Alien Rogue's Captive

by Viki Storm

  “What information could Hilf have gotten?” I ask. “I mean, are the Kenorians planning something?”

  “Hilf couldn’t have gotten any specific information, I don’t think,” he says. “The location isn’t a secret. And no one is planning an invasion or attack, nothing like that as far as I know. But that’s irrelevant. Hilf has gathered enough information to destroy us—one by one.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Data for the Phurusian behavior model. Everything we did was likely recorded. Speech patterns, training, what we ate for breakfast. All of that’s going into the forecast software. It won’t be long until they’re arresting us for future crimes.”

  “Like arresting you for the future murder of Hilf?” I ask, smiling.

  “Ha,” Anax says. “I don’t think I can wait for the future. Wait, there’s Corvi. I need to speak to him about the vita-packs. There’s some food over there by the fire.”

  I realize now that I’m starving, and nothing sounds better right now than a piece of meat that’s been cooked on an open flame. I give Anax’s hand a squeeze and thank him again before making my way towards the fire. Yaubin is there, slicing meat off the bone with a knife that looks big enough to have killed whatever it is he’s eating.

  “Want some?” he asks, not looking up from the carving.

  “Please,” I say. He hands me a hunk of meat, and I take it with my bare hands. I think that I should wash them first, that maybe I have some alien bacteria on them that my immune system isn’t equipped to fight off—but the urge to eat is too powerful, and my body takes over.

  Not unlike with Anax when I let him take my virginity. I knew better… but my body took over. There was nothing I could do but submit to his ravenous desires and let him take my virginity. I held onto it for so long, always thinking I needed to wait for the perfect guy to make the perfect commitment. Then I spread my legs for an alien I’ve only known for a few days. It makes no logical sense why I’d do something like that—except my body took over. I wanted him inside me; I wanted him to own me in that way, to mark me as his. It was a physical thing that wasn’t entirely about just being horny and wanting to get off.

  The way being deeply famished isn’t just about the flavor of the food.

  I needed him in a way that was altogether visceral, as if something was working behind the scenes subconsciously, driving me into his arms. Like how you crave fruits and vegetables if you have scurvy. Not romantic, I know, but it’s how I felt.

  Which begs the question: what was driving me into his arms? Not the simple desire to have an orgasm. The same way I’m not compelled to eat this mystery meat with my bare hands because I like the taste.

  Is there actually something behind our union, as he insists? The Universe? The Unseen Hand pairing us together?

  I think maybe it is.

  That’s probably why I can’t get back to Earth—more tinkering of that Unseen Hand. Whatever forces of the Universe have brought us together, they made sure to do it when the orbits were ill-aligned, when we didn’t have access to a Phurusian ship. The Universe brought me here… and is keeping me here. The fact that I can’t go back to Earth is proof.

  “You got the collar off,” Yaubin says.

  “Yes, finally,” I say through a mouthful of meat. It’s unseasoned and has a pungent, gamey flavor like mutton that’s been in the refrigerator a couple days too long.

  “Anax will be taking you back to Earth,” he says. It’s not a question.

  “Um,” I say. I’m chewing, and I’ve come across a tough tendon or something that I need to spit out, but I can’t quite get it loose of the meat.

  “It’s a short ride,” he says. “We have the fuel reserves. He can even put you into the sleeping chamber if you are not accustomed to supra-light yet.”

  “How short of a ride?” I ask, finally just swallowing the bite, gristle and all.

  “Two or three days,” he says.

  “I thought…” I say, picking my words carefully. Did he just say I could be back to Earth in two or three days? “I thought that when traveling from planet to planet the orbits have to be in line, or else it makes a two-day trip into something that would take years.”

  “Not to Earth from here,” he says. “And if you’re talking supra-light travel, having conveniently aligned orbits is a matter of turning a four-day trip into a two-day trip.”

  “Interesting,” I say. I feel bad talking to Yaubin about this, like it’s betraying Anax, but if there’s a chance I can get back to Earth, I have to at least ask. “So you’re telling me I can just hop into any one of your Kenorian ships and be back on Earth in two days?”

