyes. With mantis arms up top and bristled segmented arms below those, they were horror movie insectile monstrosities worthy of a Hollywood special effects team.

  The Monsuda were no computer-generated pieces of entertainment. They were real, and they were hurrying toward Anneliese and the Risnarish warriors with intent to kill or capture.

  Anneliese opened fire, howling her hatred of the creatures that had brought so much pain and terror to her life. She ignored the bright flares of return fire hitting her protective containment field, feeling raw, violent triumph when two Monsuda fell.

  She didn’t bother to count the hits draining her belt. In her head and heart, Anneliese was in the fight zone, and she was in it until she was captured or dead. Nothing existed but the grim purpose of battling for the lives of her brother warriors, waging war on behalf of the civilians she’d sworn to protect, destroying in the hope of finding Nex alive.

  Failing that, she would do her best as a soldier until she couldn’t do any more.

  Jape’s yell rang out over the constant barrage of scatter shot and plasma shooters. “Warriors of Cas, stand fast and fight! Olsur Bolep of Yitrow confirms they have breached the hive containment and are heading in! We’re hitting the hive from all directions now!”

  The Risnarish bellowed in triumph. Anneliese added her shout—and continued to fire and reload.

  The drones and Monsuda kept coming, however. There was no end to the enemy. How many had gathered in this hive from other locations, readying to launch an offensive against the Assembly and Yitrow? The drones and monstrous aliens piled up in the wide corridors, only to be shoved to the side so the firing could continue. The piles of broken bodies were without number.

  The Risnarish warriors had begun to fall. Injuries and not deaths. Anneliese prayed that was the case. So far, they’d managed to hold back the enemy far enough that capture fields hadn’t come into play, but the surges of drones were getting closer. Before long, the Cas group would be overrun.

  The dull gray lighting of the corridor wavered, went out. It came up again, though markedly dimmed. Another shout rose from the warriors. The hive’s main power had been shut down. The Monsuda fled, leaving the obedient drones to continue the fight.

  A shot flared bright against Anneliese’s field, and she felt a slight impact against her shoulder. She cursed under her breath and kept fighting. It didn’t matter that the belt might be failing. Help was on the way, help that would save Jape’s group, help that would save Nex and the others who had been taken. Anneliese could not stop now. Failure was not on the table.

  She barked a tired laugh as the telltale thunder of boom cannons resumed, the reports echoing down the corridor. Anneliese looked in that direction. She howled with the other warriors as a knot of unfamiliar Risnarish hove into view at the end of the hall. The cavalry had arrived, sandwiching the drones between two fronts.

  Forces remained against the Cas warriors, however. Anneliese was brutally reminded of that when the sensation of being punched in the gut bent her double. She staggered into the warrior behind her. He grabbed her. “Are you hit?”

  Anneliese looked down at herself, expecting blood to be pouring from her midsection. Nothing showed damage, thanks to the protective vest she wore. It took her a full second to suck in a decent breath to reply. “My containment’s down.”

  “Get in the middle. Stay protected.”

  He didn’t wait for her to comply. The warrior shoved her back, putting her in the center of the company. He did what she would, keeping a fellow soldier safe.

  Anneliese used the moment to check her shooter. The charge was low. The cartridge holding the ammo was nearly empty. Her final cartridge. Like it or not, she was out of the fight.

  Anneliese shook her head at the instinct that insisted she take ammo from some of her fellow fighters, that she continue to battle. Even if that had been an option, she had to assume the rest of the warriors were similarly low on cartridges.

  Stay low. Let them do the job they came to do and don’t get in the way.

  Wouldn’t Nex be proud of her? Anneliese was starting to learn. Now maybe if they could just survive this fight so she could find him—

  A new volley of boom cannons rolled through the corridor. This offensive came from behind Jape’s group instead of in front of it. As the drones attacking Anneliese’s group’s rear fell like bowling pins, Anneliese cheered with the rest, especially when she recognized several of the striped men heading in their direction. Salno had returned with the other squads from Cas.

  Less than a minute later, only Risnarish stood in the corridor. The battle noisily raged elsewhere in the hive, but her group’s part was apparently done.

  Jape confirmed that after consulting with an unfamiliar man from the outside group. He called to his troops, “We’re heading back toward the labs to effect rescue. Yitrow’s main attack force will finish the rest of the hive. Gather all humans and Risnarish you can find and load them up into Salno’s saucer. Let’s go!”

  After fighting in pitched battle for every inch they could gain, the Cas warriors retreated the way they’d come. Anneliese trotted to keep up with their long strides.

  The labs were searched, and victims were freed. Anneliese’s stomach churned when Nex wasn’t discovered in any of them. She didn’t know what she’d do if Nex had been taken to another hive. How would she ever find him?

  They got to the end of the corridor without discovering the olive and brown Risnarish Anneliese wanted most of all. Only one chamber remained, the chamber most regarded as the worst room in the entire hive. Anneliese shoved past the rest to be the first in where lab subjects were placed in coffin-shaped pods, sleeping in a stasis state. She dashed back and forth through the rows of containers, searching striped and human faces for the man that mattered more to her than all the rest.

