But I know the truth. Its appearance is merely a way to suppress our people’s hopes and dreams. It stands purely to keep us down. When that darkness covers your world, you have to make a choice.
Face your dark towers and fight, no matter the cost.
When I’m near Slain’s tower, I stare at the flaming scepters, fueled by the Resnyx their slaves have mined for them. They have pitted us against each other for far too long.
I enter the building and hear voices. I follow the noise, reaching a narrow entryway. Darkness shrouds the bodies of those inside, but I recognize those voices.
I’ve found Rekker and Lök. But I have also come across the Emperor alien that rules over this destitute planet. Slain.
As quiet as I can walk, I hobble toward a giant mothercraft in the building. There’s no time to marvel over its architecture, but I notice the Resnyx extractor in the center, resting alongside the multitude of turrets. This is a war craft with the capabilities of mining.
I recognize his plan almost immediately. Soon, he won’t have any need for our miners. With this technology, he can hold entire galaxies hostage. If he gets his way, he’ll find more Resnyx. He’ll win.
But we’re not going to let him do that.
I find the entrance and climb inside the bay, rolling to the side. Despite the pain, I keep my mouth shut.
Outside the craft, the lights flash. I keep hidden, but I watch as they confront Slain.
It doesn’t go too well.
Days ago, when we spoke to him on the holograph, I noticed his changes. His skin had changed. A dark green goo rolled from his lips. His body was covered in a large, black cloak.
I thought he might have been ill, but it’s looking like he’s worse than ill. He is turning into evil incarnate.
“I need more,” he tells them. More Resnyx. More power. If he doesn’t get it, he will die and lose everything he has worked for.
I feel it, too. Ever since I experienced those blue beams of energy, I’ve felt weaker than ever. By the same token, I feel a strange urge I’ve never felt before in my entire life.
I need more.
Knowing this, I believe it holds some power. But who knows what will happen once his body takes more? The impact could lead to catastrophic consequences.
He could become a God. Or he could destroy our universe. No one knows, but I’m not going to take any more chances.
As Slain forces my brethren into the mothership, I carefully hide in a nook, waiting to return to planet Ferän.
Ferän, the hellhole I never thought I’d see again.
I lean against a window, hidden above the cargo inside the mothership. Slain has kept my alpha counterparts restrained for the ride, but he somehow isn’t powerful enough to see me.
Maybe it’s because I’ve become a ghost. Like the woman I fell in love with, I have vanished. When she died, I died.
I became invisible, not a God, but not my normal self either.
As we enter the atmosphere, a great weight comes over me. My skin prickles as anxiety and panic seizes my muscles.
Things are different. Something has changed here.
The miners are nowhere to be found, and our facilities look completely deserted.
Did the slaves leave? Did Akron offer them a way out?
Miles away from our headquarters is the Resnyx extraction unit. The door is wide open.
I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing. All I can do is keep hidden and pray for a miracle.
Slain snaps his fingers. “Awaken,” he says.
Lök and Vraik jolt awake, startled by the strange force he has on them.
Slain stands proudly in front of the giant windows, observing the desolate landscape. “We are nearing the Resnyx extractor,” Slain growls. “Where are your slaves?”
Lök stumbles, blinking his eyes. A faint smirk cracks his lips as he stares at the site below. “I cannot be certain, sir.”
Slain rolls his fingers back, shaking with untenable rage. He knocks him to his knees. Using his energy force, he lifts Vraik by his neck and throws him across the room.
“Bastard,” I curse, too low for him to hear it.
Vraik rolls to his side, groaning and taking in small breaths. “We don’t need the miners. I will help you with the Resnyx extractor,” he grunts. “Just don’t hurt me again.”
I’ve never seen them like this. The amount of control Slain has gained is insurmountable, and the fact that he left his sentinel force back on our planet is further proof of his belief in the idea that he can win this alone.
When the mothership lowers, the floor opens. A green light shoots out of the center. Slain steps toward the edge, gazing down.
“You first,” he says, throwing them inside the light.
They beam down onto the desert floor, back in the double-sunned hellscape we ought to have destroyed long ago.
Lök’s plan was strong, but ultimately flawed. He didn’t prepare for Slain’s transformation.
Neither did I.
Slain groans. “I feel weak,” he mutters.
Exhaling, I lean my head against the wall and hope he continues to weaken.
Just as Slain is about to jump, he sniffs the air. “Hm,” he whispers, glancing in my direction.
I duck behind a large beam and hold my breath.
Please, just let me have this one chance at finding justice.
Luckily, his instinct doesn’t lead him to look any further. He vanishes into the green light, feet hitting the ground below.
They won’t find the Resnyx there. I’m sure it has been stolen by Akron and the slaves. They better have a fucking plan.
I am transforming too. Growing weaker by the minute. The more time I spend without the Resnyx, the more I feel myself losing grip on reality.
Every breath taken in is rife with pain. I can barely get to the control panel.
All in all, I’m not having a good day.
When I step into the captain’s chair, the control panel lights up. The wide glass window displays a large mapping system. I hit a red button, and the screen switches graphics.