  “Sure,” he says, popping a piece of meat into his mouth.

  I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Mere hours ago, Anax said that it was nearly impossible for me to go back. And now I’m finding out that it’s not only possible, but easy.

  It’s not the Unseen Hand of the Universe that’s keeping me here.

  It’s Anax.

  “Why, did Anax tell you that nonsense about orbits needing to be aligned? Maybe four centuries ago they had to be, but not now. Blackness surrounds, I could take you right now if you wanted me to. I don’t have anything better to do.”

  On impulse, before I can consider it, what must be the secret answer of my heart leaps out of my mouth: “Yes,” I say. “Can you take me back to Earth?”

  “Yeah, why not, it will be fun to see that primitive planet. You guys still drive around in gasoline cars?” My lips feel numb, like I just ate a tray of ice.

  “Cars,” I repeat. “Yes.”

  “I’d say that I don’t understand why you want to go back to such a primitive place, but I do. If anyone should know the importance of having a home, it’s a Kenorian.”

  Yes, I think. That’s absolutely the truth. Like it or not, Earth is my home. It’s where I belong.

  And Anax should understand that.

  “Let’s go,” I say. Because what do I have to keep me here? Nothing, not anymore.

  Because as it turns out, Anax has been lying to me all this time.

  Chapter 18

  Anax

  It’s only a matter of time until the Federation tracks me here. Whatever I’m going to do to Hilf, I have to do it now and take Brooke and get out of this quadrant.

  I’ve got the real vita-packs stored safely, but not for long. Hilf or the Federation will be here soon enough, so I need to get them off the settlement planet so the rest of my Kenorian brothers don’t go down with me. It’s bad enough that I brought my fugitive human here; I don’t need to get any of them arrested or killed.

  “Corvi,” I say, hailing the other warrior. I didn’t know him back when we still had a home planet, but I knew him by reputation. Even among the warrior race, he was known to be a lethal, ill-tempered son of a bitch.

  “What is it now?” he answers. He has a network of puffy scars crossing his chest and back, and I can’t be certain if they’re the accumulation of years of battles or if they were the result of one particularly bad entanglement—or worse, capture by the enemy.

  “I’ve got a problem,” I say. Brooke is sitting at the campfire next to Yaubin, and I feel a slight pang of jealousy. Another male is feeding my mate. That should be my job. But she was famished, and I need to talk to Corvi. I know Corvi is going to be angry and judgmental, but I don’t have a choice in seeking his help. In addition to being lethal and ill-tempered, he was regarded as one of our most brilliant tacticians.

  “Not surprisingly,” he says. “Your judgement is severely lacking, and I don’t care if you take offense to my saying so. The only sensible thing you’ve done is shake off the Phurusian yoke, but even that was because of the promise of getting to sink it into a human cunt. You’re surprised that trouble has followed?”

  I clench my teeth and try to tap into my reserves of self-discipline. All warriors are trained to contain their emotions, their energy, even their power—we are to betray nothing to th
e enemy. But Corvi’s comments are almost too much to bear. I would be within my rights to challenge him to combat to answer for his insults—but there are so few Kenorians left, we cannot afford to be making enemies of one another.

  “That Hilf,” I say, ignoring his insults.

  “Needs to be strung up by the balls,” Corvi says. “I never trusted him. But no one listens to me. Hilf says he wants our help in overthrowing Lord Phuru, but there’s been little talk of tactics. I think they’re all so eager for a good battle that they’re ignoring common sense.”

  “At least we agree on one thing,” I say. I explain to him what I learned about the vita-packs being used to manufacture a sub-atomic fission explosive.

  “Where did you learn of this technique?” he asks. He’s the one who helped me swap the real vita-packs with counterfeits before giving them to Hilf, so I think he’d be happy to know that he helped thwart Hilf’s plan.

  “The technology expert who removed the collar from my mate,” I say. I hesitate because Corvi will surely think me a fool, but I decide to tell him about Rhomheria and Hollyhock.

