by Maia Starr
“Private Martinez, go into the Earth Battalion to deliver a message. I am seeking Sergeant Banks. Tell him Commander Vycon Dase waits for him out here for our training sessions,” I said.
“Yes, sir, right away,” he said as he scrambled into the Earth Base building.
I waited with my soldiers telling them what our mission was in training this Earth soldiers today.
“Well, if it isn't Little Boy Blue!” Sergeant Banks shouted as he came out of the base with a few of his soldiers.
I did not know what he was referencing, but I assumed it was an insult.
“Yes, that is the spirit, Sergeant Banks. I am here to fight with you, but it is not what you think.”
“Yes, I know. Your Leader has informed me that you are here to show us how the Waysaw fight. We are very aware; it is not the first time that we have come across them,” he said with arrogance.
“I understand, Sergeant. But I am here to show you how to defeat them in hand-to-hand combat. They fight differently, and therefore you need different moves in order to defeat them. Or are you too scared to take me on?”
The sergeant’s face grew dark. The fact that my soldiers were laughing at him did not help. It was easy to get this human worked up. I knew exactly which buttons to push to do it. I only had two wound his ego in order to get him to make mistakes and be sloppy.
He unbuckled the belt around his waist with his guns and handed it to one of his soldiers. I did the same. Then we met each other in the middle. A crowd was starting to gather. I could hear bets being placed.
“Now, I am going to do some moves that the Waysaw do, and Sergeant Banks is going to try to block them and hit me back,” I said to the soldiers that were gathered.
“Go ahead, Sergeant Banks; come at me,” I said putting my hands in the air motioning for him to come to me.
He shouted and ran straight for me as though he was going to tackle me with his shoulder to my belly. With one swift motion, I moved out of the way and had my hands around his waist and flipped him over, hitting his back hard on the ground. The wind was knocked out of him.
The crowd cheered, and the Earth soldiers let out remarks of pain sympathy for the sergeant.
“Do you see that? Did you see that move? Do you know why it works? It works because the Waysaw are expecting you to charge at them like that. Not only are they expecting it, they want it. Because then they can use that perfect swift move that I just showed you. They are not scared of you. They are not scared of me. They make sport of fighting. For every move that you have coming at them, they have a move to not only guard themselves, but to take you down at the same time,” I shouted, giving my lesson.
I stepped over the sergeant, adding humiliation to his defeat. He slowly got up and faced me again.
“I am ready,” I said with a grin.
He swung a right hook at me. I caught his hand mid-air and twisted it around his back; I could snap his arm like this. He squealed in pain.
“Did you see that? Right now, if I were a Waysaw, I would snap his arm in two. I was anticipating his swing and already knew that I was going to catch it and twist him around. Now, that is enough show!” I said pushing the sergeant away from me.
“Right now, I want all of you to line up, and I am going to show you how to do these moves. I want you to master them and spread them throughout your camps,” I said.
I watched as every soldier enthusiastically lined up in order to learn this move. The sergeant was staring at me with hatred in his eyes. I knew hatred very well. He came over to me and spat on the ground, close to my boot. Then he leaned in and whispered, “This isn't over yet, Commander.”
“Oh, I hope not, Sergeant. I hope to meet again in the same light soon,” I said with a grin.
He slowly limped away. It felt good; it felt damn good. I continue to watch him walk away as I waited for the soldiers to line up and for my soldiers to assist me in the training. I watched him and noticed that he was not heading back inside the base building. Instead, he was heading off to the corner of it on the outside. It was then that I saw her. It was Nicole. She was staring directly at me. I felt an enormous amount of guilt and regret flood my body. The triumph of making a fool out of the sergeant went away. But as I looked at her, I noticed that the sergeant grabbed her arm. She yanked it away. I couldn't tell what they were saying, but it was obviously a heated argument. Wait a minute, was she involved with him? I did not know her life before I arrived. I hated him even more in that second. I wanted to go to her and defend her, but I did not want to give away that I was in love with her. Crap, I love her. I knew at that moment when I saw another man touching her. I was repulsed by his hands on her. She yanked her arm away again and stomped off. He just laid against the wall, catching his breath. I had really done a number on him, and I was glad because he would probably follow her if he wasn't feeling so badly and injured.
I now had a new fervor and anger to get rid of as I went about the training. The fact that there might be something between the sergeant and Nicole made me very angry. I would kill him if I found out.
Chapter Nine
NICOLE PLIMOC
I was in a bad way. I was pregnant with an alien child and I had no idea what I should do about it. I couldn’t tell anyone. I wanted to confide in Sheila, but I was not sure how she would take it. She would judge me. She would think I was a freak, or maybe she would tell on me. I did not want to tell anyone until I told Vycon, but the problem was he was nowhere to be found. I didn’t know if he was still at the mines. But the way he had spoken to me let me know that it would not matter. He had jilted me. So, when I saw him at the base that day, I was shocked.