The computer speaks: “Defense mode, activated.”
“Active turrets,” I say.
“Turrets activated and armed,” it replies.
I close my eyes. A strange emotion washes over me. It feels like… destiny.
“Computer, arm the thermonuclear detonation and apply a timer of two hours,” I say.
The display screen illuminates a large bomb, a starfisher, otherwise known as a planet destroyer.
Computer: “Are you sure?”
I take another deep breath and remember the last time Emma and I kissed. I told her I would do anything for her. Now that I’m here, fighting for my own survival, I realize my life is of no importance.
I have a duty to take down Slain, and if destroying Ferän is the only way to get there, I’m willing to sacrifice myself for the greater good.
All things happen for a reason.
“Arm the starfisher,” I demand.
“Arming,” the computer says. “Countdown begins. Sixty minutes remains.”
I roll out of the chair, stumbling toward the green light. In about an hour, the entire planet will turn to rubble, offsetting Slain’s only path toward victory. Together, we will all die.
For now, there is a med-bay in headquarters. I need to get to it before they find out the Resnyx has been stolen.
If I’m going to die here, I’d like to die with dignity, as the alien I once was and not the sentinel I am becoming.
I jump into the green light. My body dissolves, and for a split second, I feel the odd sensation of floating in space, bodiless and incomplete.
When I reappear, I see them enter the Resnyx extractor. “Shit,” I grunt. They’re already so close.
With a broken leg, I run toward the abandoned headquarters. Despite feeling my bone shift with every step, I continue forward, passing the desolate mines where workers once slaved away in the hopes of fi
nding a mate.
The wind is quiet, and the suns are blazing. There is something off with all of this. The electrified barrier that surrounds the premises has been cut open. I stoop low and enter, slowing my pace.
Footprints are caked in the dirt, petrified by the suns. Something happened here, and I can’t tell if I should be worried or grateful.
As I reach the entrance, I stop. The door hangs, hinges barely holding it in place. The glass is broken, too.
Thin blood splatter creates a trail toward a second hallway.
Okay, this is not what I was expecting.
Still, I can’t give up. I’d rather die on my feet than live on my knees.
When I round the corner, I anticipate carnage. My throat closes as I brace to find Akron’s body, torn apart from the workers we forced him to face.
I step over broken glass and scattered tools.
Using the sentinel mask, I turn on my sight and illuminate the power grid. There are bodies on the other side of a door, alive and crowded in a circle.
I swallow, trembling as I turn the doorknob open.
And then I see him...
It’s Akron. Thank God, he’s still alive.
But the miners have surrounded him. At first, I expect them to rush me, to rip me to shreds because of years of despicable ownership. I was a contractor, and I deserve no ounce of sympathy.
They do not attack.
“Who are you?” one asks.
“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me,” I say.
“A sentinel?” one asks.
“No,” I murmur, revealing my hands to be weaponless. “I killed their leader and took his mask. I don’t come to hurt you.”
“Lies,” one of the workers shouts.
“Please,” I beg. “I am weak, but I came here to bring you news, not to take the Resnyx you have earned.”
Akron looks hurt. His face is covered in red and blue welts, and blood has dried down his neck. He doesn’t seem to recognize me.
“Let the alpha speak,” he says.
The crowd clears.
“Akron, what happened here?” I ask.
I don’t want him to see me like this. An alpha needs to stay strong. He cannot allow his subordinates to see him this weak.
“Rekker? Is that really you?” Akron asks.
“I tried to fight them off,” I mutter. “We all tried...”
He takes one step forward, attempting to see me with more clarity. I furrow my wrists into my clothing and step away.
“Please, stop,” I say. “Turn your gaze. I have been ruined.”
“You’re different,” he says.
Using both hands, I disengage the mask. My sight goes black before it comes back to normal.
Sighing, I nod my head. I show him my face.
“You’re right. I have changed.”
“Dear lord,” he whispers.
“Is it that bad?” I ask.
“You need a med-bay before this becomes permanent,” he growls.
Hurried footsteps come from not too far away. I glance up, expecting more bad news to follow.
Instead, a woman rounds the corner, and my heart stops.
“...Emma?”
No. It can’t be. I saw the city explode below the sentinel drone. How is this possible?
Her scent is everywhere, and suddenly, I feel that driving hunger again. It keeps me going.
“Rekker!”
I can’t believe it. It’s actually her. She isn’t dead. She made it off our planet and found Akron. The plan actually worked.
I hobble forward and collapse below at her ankles. “Don’t look at me,” I plead. “I am disgusting.”
Emma drops to the ground. Throwing her entire weight against my broken leg, she gives me the most passionate kiss in the universe.
“I love you, I love you, I love you,” she repeats.
How can she love someone so hideous?
“What in God’s name has happened to you?” Akron asks. “You look sixty years older.”
I turn my head and stare at the floor. “I’m not entirely sure. I am aging fast, transforming into something I never wanted to become” I say. “The sentinels… they forced the Resnyx onto me.”
“They what?” he asks.