  “Your mate,” he snorts. “No Kenorian has had a bonded mate in a century.” As if this is the part of my story that he finds the most absurd. Not the ice-bird guardian of legend, not the Jirdie computer hacker, not that plain old vitamins can be used to create a self-fueling perpetual explosion that can destroy the entire known Universe.

  “She is my arlo jzumak,” I say. “Her arrival is a sign we are to rebuild our society. We’ve had everything taken from us, so the Universe is giving us something back.”

  “Us?” he says. “Does it look like the rest of us are lounging underneath the blankets with a willing, fertile female?”

  “I have a feeling that many of the rest of us will soon enough. We are to rebuild, I’m sure of it.” For a moment, Corvi’s brow smooths out, and the perpetual trench on the bridge of his nose is gone. It’s as if he’s allowing himself to have hope—to have faith. Then the moment passes and he’s scowling at me again.

  “I’ll remember this,” he says. “That emptying your balls into a human depletes you not only of your seed but also your common sense. The Universe is not granting us gifts—and if it was, it would be vengeance. We’d discover the identity of the bastards who destroyed our planet, slaughter every last living being on their home planet, then take it as our own. That’s a gift I’d receive with open arms. I’d even send a thank-you card.”

  “That sounds good,” I say truthfully. “But it would mean nothing without females, without offspring. We have no future without mates.”

  “We can debate this later,” Corvi says. “Now we have to find a way to get Hilf. I knew he was an asshole. We need to call a meeting so you can inform the others of Hilf’s treachery.”

  “I don’t think they will listen to me,” I say.

  “They will if you explain how he went back on his word to help your female. Even if she is just a human, activating the explosive on her collar was reprehensible. Anyone who would harm a defenseless female is not someone we can trust.”

  “Another thing we agree on,” I say. I stare into the distance, watching Brooke eat at the campfire with Yaubin. It sickens me to think how close I came to losing her. I know she wants to go back to Earth, and I will take her if she really decides to go—just not yet. She feels our bond, I know it, but humans aren’t used to the notion of bonding. The closest approximation in their culture is marriage, but that’s not even close to the same thing.

  She just needs a little more time. And if she still wants to go back to Earth, I will not keep her here. As much as it will pain me to deliver her back to that backwards planet she calls home, I will do it. I understand the pull to one’s homeland. I will not keep her against her will. I didn’t enjoy lying to her about the impossibility of traveling to Earth, but it was necessary to keep her with me for just a little longer. She needs only a little more time. If she returns to Earth too hastily, our bond will be ruined.

  “We need to destroy the vita-packs,” Corvi finally says. “No matter what travesties he threatens—or actually delivers. There can be no possibility that he gets them.”

  “They’re too valuable to destroy,” I say.

  “They’re too dangerous not to,” he counters.

  “Let me sleep on it,” I say. “I have been long-traveling, and I have seen many strange things.”

  “Morning,” he says. “We’ll talk about this in the morning. I hope you come to a sensible decision.”

  “Don’t mention this to anyone else,” I say. “There are some here loyal to Hilf.”

  “I was going to tell you the same thing,” he says. “You trust too easily.”

  I don’t ask him what he means by that because it’s obvious he’s referring to Brooke. He thinks I’ve gone delirious with lust for her—and while that’s halfway true, it’s not the whole picture. On first sight, I desired Brooke but no more than I’d have desired any other comely female. But as we stood in the Hall of Justice, something inside me changed. It was as if the Universe waited until the worst possible moment to awaken me to the presence of the bond.

  Or the Universe was testing us, giving us the maximum possible difficulty to overcome.

  I bid goodnight to Corvi, and before I can join Brooke at the campfire, my comm-panel beeps. I look at the screen and am surprised to see it’s my erstwhile hacking pal, Hollyhock13.

  “Yes?” I answer.

  “I just wanted to let you know that the human is going to kill you,” Hollyhock says. At first, the words do not register.

  “What human?”

