I stroke my cock and tease her pussy with a gentle slap, but we're interrupted by an abrupt and violent noise. On my desk, the lights to her communications device flicker. Finally, a single red light flashes in the corner.
She coughs. "My radio."
It rings, louder than expected. "You turned it on?" I ask.
Slowly, she nods.
A rush of panic fills me.
"Yes, but only because I wanted to help us. We needed to find a path off of this planet, and I knew you wouldn’t listen," she says.
I can't even focus. Her insolence knows no bounds.
I swallow and feel anger rise in my chest. I can't trust her. Humans are incapable of honesty. "Did you call her?"
She grabs my ankles and pleads. "One message, but it was to her direct line. No one else will hear it."
"Such naivety," I growl.
I punch my worktable. The radio drops and rolls across the floor. My tools go flying. I pick up the thermal suit and throw it against the wall. It lights up briefly with electric sparks before its energy source dies.
"You betrayed me. You sent them to us. You will kill our child," I bark.
In tears, she backs into a corner. The light on her comms device doesn't stop blinking.
"I wanted to fix this," she whispers, trembling.
"You have ruined everything," I whisper.
I look away from her. I'm not disappointed. I'm heartbroken. In less than twenty-four hours, the military will surround us. They will extinguish our love, and they will take her from me, torturing my heart.
It's my fault for letting her off her leash.
It is an alpha's responsibility to keep his woman safe. I knew allowing her freedom would come with risks.
"I'm sorry," she says.
In great disbelief, I hold her. I stop smelling her scent. This could be the last few hours that I get to touch her. "It's okay," I say.
I pet her soft hair. I kiss her chubby cheeks. I enjoy the small things for once.
She wipes her tears from her eyes. "I made a mistake," she says. "Can you forgive me?"
I shake my head. I don’t want to forgive. I don’t want to have to face those flames ever again.
But there’s a chance that Anna’s plan can succeed. Maybe Clara can find us a way out of here. At this point, I don’t have any other options. "I've made a few of those myself. Let's hear what she has to say,” I say.
"Really?"
I nod over to the ringing device. "Go ahead. Answer it. What do we have to lose?"
She answers the call.
Anna
"Hello, Anna? Come in, this is command... Anna, I know that you're there... This is Clara. I got your message... Please let me know that you are safe."
Her voice is like a breath of fresh air, but I have to proceed with caution. If Earth Federation traced this call, my squad would slowly surround the compound, forcing Ax to fight. They'd capture him like a beast and put him on display. Every tablet would light up with the news:
Alien Savage Takes Military Beloved.
"Clara, is it really you?" I ask.
She sucks in a loud breath as she laughs. I can hear her trying to hold back tears. "Christ, soldier. I thought I'd never hear your voice again."
"I figured you lost sight of me," I say.
"Semper Fi," she says. "Embrace the suck."
I feel the urge to say it back, but after what Ax has told me about Earth Federation, I can't bring myself to do it. "It hasn't been bad as you think, Clara. I mean, I am making things work over here."
I know what I sound like. A traitor. I know she won't believe me.
"Listen, I’ve scrambled this call. No one will trace this. It’s just us, okay,” she says.
I exhale. “Thank you for hearing me out. I know it’s hard.”
“Look, Anna. I know how fucked up Earth Fed can be, but you need to listen. We can help you. It took us a while, but I've been doing well here. If you need help, I can get a whole fleet to swoop in and get you out," she says.
I shoot a hasty glance over at Ax, stand, and pace the room. "I’ll be alright. You don’t need to do that," I say.
Clara’s tone changes. “He’s there, isn’t he? He’s right next to you? Great. So he’s gotten into your head.”
I take about two seconds before going into full freak out mode. "Clara, I need you to listen to me very carefully," I say. "You can't come here. I can't come back. I called because I need to ask you for a different kind of favor."
