Ka'Cit's Haven: A Sci-fi Alien Romance (Riv's Sanctuary Book 3)

by A. G. Wilde

Ka’Cit stiffened and so did she.

  “You,” the guard repeated. “Remove that cloak.”

  Fuck.

  If they saw her…

  “Nee-ya?” Ka’Cit’s voice reached her ear.

  “Yes, hon.”

  “Shoot to kill the phekkers.”

  33

  They moved together.

  Ka’Cit spun, taking his blaster in hand just as Nia whipped out her own.

  Five sets of yellow eyes displayed shock but they were too late.

  Even the other patrons had seen it coming. They were already running for cover.

  The Hedgeruds weren’t nearly as fast, too complacent because they were the big guns in the room.

  Funny, because she had a big gun too.

  In one movement that almost seemed rehearsed, she and Ka’Cit aimed.

  Twin shots found their target in the gator-guard who’d pointed the strange weapon in her direction.

  Straight through the head, she saw the light die in the guard’s eyes before his body crumpled to the floor.

  Two more shots, one from each of their blasters, and two of the other Hedgerud fighters slunk off their seats to fall dead to the floor.

  “Nice!” Ka’Cit looked down at her and she couldn’t help but smile.

  There were two other fighters still alive and the surprise wore off.

  They launched themselves to their feet and time stilled for just a moment as she locked eyes with Ka’Cit.

  “Do your worst, ta’ii.”

  There was screaming, screeching, yowling, and clamoring from the hiding patrons as the two remaining guards sought to find cover.

  One of them flipped a table and it came right at her before it split into a million pieces, shot down by a blast from Ka’Cit’s gun.

  The force of the blast threw the hood of the cloak off her head, even as he shielded her body with his own. Still, it was enough time for the remaining guards to see her and she heard one of the Hedgerud’s exclaim, “It’s one of those jekins. A yoo-man!”

  Well, so much for keeping hidden.

  Ka’Cit fired another blast, splitting another table as she darted to the side, releasing a blast of her own.

  She caught one of them on the tail, dismembering it, and his cry filled the room.

  She felt no remorse.

  These beings were the same ones that she knew had tortured humans on the slave ship. Raped them. Murdered them.

  This was vengeance.

  Between the chaos, her gaze locked with yellow ones and realization dawned in the alien’s eyes.

  He was about to die.

  Nia held his gaze as the blast left her gun and as soon as the bullet reached her target, she heard the unmistakable sound of Ka’Cit letting out a curse before a blast left his own gun.

  Five guards down.

  This was almost too easy.

  Across the room, Ka’Cit’s gaze met hers and she knew she was right.

  “There are more of them, isn’t there.”

  He nodded slightly. “This one,” he stepped over the body of one of the guards and ignored the whimper of an alien hiding underneath the table, “just sent a distress signal to the ship in the hold.”

  They walked toward each other as they spoke and around the room, heads popped up only slightly to watch them move.

  “How many do you think?”

  Ka’Cit shrugged. “Can’t be sure.” He studied her. “But we have to get out of here. This space is too small. If they charge in here…”

  She understood.

  It would be asking for death to happen.

  She began heading toward the lift when Ka’Cit’s hand grasped her arm.

  His concerned gaze moved over her.

  “I underestimated you. When we first met. I know you’re good with that.” He glanced at the blaster. “But, are you sure you want to do this?”

  Nia smiled.

  She’d never felt more alive.

  “I think I was made for this, baby.”

  “Baby?” Confusion swam in his eyes and, despite the situation, Nia giggled.

  Reaching up on tiptoe, she placed a kiss on his mask. “Let’s go.”

  The lift opened with Ka’Cit on one side and she on the other.

  Blasters already pointed, it wasn’t hard to hit the first target, a Hedgerud rushing toward them.

  One down, Nia slipped from the lift and rushed for cover behind one of the huge ships.

  She heard a blast go off somewhere behind her and she knew Ka’Cit had taken down one more of the alligator-guards.

  Movement caught her eyes, and she saw one creeping up on her from the left.

  He had a blaster but didn’t shoot, probably thinking he could catch her without the need to use his weapon.

  Well, he made a mistake. A fatal one.

  Nia raised her gun and realization dawned on the gator-guard’s face a little too late.

  He was down in the next second and she was dashing around the ship before he hit the ground.

  One more blast from her gun and she took another down from behind.

  Fuck.

  The ship bay was crawling with them. Just what sort of vessel did they travel in…

  And then she saw it.

  Or, at least, she glimpsed it.

  A section of the roof opened and a huge dark ship caught her eyes before another set of Hedgeruds began descending on what looked like a transparent disk that hovered in the air.

  “Incoming!” she shouted for Ka’Cit’s benefit as she unloaded her weapon in the enemies’ direction.

  She hit three of them and they fell off the disk, leaving about four more, but when she tried to fire again, her gun didn’t work.

  A look at the weapon and she realized the energy bar was empty.

  Fuck.

  Ka’Cit was across the room and she saw when his own weapon stopped working and he threw it to the side.