  At last she found him, the alien she’d do anything for. Anything.

  “Anything,” Anneliese whispered to the dear, unaware face in the porthole glass. “As long as it means being with you, I’ll fight only the real battles that deserve it. My days of worthless arguments are over.”

  Tears blurred her vision of Nex as she waited for Salno to be brought in to free him of his prison. She kept wiping them away so she could look at her striped love.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Nex opened his eyes. He must have been having an amazing dream, because he didn’t lie in a Monsudan lab. The ceiling overhead showed not a many-armed torture device, but a curved slice of a dome’s clear panel. He gazed at the blue stretch of Risnarish sky.

  He inhaled, sure the oily stench of drone and the drier, raspy odor of Monsudan would fill his head. Instead, it was the aroma of the grassland that surrounded Cas and a sweeter perfume, one that was tantalizingly familiar.

  He turned his head to the side, not daring to believe what his senses told him. There she sat, the woman he’d been sure he’d never see again, except in his dreams. Her smile was big, making the corners of her dark eyes crinkle.

  Then she spoke, a sound far lovelier than the distant splash of a fountain. Someone must have replaced the translation earpiece the drones had taken away, because Nex understood her. “Hey. Welcome back.”

  He managed to find his voice. “This is real? I’m in Cas?” Behind Anneliese, he recognized the room of the temple’s medical facility.

  “Safe and sound. How does my favorite alien feel?”

  He sprouted a few fingers and clenched the mattress beneath him. He did so to verify through another sense that he was
out of the Monsudan hive. He couldn’t bear to look away from Anneliese’s face. Her beautiful, right-there face.

  Emotions crowded, wanting to break free. They were too big to deal with, however, so Nex weakly teased, “I believe you are the alien here.”

  “I’m not alien. I’m unique and extraordinary,” Anneliese reproved him with mock offense.

  Nex laughed. That release of emotion brought more a few seconds later. For several minutes, he was helpless against the storms of released despair, fear, hurt, and relief. Anneliese crawled onto the bed and held him while he sometimes loudly processed everything he’d been through. Her tears mixed with his as she did what she was best at—being strong.

  At last, Nex felt more himself. It was hard not to with the warm, giving woman molded against him. “Were you captured when I was? Were you hurt?”

  Anneliese snuggled closer. “Thanks to Salno, no. Darned woman went commando on my ass and carried me out.”

  “I remember that. I didn’t know if you’d managed to escape the hive.”

  “We did. We lost a few people, but my gimpy butt was saved.”

  Nex smiled at her. “I should have known you’d come to my rescue.”

  She traced the stripes on his face, her eyes shimmering with new tears. “Just as you’ve always come to mine.”

  For some time, there was nothing else to say. They were content to hold and gaze at each other, ignoring the medic who came in to take Nex’s vital signs. For Nex, there was no one but Anneliese.

  During his time in the Monsudan lab, when trauma didn’t steal his sanity, he’d come to a startling realization. He’d experienced nothing less than an epiphany in regards to Anneliese, one that had shaken him to his foundations. Having lost all hope of rescue, his flash of understanding had come closer to destroying him than all the horrific experimentation he’d endured.

  He’d believed that he wanted what Kren and Jeannie had. He had based filling the loneliness in his life on what he’d seen of their happy relationship. The notion had been furthered by Anneliese’s kiss, fueling fantasies of a perfect union with never a ripple to disturb never-ending joy.

  He had failed, but not because he hadn’t found a Jeannie to love. And not because he’d found Anneliese instead, someone filled with fire and energy. Someone who challenged him to fight for her. Someone worth fighting for with his last breath. He’d failed because he’d gotten lost in the fantasy he’d built around her. In doing so, he’d discounted the real Anneliese, whom he loved far better than the version of her he’d thought would make them both happy. He’d been ready to send her home because he’d not recognized the gift of the real woman, made in her own wondrous image instead of his foolish fantasy.

  He would not let her go now. It was far better to argue daily if it meant they were together. Having lost her once, fearing for her safety, the rest was so much trivial noise. Asking Anneliese to alter who she was just to salve his pride and fulfill a false, empty dream had been wrong. He knew that now.

  Nex shifted, wanting to move closer though they were already plastered against each other. Anneliese yelped and sat up with a wince.

  “I’m sorry,” Nex said. “Leg or back?”

  “Believe it or not, no. Oh, they’re not happy with the level of activity I put my body through yesterday when we went after you, but this is what’s giving me holy hell.” She lifted her blouse, revealing a brutal splash of purplish darkness spread across her stomach. Nex gasped and she nodded. “Hell of a bruise, huh? You’d be proud of me, though. I retreated to the middle of the squad and let the big, strong Risnarish men protect me when my containment belt ran out of juice.” She beamed with pride.

  Nex caressed her face. “I had no justification to ask you to change for me. I don’t want you to hurt yourself, and I’m going to remind you of that any time I think you will. But you are who you are. I respect that. And I’m more sorry than I can express for what I’ve done.”

  Anneliese chuckled, her expression rueful. “Weh. You should expect me to do better. When it came to righting the wrongs of the world, I was the hammer, and everything was a nail. Including you. I’m learning to do better.”