I can imagine her eyes turning into small creases as she tries to suss me out. "What is going on with you, Anna? You were abducted by the Syndicate. I haven't heard from you in months. And now you're asking for a favor? I mean, my God! I'm sorry, but you're going to need to explain yourself," she says.
I catch my breath. All of this happened so fast. I understand her reaction, but it's not easy to explain to someone who has only seen life through the eyes of Earth Federation. She hasn't seen what I've seen.
"I'm pregnant," I say.
"But that's..."
"Illegal," I say.
She gasps. "It's not only illegal. It's treason. You know the law. You made an oath. Oh, Jesus..."
I bite the inside of my cheek so hard it draws blood. "Please, don't lecture me on the terms of military service," I say. "I bonded with a Kurrek alien. Our child is growing inside of me, Clara. I need your help."
She lowers her voice. I can tell the news is breaking her. "All that talk about breeding patterns. It all makes sense now. You were looking for them because you wanted to defect. You were trying to leave this entire time, and I gave you the perfect out. I vouched for you, Anna."
"You know me better than that," I say. “Things happened. My life has changed.”
This isn't just hard for her. It's hard for me, too. Her voice makes me remember things. We were best friends. We met when we were young and reckless goofballs. Our parents were Earth Federation, so we were going to enlist, too. It was as simple as that.
There was something that separated us from the rest of the crowd. We were going to do big things. But things change. She was always the better soldier.
I should have signed up to be an anthropologist.
"Do you remember grade school?" I ask.
"We were a force to reckon with," she says.
Choked laughter escapes my lips. "I think the word you are looking for is fierce," I say.
"Military brats for life," she says. "No one could break us apart. We were going to rule the planet."
"I would have done anything for you," I say.
"Same, lady."
My smile fades. "This lady needs your help, okay? Don't make me beg," I say.
She sighs. "I could lose my fucking head over this. Do you know that?"
"I know, but there are women at stake. I saw the Syndicate facilities. They are atrocious. I’m lucky one of the alphas helped me escape. I know this sounds crazy, but if you help us get a starship off this planet, I will give you the coordinates of the facility. I want you to see it, Clara. I want you to take those bastards down."
"The generals will never clear a strike based on your intel," she says.
"Fuck the generals. Fuck Earth Federation too. If you want to save a lot of alien women, you'll find a way to get it approved," I argue.
"Can I meet you somewhere?" she asks.
I stare at Ax. He's obviously not too happy, but somewhere else is better than her meeting us here.
“Fine. But don’t bring anyone else,” I say.
She sends coordinates. It's outside of Ruyka, about a hundred miles from the Red Sands. "Sent," she says.
"We'll meet tomorrow," I say, ready to hang up the radio. "Oh, and Clara. One more thing. You were my best friend. I'll never forget this act of kindness."
"Over and out, soldier.”
Ax
"Display on. Vertical thrusters on. Horizontals, ready. We've got enough fuel to last us days," I say, pulling back on the shifter to turn the par
ticle spinner to the correct level. We hover into the air, and I promptly punch in the coordinates.
Anna buckles up and kisses my neck. "This is going to work," she says. "We're finally going to get off this planet!"
"Let's hope," I say.
We cut through the air, heading fifty miles a minute. I watch as our honeymoon palace disappears from the rear camera, replaced by the bright green forest cities of Ryuka.
Here, scholars write history books under inspiring marble statues of alien elders that stand hundreds of feet tall. Their armor hugs around their massive outer scales. A rifle is in one hand. A blade rests firmly in the other. After the invasion led to the bombing and destruction of many city centers in the province, many aliens wanted to honor the soldiers that tried to help. The statues were constructed so that people would never forget their sacrifice.
A fairly large portion of the Ruyka population can now apply for integration. If they pass a series of tests, they can receive the same benefits as many humans. If I was born elsewhere, this is where I would have wanted to end up. But I wasn't, so I have to find freedom somewhere else.