  His gaze searched and locked on her just as he pulled his two blasters from his hip.

  “The ship!” he shouted. “Head for the ship.”

  Her heart thudded against her chest.

  The ship was across the bay and she was on the other side.

  She’d have to dash out in the open to get to it, but she wasn’t worried about that.

  She wasn’t going to just leave him to fight a war that was hers.

  Nia had to think fast.

  She needed a gun.

  Backtracking, she ran toward the Hedgerud she’d killed and grabbed his weapon and just in time too.

  Heat burned next to her ear and Nia’s eyes widened at the spot in the ship next to her that suddenly had a hole the size of a golf ball in it.

  That was close.

  Her gaze rose just as she lifted the blaster.

  It was different from the one she had just been using but it worked the same.

  The Hedgerud firing at her aimed again and she didn’t think.

  Her muscles worked on their own.

  The trigger pressed and a bright orange blast shot from the gun, scorching the floor beneath her.

  Fuck.

  This one was even more powerful than the last blaster.

  But she’d marvel over it later.

  The guard who’d almost killed her dropped to the ground, his body burnt to a crisp and Nia almost lost her stomach’s contents.

  Turning her gaze away, she heaved as she tried to settle her stomach.

  That’s when movement to her side caught her gaze.

  She raised her blaster, aimed, and froze.

  Ka’Cit put his hands up, his eyes wide.

  “I got them. Phek,” he muttered before his shoulders shook with a chuckle. “Second time you raise a blaster against me.”

  Nia’s shoulders sagged and she lowered her weapon with a small laugh. “Sorry.”

  “We don’t have much time. We have to go.”

  Nia nodded and followed behind him as he spun and headed across the hold. He moved fast though she was able to k
eep up, but they were heading to their ship, she realized.

  “What about the metal?”

  In the next few seconds as they made their way toward the vessel, Nia noticed one thing.

  There were no other aliens in the hold.

  Either they were hiding like before, or they’d sensed the danger and gone somewhere safe to escape the fallout.

  They reached the ship in the next few moments and Ka’Cit opened the doors, stooped, grasped her in his arms, and carried her into the vessel.

  His breath was coming hard as he removed his mask and she was finally able to look up into his face.

  He bent then, and his lips closed over hers in a bruising kiss.

  “No way I’m letting you get near that ship. You stay here. I’ll go.”

  “But—”

  He pressed her into the wall and his forehead met hers as his breaths heaved from him.

  “I’m not budging on this one, Nee-ya.”

  She could hear the resolution in his voice but she nodded.

  His gaze fell to her lips once more before he put his mask back on, and then the door was closing and he was gone.

  Nia paced a little before she slammed a hand against the button that closed off the airlock.

  The cabin opened and she stepped in, her heart thumping in her chest as she began to pace.

  Time wasn’t on their side.

  She was sure that more of those guys would be on their tail soon. The others would have surely sent another distress signal—if not about her presence, at least about the fact they were being attacked.

  There must be something she could do while she waited or else she was going to go mad from the anxiety.

  Was there a computer or something…?

  “AI? Ship?” Her gaze travelled over the roof of the ship but there was no response.

  “Computer?”

  It took a second, but the control panel of the ship lit up. A surge of excitement went through her.

  “Computer, can you understand me?”

  “Language, Een-glish, has been updated on the servers. All controls can be accessed using this language.”

  Nia smiled and warmth filled her again.

  He hadn’t been kidding when he’d said he’d sent a worldwide update. She guessed it also reached the ships in the network.

  “Computer, prep for takeoff.”

  She had no idea if that would work but when she heard the ship’s engine begin to hum, her confidence grew.

  “Priming main engines.”

  Fuck, yes.

  Now to wait.

  But she couldn’t help being nervous.

  He’d gone up there all alone in a fight that wasn’t even his and her heart bled and clenched at that thought.

  34

  She was waiting for maybe ten minutes when movement outside the ship caught her attention.

  With the help of the computer, she’d managed to turn the ship toward the service station’s airlock and now she could see straight toward that strange disk-like elevator thing.

  Her heart thumped in her chest as she saw Ka’Cit hop on it.

  He was still shooting upward and her gaze rose.

  Fuck.

  There were Hedgeruds on the landing above the lift. Their blasters were pointed directly at him and he was in the open.

  Reckless motherfucker.

  Her reckless motherfucker.

  The thought made her pause for only a second and a strange feeling developed in her chest as she watched Ka’Cit jerk, a laser bullet missing him by mere inches.

  She wasn’t about to just watch while they shot him down.

  Grabbing her blaster, she punched the button on the ship’s airlock and rushed toward the back of the vessel.

  Her heart lodged in her throat as she saw Ka’Cit abandon his position. In one smooth jump, he launched himself from the lift.

  But it was still far too high. Surely he would break his leg.

  A laser blast came from above as the Hedgeruds shot at him and Nia felt a surge of anger that hadn’t been there before.

  With her own roar, she gripped her blaster, aimed and fired.