I watched as he shouted for Private Martinez. I had been walking between the buildings on the backside, but I heard his voice, and I knew that it was him. Dread and excitement filled me when I heard him shout. I quickly and quietly made my way to the corner of the building and peeked around the corner. When I saw him, my heart fell to my stomach, and my stomach grew knots and butterflies all at the same time. It was a combination of being happy to see him but scared to see him. I had his alien baby inside of me, and he would not give a damn.
But fear gripped me as I heard him tell Private Martinez to get Sergeant Banks. What the hell did he want with Banks? Since I had not spoken to the commander in days, I had no idea what he was up to. I wanted to step in because it was my job to do so. I was there to diffuse tensions between the Zenkians and the Earth soldiers. But I couldn’t do it. My feet would not move no matter how much I wanted them to. So I just watched.
But I was not prepared for what I saw. It wasn’t until the commander explained it was training that I exhaled in relief. I had to admit that it was pleasant to watch the commander defeat Sergeant Banks. But I had stayed too long. I knew this when the sergeant came over to me.
“Nicole, what are you doing here? Did you see that? He cheated, the filthy alien,” he said breathlessly.
“I don’t think that he cheated. Just admit that he is a better soldier than you, Banks. It is nothing to be ashamed of; he is bigger than you,” I whispered to him.
He grabbed my arm. “You would know, wouldn’t you? You would know just how much bigger he is than I am. Have you sucked on his disgusting blue cock, Nicole?” he pressed on my arm.
“You’re hurting me,” I said yanking my arm away from him.
“If I find out it is true, I will report it, Nicole,” he said angrily.
“It is not true; just leave me alone,” I said as I turned and walked away.
I had enough drama for one day. I went back to my apartment, taking the rest of the two hours that were left of work, off. I told my boss I had a headache and felt ill. Commander Eriks was understanding as we all had been working overtime. I went home and slept.
The next morning, I had to deal with it. I had to deal with this pregnancy head on.
I could not believe it. I was pregnant with the child of a Grantsion Zenkian. This was awful. I did not know wha
t to do. I desired to tell him. He would know what to do, but I knew he could get in a lot of trouble for it. It was forbidden for the Grantsions to be intimate with humans. It was against their rules. It wasn't exactly looked upon with approval on my side of things either. I was screwed no matter what, so I thought I might as well tell him.
I found Commander Vycon Dase in the common area of the Grantsion base.
“I need to speak with you,” I said.
“Nicole, always good to see you. Yes, of course, I will give you my time; where shall we speak?”
“This way, the conference room,” I said, trying to make it look like official business to the Grantsions that he was sitting with. He nodded to the soldiers and then followed me into the hallway all the way down to the private conference room.
“What is it? Is there news of the Waysaw invasion?”
“No, this is more of a personal thing,” I said.
“You know that we cannot do that. We especially cannot do that here,” he said arching an eyebrow at me.
“No, it is... Well, I don't know how to say this. I'm searching for the words,” I said feeling very nervous.
“Just say it; be blunt. Be like me,” he said.
“I am pregnant. I am carrying your child,” I said in the bluntest way possible.
He looked at me stunned. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I have taken the test. I have all the symptoms. I am pregnant,” I said.
“No, are you sure that it is mine? Are you sure that it is not the child of Sergeant Banks?”
“I have not been with him since before my last cycle. I have only been with you; it is yours,” I said, feeling angry that he would even ask me that. “If I had any question at all as to who the father was, then I would say so.”
“We must keep this a secret. You know that I am not allowed to be intimate with humans. I have already gone against the law of my own kind by being with you. This must stay between us,” he said.
“Don't you think I know that? I wasn't going to tell anyone,” I said.
“And yet, it will eventually be known, but maybe I will have returned back to my own planet by then,” he said.
“What?”
“Maybe I won't have to deal with this at all,” he said.
“Are you serious, Commander? You expect me to deal with this alone? You expect me to suddenly have an alien hybrid baby and to not say who the father is?”
“No, you can have the baby. You can say who the father is, but I won't be here. I will be on my own planet,” he said. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have work to do,” he said as he walked out.
I could not fucking believe it. I was in shock. I wanted to burst into tears, but I couldn't do it where I was. I quickly walked out of the conference room and walked as fast as I could to my own apartment. It wasn't until I was inside that I let myself cry. This was the worst thing that could happen. What was I going to do? I was all alone in this. The commanderwas not the honorable alien I thought he was. Why did I ever think differently? Just because he was charming and was able to seduce me? I let my lust get the better of me, and now I was paying for it.