  “What human?” she repeats. “Are you brain-damaged? The female slave. She is going to kill you. That’s all, so talk to you later—”

  “Wait!” I shout, drawing stares from a few other Kenorians. I duck into an empty storage silo to get a little more privacy for what will undoubtedly be a strange conversation.

  “She’s going to kill you,” Hollyhock repeats. “I’d tell you to watch out, but it’s already decreed to happen. There’s nothing you can do about it. Get your affairs in order.”

  “My affairs?” Just when I though this situation couldn’t get any stranger. Then I realize what the Jirdie is talking about, this nonsense of Brooke killing me.

  It might not be nonsense.

  Not that much time has gone by, but I’ve already forgotten why I was sent to Earth to bring Brooke to Phuru: she’s a murderer. Her behavior was modeled and forecast by advanced Phurusian computer software, and she’d been determined to be a murderer. Of whom, I didn’t know. They don’t tell me the details when they send me to apprehend a criminal.

  Hollyhock is saying that the person Brooke is going to kill is me.

  “You’re referring to the Phurusian future-crime prevention program?” I ask.

  “You have been brain-damaged since we parted company, haven’t you?” Hollyhock asks. “Of course I’m referring to the Phurusian future crimes. I was curious what she’s guilty of, so I peeked into her file in the Phurusian Hall of Justice’s databases. She murders you. Soon.”

  “When?” I ask.

  “Tomorrow,” Hollyhock says casually. “Get your affairs in order. There’s nothing to be done. The Phurusians are weirdos, but their equations are solid. Tomorrow. It will happen. Bye.”

  This time, the Jirdie breaks the connection before I can ask any other questions. But I don’t need to. Brooke is going to kill me tomorrow. The Phurusians predicted it, then sent me to Earth to apprehend her. I’d be flattered that the Phurusians thought so much of me that they’d bother to bring my killer to justice, but I know they were only trying to protect an asset. I provide a valuable service to their society, so long as I stay in my place, of course.

  That is, I used to provide a valuable service, until I went rogue.

  Brooke? Kill me? It’s laughable, a weak human female able to cut down a highly trained Kenorian warrior. But I know better. If the Phurusians predicted it, then it wil
l happen.

  Tomorrow, I’m going to die.

  And Brooke will kill me.

  Chapter 19

  Brooke

  I’m seething. How could Anax refuse to take me back to Earth, lying about how impossible the journey is? It confirms what I’ve feared, which is that he’s always been a selfish bastard from the first. He didn’t help me escape from Phuru out of the goodness of his heart… he did so out of the goodness in his pants. And there was goodness there, Lord knows I’ve gotta admit that if I’m going to be honest. But I can easily chalk that up now to a vacation fling. Lots of girls have those. I’m twenty-six after all, and if there was any better way to finally lose my virginity than on a different planet with an extremely proficient and skilled alien lover, then I’ve never heard of it.

  As Yaubin pilots his ship into the Blackness, I realize that I don’t know anything about him. He’s Kenorian, there’s that. Anax said that his race honors and protects females, but wouldn’t every culture say that about itself? There are always bad apples, assholes who decide to opt out of polite society—I should know that from my years working in the criminal justice system. Yaubin could decide that he deserved compensation for taking me to Earth… and that he was going to extract that payment from between my legs.

  The idea is repulsive to me, no offense, Yaubin. I mean, the logical and rational part of me can recognize that a quick exchange of sexual intercourse could be viewed as a business transaction, and, no offense, Brooke, it would be a bargain payment for getting back to Earth. The girls on the streets downtown charge a hundred bucks for what’s brazenly known as a half-and-half. A hundred bucks to get back to Earth? Not a bad deal.

  But as much as that makes sense, the thought of giving my body to another male just seems… wrong. Some weird part of me thinks that it belongs to Anax, and I can’t just give it up to another male because it doesn’t really belong to me. That’s absurd… right? Anax doesn’t own me. Yet psychologically he’s got some intrinsic claim to my pussy? Absolutely absurd. Don’t they say that girls can get overly attached to the first guy they have sex with? That’s probably what’s going on.