There is so much they have yet to learn.
“The Resnyx isn’t being mined to source the planet,” I say. “Slain is using it for himself. He’s gaining power from it, and now he has come to find more.”
I hold Emma, but I feel ashamed of what I’ve become. I was once strong and powerful. I was an alpha. Now, I am anything but.
I collapse into Emma’s arms, breath shallow. “Take me to the med-bay pod,” I say.
She uses her fingers to lift my chin. Her response is different from what I expect. It’s empathetic and real.
Emma looks at my face and says, “We’re going to fix this. Whatever happened, we can get through it.”
But there is something that’s been hanging in the recesses of my mind. “What if we can’t? What if none of this can be fixed?”
What if the med-bay pod can’t heal me? I’ll be stuck like this forever, and then I will die. If that’s the case, this is my last chance to stand by her side and love her again.
I’ve never seen her more confident in my life. “We will win this fight, young or old. I don’t care how you look. I care about who you are,” she says.
To hear those words is a breath of fresh air.
She grabs my arm and loosely throws it around her shoulder. With Akron’s assistance, they help me onto my feet. “It’s going to be okay,” she keeps saying.
Akron is silent.
The med-bay isn’t far. Just another few hundred feet.
With the miners’ protection, we walk toward the med-bay.
“Slain,” I mutter. “He’s here with the other alphas.”
Emma’s muscles tighten. A sense of hopefulness washes over her. “They’re still alive?”
I nod, feebly. “Yes, but Slain has them in his control.”
“With the sentinels,” Akron says.
I shake my head. “No. He has abandoned our planet’s police force. The Resnyx has given him unforeseen powers.”
We enter another wing in the facility. The med-bay is at the other end of the hall.
“What kind of powers?” Akron asks, appearing more worried than confident.
“He thinks he can use the element to become a God,” I reveal. “And I’m not so sure he’s wrong. He has turned into a floating entity, a force he is starting to gain control of. I saw him subdue Lök and Vraik with one flick of his wrist.”
“This is worse than I thought,” Akron says. “We have to act fast. There is no time to get you into the med-bay. It might take hours for you to heal.”
I sigh. “I don’t plan on leaving.”
To save Emma and the rest of the alphas, I need to sacrifice myself.
“Don’t kid around with me,” Emma says. “You’re going to be fine.”
We stumble into the med-bay room. Carefully, the two set me inside the pod.
Emma holds the door over my body.
“You don’t understand,” I say. “On Slain’s mothership, I activated a starfisher bomb.”
“A… what?” Emma asks, but I think she knows it’s something detrimental.
Akron paces, angrily. “What have you done?”
I try to get them to understand. “It was the only way to destroy Slain without destroying our home,” I say.
“I won’t leave you,” she says.
Again, I have failed. Over and over, I have made the wrong choices. “I didn’t know you were alive.”
“If we don’t leave, we all die,” Akron says.
Emma dives into the pod and throws her arms around me, straddling my body. “No. I won’t leave without all of my loves.”
But she must know that is not possible.
I kiss her, tongue bringing her sweet taste to my mouth. I hold that good feeling inside, c
losing my eyes to keep it there forever.
When I die, I want my last memory to be this.
Her scent. Her taste. I want to feel that undeniable urge to love and treat her how she deserves to be treated. I want it all, but I can’t have it.
A leader teaches others to fight. A hero sacrifices to keep love going in the universe. She is strong enough to live a life without me. It breaks my heart, but what other choice do I have?
My tongue slides from her mouth. Her lips beg to be kissed once more. “Leave me,” I say.
“No. I can’t do it,” she whispers.
We’re both crying, and for once, I don’t care how it looks to the other aliens. She was the one I promised I’d give my life for. I need to make sure she gets back home.
Akron takes her shoulders, lifting her out of the med-bay pod. “Come on. The workers will have the craft fixed in less than twenty minutes. I can get us to Earth in a few days.”
“No,” she pleads, tears ruining her beautiful face. “I won’t leave without him.”
I try to reason with her. “If I don’t do this, none of you will survive,” I say, chest so tight I can’t breathe. “But if you learn to let me go, you can have the others. You can live a dignified life with our baby.”
Akron forces her to let me go. I close my eyes and prepare for the inevitable.
One of the miners, a leader to their kind hands me a small glass vial. “Here. Take this. Just in case.”
“What is it?” I ask.
He bows his head. “The Resnyx.”
“But—”
The miner cuts me off. “No more talking. The Resnyx brings evil. We want no part in it.”
I nod and clasp my palm over the vial. “I’ll make sure no one gets this.”
As the pod doors close, I hear a great roar. Slain’s screams echo in the near distance.
“Find them!”
Seventeen
Emma
“Just keep moving. Don’t look back,” Akron says.
The workers surround us, armed with tools and whatever firearms Akron could find for them.
I feel numb, like I’m no longer an entity. I feel like I have no purpose anymore.
Gliding my hands across my belly, I feel the slight bump that has formed near my navel.
Alien Bride: A Dark Alien Sci-Fi Romance Page 14