I hit the radio on. "We're getting closer," I say.
She nods and switches the dial to radio Clara. We're both quiet, but I'm more alarmed than ever. Something doesn't feel right, but I can't put my finger on what it is.
"Clara, can you hear me? It's Anna. Come in," she says.
The frequencies shift loudly. "Anna! Please tell me you're on your way. I've been out here for far too long. I'm worried I've been followed," she says.
I throw a stare at Anna. "Followed?" I mutter.
"Are you alone?" Anna asks.
Clara pauses. She sure sounds alone. "I think so," she says. "But I can't be sure. I thought I was getting tailed for a while."
"By who?" Anna asks.
"I'm not sure. There were three green lights. Maybe I'm losing it, but as soon as they appeared, the craft's systems went haywire. My maps dropped out. All the cameras died. Particle velocity nearly fell to zero. It shot back up at the last second, but I almost smashed into some trees," she says.
"Three green lights. I saw the same thing before I was taken," Anna whispers.
“Syndicate,” I mutter under my breath.
My adrenaline spikes and crashes. As soon as I can, I cut the non-directional thrusters. We start to drop immediately, heading for the trees below.
"Ax, what are you doing?" she asks.
I hit a button to charge the reactive armor, but I fear it will be too late. "We have been followed," I growl.
"Who has?" Clara shouts.
"Tell your friend she needs to get to safety," I roar.
Anna holds on as we cut through the center of the forest, whipping violently through the green leaves. We stabilize and snake through the large branches, soaring vertically when the forest grows too dense to fly horizontally.
Suddenly, my alarms turn erratic. An explosion turns at least thirty trees in front of us to dust. Someone is targeting us, but I can't see anything in any of the cameras. There's no sign of the enemy at all.
I turn left and feel the craft's wing catch against the dirt. Recalibrate and zip through another set of trees. Hold my breath as the shrubs grow thicker.
I hear another set of blasters and recognize the tech as alien. Bounty hunters looking to claim their delicious reward from the Syndicate.
I pull up and do a barrel roll. One of the following crafts crashes into a large trunk and explodes.
I pull back on the thrusters and zip toward one of the massive alien statues, twisting through the large trigger near the monolith's fingers. Another craft crashes and explodes. I let out an exalted laugh as marble crumbles around our ship.
"Two down," I call out.
"Yeah, but how many are left?" she asks.
I glance at the mapping systems, but no dots show up on the screen. "That might have been all of them," I mutter.
A large portion of the forests outside of the cities haven't had time to recover from many of the wildfires that spread from the earlier bombings. The trees turn sparse. We keep flying through the noticeable destruction until we reach a long row of abandoned fields.
That's when we see Clara. She has her EF shock gun ready, but she looks confused. The bounty hunters' ships were cloaked. That means, there could be more of them hiding.
"Guys, hurry," she says.
I slow my craft and carefully land, heart beating a million beats per second.
Anna yanks off her seat belt and hugs me tighter than ever before. "We did it," Anna says.
This is no time for celebrating.
I open the doors and let the engine cool down. Smoke rises from the underside of the left wing where it scraped against the ground. "Be careful," I say. "We don't know if that was all of them."
"Don't worry about me," she says.
Easier said than done. These days, she's all I worry about.
I stay near the ship and watch as Clara and Anna connect with a hug. It's a tearful reunion, but one I have little time for. In a war zone, emotions will get you killed.
Anna touches Clara’s face. "I can't believe it's really you."
Clara takes step back. "You don't look that pregnant," she says.
"Give it a month. It's only been a few weeks," Anna says.
Clara nods, but her smile fades as her eyes focus on me. "Is that the savage who did this to you?"
Anna glances back. "Don't be mean," she says.
"Mean? He hasn't seen mean," Clara says.
Clara pushes past Anna until she gets close enough to slap me in the face, which she promptly does. I take a giant breath as her print stings my cheek. "Well, it's nice meeting you, too,” I grunt.