Chapter Ten
COMMANDER VYCON DASE
It felt wrong. I knew that I should not have done what I did. I was mean to Nicole. I gathered all of my hatred for the humans and took it out on her. It was immature of me to respond the way that I did. But I desired time to think. I was shocked, and the only way I knew how to push her away with to be mean to her. I regretted it. Now, I was in a landspeeder driving recklessly over the Earth areas on a scouting mission. I wasn't scheduled to scout, but I volunteered because I desired to release some of the energy before I took it out on someone like Sergeant Banks.
Sergeant Banks was one reason that I hated humans. It was the arrogant and entitled pieces of crap like him that made me think all humans must be that way. But now that I had lived among them, I started to think differently. Nicole had showed me what a big heart a human could have. It was made it clear to me why she had the job that she did; she was able to calm and soothe those around her, including myself.
After she told me, I went straight to the fighting rings. I disguised it as training, but I needed to release some steam.
“Who wants to demonstrate!” I shouted as I walked in, heated.
“I will take the offer for training,” an Earth soldier said.
“Maybe next time. You, Captain Bidu, care to show the Earthlings what we are made of?” I said with a grin.
He looked at me, and the corners of his mouth curled up.
“Gladly, Commander,” he said.
I was relieved. The Captain was only five years older than I was and he was skilled in all kinds of battle and hand-to-hand combat. In a sense, I wanted him to kick my ass.
We both faced each other in the outline of the ring.
“Come for it, Commander Vycon Dase,” he said.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Absolutely. I am rusty; this is good for me,” he said.
I jabbed at him, and he dodged my punch and punched me in the abs. The wind left me. It was a good hard punch. I swung at him quickly and punched him in the chest. He came back and grabbed my arm. Then we went down on the ground. Now it was a wrestling match as we punched and kicked while rolling across the floor. The soldiers were shouting and cheering. They were having a good time, and I thought Nicole would be proud of me for this. Watching to Grantsions fight was good for the relations between the Earth soldiers and the Zenkians. I could see them cheering together, not divided. It seemed that boys would be boys, no matter the species.
Finally, I let the Captain get the best of me. He punched me in the ribs over and over, and I did not resist. Finally, he stopped and looked at me.
“Had enough, Commander?” he asked.
“Yes, I believe so,” I said.
“Did I knock whatever was bothering you out of your mind?” he asked with an arched brow.
“Almost, sir. At least the anger is partly gone,” I said.
He laughed. He stood up and then held out his hand to me. He helped me to my feet. The crowd cheered and clapped.
“And that is how it is done!” the Captain shouted. I smiled nodding in agreement to him defeating me.
But the beating did not help. I needed more of an adrenaline rush to get this out of my system. I went to wash the blood off my face and cleaned up. I could not stop thinking about how I responded to Nicole. I had to get out of the base. I got into a landspeeder and went for a scout. The scout was a good distraction. I could see just how much work needed to be done to defend this area and taking note of it was good work. The next day I did the same thing. I went for a scout as soon as I was able to take a landspeeder. I spent all morning out there running that landspeeder recklessly trying to occupy my mind. But it was not a good enough distraction. I thought about Nicole over and over.
The poor human female. I had just told her that she was in this alone. What was I thinking? Of course, I wanted the child. It was my flesh and blood too. I had made a big mistake. “Fuck!” I shouted to myself. I needed to fix this.
I needed to speak with her. It had been twenty-four hours since she told me, and I felt guilty for making her wait that long to come to her support and side. I could only imagine how she must have spent the night alone and in such turmoil. She could not confide this information in anyone but myself, and I had betrayed her. I turned the landspeeder around to head back to base. I needed to see her as soon as I landed. I needed to make sure that she was not in a long meeting. I got on the communication line and radioed back to the base.
“This is Commander Vycon Dase; I need to set up a meeting with Nicole Plimoc. I am on my way in from a scouting mission and I would like to speak with her as soon as I arrive” I said.
“Commander, you have not heard? Nicole left this morning to a copper mine several miles away. It is where we think the Waysaw will invade if they come in this vicinity.”
“What
? No, I was not made aware of that. I'm coming back in,” I said as I made my way back to the base. I desired to find out why she had gone, and I was low on fuel. I desired to go to her. If the Waysaw did come, she would be in serious danger. I could not have that. She was carrying my child, and I desired to protect her and the child. I would give my life for it. But mostly, I desired to tell her that I loved her. I desired to tell her how wrong I was. I could not get back to the base fast enough.
Chapter Eleven
NICOLE PLIMOC
I had to get out of the base. After what had happened with Vycon Dase, I could not stay there. I could not risk the chance of running into him and having him treat me so coldly again. My heart could not handle it. I did not want to see Sergeant Banks and have him try to get me to marry him. I just desired to get away. That was why I requested to go to the copper mine on the outskirts of the coastline. It was along the Gulf of Mexico, south of Houston by several miles. I wanted to oversee and check on the production of the shield. By all accounts, it was almost ready, but I wanted to see it for myself, or at least that's the excuse I told my superiors in order to go.