  “You don’t have to. Not for me.”

  “For us both.” Anneliese curled close to him again. “I want to be happy, Nex. I don’t want to fight everything, not anymore. Just the battles that matter. Will you let me stay so you can help me with that?”

  “I ask you to stay in any case. I love you, Anneliese. No matter what, I want you with me. I won’t try to change you. That’s a promise.”

  “I’ll tell you what. We’ll be honest with each other. If I think you’re pushing me to be who I’m not, I’ll tell you. And if you’re afraid I’m about to put myself in danger for the wrong reasons, speak up. Deal?”

  “Deal. Thank you, Anneliese. I’ll do my best to get things right.” She was so good to him, giving him another chance. Giving them a chance.

  They kissed to celebrate their pact, to fight for each other despite the fact they might fight with each other. It was the best bargain Nex had ever made.

  After a few more moments, curiosity got its claws into Nex. He couldn’t resist asking, “What have I missed?”

  Anneliese caught him up on the assault that took out the hive near Yitrow. “Jape and Salno concocted the whole plan between themselves.”

  “Salno?”

  “She’s on track to becoming a great military leader,” Anneliese smirked. “I joke, but we couldn’t have taken the hive and rescued you without her. From a research standpoint, she was invaluable.”

  “You’re now above suspicion, I take it?”

  Anneliese frowned. “I’m still under suspicion by many, particularly Ehar and most of Cas’s Elders Council. Some of that could be because the Assembly censured them. Elder Notlin of the Assembly told them straight up they had no reason to take me into custody and treat me the way they did.”

  Nex was amazed. “I don’t recall a council being censured my entire life. Did the Assembly speak to you about the matter?”

  “More like interrogated, though they were gentle about it. They are satisfied I’m on your side.”

  “No one was hurt in the course of the questioning?” Nex couldn’t stop himself from giving her a searching look.

  She gave him a little shove, snickering at his joke. “I was hammered at by not just your most important leaders, but the heads of several village councils as well. I didn’t lose my temper, not once. I did not argue. I discussed in a calm, controlled manner.”

  Nex returned her grin. “I am impressed.”

  She waved him off. “I wish I could say I’m that evolved on my own. Truth is, I begged Salno to go with me. When I felt as if I needed to say something particularly aggressive, I’d look at her. She pulled faces behind everyone else’s backs to keep me out of my usual rut of fighting.”

  “She pulled faces?”

  Anneliese demonstrated. She twisted her mouth, stuck out her tongue, and crossed her eyes. Nex chuffed disbelieving laughter.

  “Pretty un-Salno, huh? She was too funny for me to let loose my temper.”

  “I’d have liked to see that.” Nex couldn’t imagine it, even with Anneliese’s helpful display.

  “On Salno’s cool, calm, and collected face, it’s a hell of a sight. Which is why she lowered herself to do it. I couldn’t stay mad when I was too busy trying not to laugh.”

  “I doubt she felt she was lowering herself at all. She’s not such a bad sort.”

  “Not bad? Hey, give it up for my bestie. She’s great.”

  Nex ruminated over the situation. How could he use it to their advantage? How could it be turned so Anneliese might stay on? “It’s too bad about Ehar and the Elders Council. At least the Assembly doesn’t regard you as an enemy to Risnar.”

  “Not only that, but I’m a war consultant to th
e Assembly. With my people actively involved, they need my insight on Earth fighting capabilities.”

  Nex gazed at her, hope lighting his hearts. He didn’t dare speak, and he didn’t need to. Anneliese nodded and delivered the best possible news.

  “I’m staying for the foreseeable future. I’m assigned to Yitrow though, not Cas. I’m part of the war council that reports directly to the Assembly.” She grinned. “We have an opening on the science staff there. They need someone to lead up that team.”

  Nex didn’t hesitate for an instant. “I’m in.”

  “I thought you might be. Now the only question is, do I room with the women at the temple, or—”

  Nex kissed her with demand, cutting her off. She softened in his arms, the way she did when she was ready to give in. When he released her, she stayed pliable. “A most compelling argument. Okay, you win.”

  “Hopefully we both win. That’s my kind of fight.”

  * * *

  Anneliese stayed with Nex all that night in the medical dome. The next morning, he was deemed fit and ready to resume life as usual. She cheered at the top of her lungs, much to Nex’s amusement and the female doctor’s quiet confusion.

  Their first order of business was to go to her home on Earth. Anneliese gathered the few belongings she wanted—mostly clothes and mementos she couldn’t live without, such as her parents’ portrait. Anneliese finished her life on her home planet by writing a note to her cousin Kanateseh. She told him she was fine but something had come up that was going to keep her out of town, probably for the long term. The home was his to let some deserving family member live in.

  Though she found it difficult to leave behind her favorite cousin, as well as the home she’d grown up in, Anneliese mostly felt a sense of relief to go. Her life on Earth had become an exercise in marking time, of seeking out battles to justify her continued existence. She would miss the rez and her community, but she couldn’t live in memories. She couldn’t live without the love of her life. Ignoring the messages on her abandoned phone, she gathered her things and left with Nex. Anneliese did not look back.