"How could you?" she asks.
I sigh, but I keep my mouth closed because she looks like she might not be finished chewing me out.
"You took a solid soldier away from my team. You stole my best friend," she says.
"When I saw her, she was about to die from Xygo fever. Her chromosomes were degenerating. I bought her with the last of my savings, endangered my life, and made sure she lived to tell the tale," I say.
I figure it's a pretty convincing argument. That's why it blows my mind when she slaps me again.
"There is no justification for your sick and twisted breeding frenzy," she says.
"Good. I didn't come here to justify myself. I came here because it was Anna's wish to leave this planet," I say. “Your friend needs you.”
She looks to her friend for support, but she doesn't get it. Anna is mine now. Her past is the past.
Anna runs between us. "I hate to break up this fight, but we almost just died. We need to figure out a plan," Anna says.
The wind changes speed and direction. Three green lights appear, just barely visible through the trees. Quickly, the lights start to spin.
Anna and Clara jump back. I stand still, mouth falling open with shock.
"What are they?" Anna asks.
"Distorter beams. They scramble the tech," I say. But it's not Syndicate mechanics. It's someone else.
I look back at our craft. Smoke wafts from the engine. There's no way to take off now. A strong sensation of guilt washes over me. I should have never allowed us to leave.
An incredible laser lights up the area. Our ship explodes into dust. Clara runs to her craft, but she is shot down. She falls into the tall brush.
Anna falls to the ground in tears. "Clara!"
Within seconds, aliens wearing black paint and alien bones surround us.
Holding a rifle with one hand, their leader cuts through the crowd and laughs. "Well, that sure was a fun chase," he says.
Their faces are long and reptilian with sharpened rows of teeth that hug the cramped space of their mouths. Their eyes are sharp like diamonds, and their scales reflect turquoise. I haven't seen aliens like them in years. "The Gerkis? You are a long way from the Red Sands," I say.
"Gerkis follow the scent of treason," he says
, walking toward me.
He raises his mask of bones, revealing a pair of missing eyes. His entire face is scarred. My eyes trace down to his chest as he takes off his armor. His tribal markings have been poorly removed. The patterns fit with early integration handling from the first invasions.
"You’re blind?" I ask.
He twists his teeth together and motions for the rest of his men to slowly circle us. "I have more than enough eyes."
I want nothing more than to kill this bastard, but his men have us locked in their sights. "You betrayed the aliens. Your race struck a deal with Earth Federation," I say.
A cruel smile forms on his face. "Then you know why I am here," he says.
I look at his eyeless face. "You’re not the one who kills me," I say. "I am Syndicate. If I die, it will be by my own kind."
"Haven’t you heard? You are no longer a member of the Syndicate," he says. "You have no one left to help you. They sold you out."
I grin and gnash my teeth together. "Then I am glad I have been caught by aliens as merciful as you surely are," I say.
He laughs loudly like a bird. "That cunt gave you a sense of humor."
Cunt? Who does this asshole think he is?
Without a weapon, I charge him. I rush that bastard like he's my only target in the entire planet. I throw my arm back before hammering my fist into his face.
One punch, and I smash his nose to oblivion. His gun goes flying. Another hit sends him sliding across the grass. I dive and sink my knuckles into his cheek.
"Enough!" he screams, gurgling on his own blood.
"I could end you, traitor," I say, fist dripping.
He coughs. Blood and snot run down his face. He lifts a small pistol in front of his chest. "By the authority of the Zelfon and the Red Sands, I command you to obey," he cries.
The rest of the aliens close in on me. Grinning, I jump off him and promptly put my hands in the air. I never believed it was a fair fight. "What's the matter? Can't defend yourself?"
I spit on his body.
A fat alien waddles in my direction. He frowns, dumbly. "You. Hands."
"Get it over with," I say.
Everything slows down.
Alien Mate: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance Page 8