  The Hedgeruds didn’t expect it, maybe they hadn’t seen her or they didn’t prepare for her accuracy, for she got one of them by the time they realized where the bullet was coming from.

  Once, twice, three times she fired before her gaze landed on Ka’Cit.

  Miraculously, he’d landed on his feet and was running toward her with something clutched to his chest.

  She focused on him for only a second before she ducked under one of the ship’s huge engines and unloaded her gun at the elevator.

  The Hedgeruds ducked too but there wasn’t anywhere to run on the elevator.

  Nia kept firing and only stopped when an arm grasped hers and pulled her back into the ship.

  “We have to go!”

  Ka’Cit lifted her, securing a strong arm around her waist as he lifted her backward toward him, not breaking his gait as he headed into the ship.

  The doors closed behind them and the secondary doors opened.

  He was setting her down and strapping her in within seconds.

  Nia’s breath heaved in her chest, her eyes wide as she watched more of the Hedgeruds appear at the top of the lift.

  Just how many of them were there?

  They were battering the ship with bullets now and she glanced at Ka’Cit.

  “Think we will make it?”

  He was settled in his seat now and punching the controls.

  “They’re too far away to penetrate the hull but in the next few seconds…”

  “They’ll fill us up with holes.”

  Ka’Cit nodded.

  “Let’s go.”

  He didn’t need to hear twice.

  The ship surged forward and up, slipping through into the airlock even as she felt it begin to shudder.

  She glanced at Ka’Cit.

  Would they make it?

  But his eyes were sure.

  “I’m taking you home. Safe. I wouldn’t settle for less, ta’ii.”

  Nia slipped out of the seat restraints and leaned forward, staring out of the view screen.

  Her heart was still thumping in her throat even though it had been a few minutes since they’d shot out from the service satellite.

  “We’re not being followed.” She couldn’t believe it.

  Ka’Cit grunted. “They might have trouble following us or anyone else for at least a full cycle.”

  Shock made her turn to look at him. “What did you do?”

  Ka’Cit shrugged. “Just thought their engine needed a…downgrade.”

  He held up something in his hand and she realized it was the same thing he’d been clutching when he’d been running toward her.

  “What is that?”

  “A propulsion converter.” He glanced at it. “And look at that. It’s encased in talix metal. Might come in handy to a few humans we know.”

  Ka’Cit’s eyes twinkled a little and she knew he probably smiled underneath that mask of his.

  Nia grinned and threw her arms around his neck.

  “Oh my God. I can’t believe we did it…thank you.”

  He stiffened a little before relaxing into her embrace.

  “You’ve been putting yourself in danger a lot for me.”

  “I haven’t.” His whisper was low and she eased off him enough to look into his eyes.

  Nia huffed out a soft laugh. “You’re telling me you do this sort of thing on the regular. Do you have a death wish?”

  “Maybe.”

  Nia sobered a little.

  He was fighting demons and she could feel her heart reaching out to him.

  Releasing his restraints, he lifted the thing in his hand. “Just this thing alone holds enough metal to buy half of the Exchange. Did you know that?”

  Nia’s brows shot up at that and her gaze fell back on the device.

  It was no bigger than a bottle of Coke.

 
; “Really?”

  Ka’Cit nodded.

  “Funny how money is, even on this side of the universe. Even here the wealth isn’t distributed evenly. If I had some of that I’d have paid for my own legal status a long time ago and then none of this would have happened.”

  Ka’Cit’s gaze darted to hers suddenly and he grabbed her wrist, spun it over, and froze.

  “Of course…” he said after a while. “I’m such a fool.”

  Nia squirmed a little on her feet.

  Again, she was vulnerable before him.

  She wasn’t legal and that meant she had no right.

  It was hard to determine what he thought about that, but when his gaze met hers again, he said nothing more.

  Silence would have enveloped them if not for the band on his wrist beeping.

  Ka’Cit activated the device and without greeting the person on the other end of the line, he got straight to the point.

  “I got it,” he said.

  There was a pause. “Good. I’m sending you the coordinates. Meet me there.”

  The comm clicked off and Ka’Cit’s gaze returned to her.

  “I should take you home…”

  Nia shook her head. “No, we should finish this.”

  Ka’Cit studied her for a moment before jerking his head in a nod.

  He punched something into the controls and the ship began changing directions just as Nia took a seat once more.

  When she glanced back at him, his eyes were on her again.

  She was used to his stares by now, but this time, it wasn’t his usual look of interest.

  There were things that passed through his eyes while he was looking at her, things that were quickly masked.

  Happiness…hope… resolution…fear.

  The last one puzzled her.

  What did he have to be afraid about?

  As the ship slowed down, Nia turned her gaze back to the view screen.

  Space was dark—at least, this section of it was.

  It was like staring into…nothing.

  To think that Earth was out there somewhere…it was hard to imagine even though she knew it was true.

  As she stared through the view screen, something appeared out of the dark void.

  One minute, she was looking at nothing, and the next, a ship was in front of her.

  Nia jumped back and bumped into Ka’Cit.

  She hadn’t realized he’d been standing behind her.