Into the Light: SciFi Alien Romance (Dark Planet Warriors Book 5)

by Anna Carven

  I grab the leader of the Humans, bringing my dagger to his throat. “President, you say?”

  “Fuck you, nonhuman.”

  I laugh coldly. Is that supposed to intimidate me?

  “Come.” I drag him through the cold water as we return to the exit. “You will show us the way.”

  And when my mate is safe and secure, I will make him pay.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Abbey

  After Lorelei leaves, I settle back into bed, closing my eyes and thinking of Tarak, wishing he was here beside me. I drift off to sleep for a little while, but I’m woken by a strange feeling. Little Monster has become unusually still, and the music has dropped off.

  Everything is eerily silent.

  Ever since I’ve arrived in this strange place, I’ve been calm, because I know he’s going to come for me. My belief in him is unshakeable.

  But as time goes on and I’m left alone with my thoughts, a terrible sliver of doubt enters my mind.

  What if he’s not coming? What if Lorelei’s right and this place is impossible for him to find?

  I shake my head, curling my arms around myself. No way. Annoyed with myself, I push the stupid thoughts from my mind.

  “This sucks, doesn’t it, Little Monster?”

  This isn’t like her. She’s not moving at all.

  Something doesn’t feel right.

  Slowly, I pull up my gown, fighting a rising sense of dread. I look down at my belly. “What’s happening, girl?”

  The harmony star is glowing, but it’s no longer blue. It’s turned a dusky shade of purple.

  “No!” I gasp. “Don’t do this. Not now.” She was fine just before. How could this have happened so quickly?

  Its soft light pulses, and as I stare at it in horror, it slowly turns from purple to pink.

  Dread fills me. This can’t be happening.

  I look around the room for an emergency call panel, but I don’t see anything useful. Frantically, I bang on the door. “Hey!” I bang the door so hard pain shoots through my fists. I look up to the ceiling in desperation, hoping there’s a surveillance device up there. “Lorelei, if you’re there, you need to fucking come down here right now.”

  I feel my little one shift around, and crazy, intense relief courses through me at the thought that at the very least, she’s still alive. But something’s definitely wrong. Her movements are reduced, and they feel much weaker.

  “Hang on darling,” I whisper, as I pound my fist into the door, trying to attract attention. “Hey!” I scream, my voice cracking. “Get your ass in here now, Lorelei!”

  I scan the room, looking for something I can use to make noise. I’m going to cause chaos in here until someone pays attention to me.

  I pick up my used lunch tray, cutlery and containers clattering to the floor as I bang it against the metal door. Metal clashes loudly against metal, making an almighty racket.

  That was the effect I was after. To make some noise.

  “He-ey!” I swing the tray again, preparing to smash it against the door.

  The door slides open, revealing Lorelei and her assistant. Lorelei ducks under the arc of my swing as the tray flies out of my hands and hits her assistant in the chest. He doubles back, yelping in pain and surprise.

  Seeing them with their blank faces and pristine lab coats has just re-kindled my anger. “You stupid idiots stick a pregnant woman in a box with no emergency call panel?” I rage. Her assistant is gasping, and Lorelei is staring at me in shock.

  “What’s this all about, Abbey? You need to calm down.”

  “Something’s wrong. She’s not moving as much, and the harmony star’s turning red.”

  “Harmony star?”

  I shake my head. “There’s something wrong with my baby, doctor. You need to do something about it.”

  “Your pregnancy is extremely low risk. I’m sure that-”

  At that point, I double over, clutching my belly as a terrible, cramping pain rips through me. The doctor’s demeanor changes, and all of a sudden, she’s rushing to my side, helping me into bed.

  “Nick, get the monitor,” she snaps.

  “Yes, ma’am.” Clutching his chest and wincing in pain, the assistant dashes out of the room.

  Lorelei lifts my gown and places her cold hands on my belly, examining me. “Are you tender?”

  I nod, wincing as she applies slight pressure. “What’s happening, Lorelei?”

  “Until we scan you, I can’t tell for sure.” She frowns, her red lips pressing together in a thin line. Moments later, Nick returns, the monitor in his hands. They hook me up without any explanation. I hear the words “abruptae placentio” as my vision swims, clouded by blackness that fades in and out.

  The pain is coming in constant waves now, and my palms have become clammy. I’m starting to feel lightheaded.

  The most beautiful music I’ve ever heard starts to play in my mind. It’s ancient and serene and for a moment I close my eyes.

  I can’t believe this is happening.

  My baby flutters about, her movements weak. Some deep, innate instinct tells me we need to get her out. I know it beyond a shadow of a doubt.

  Otherwise, all will be lost.

  “You need to deliver her,” I tell them, as I open my eyes to stare at Lorelei. Her face has gone pale. “I don’t know what’s wrong, but she needs to come out, now.”

  “I agree.” She’s looking at the datapad of her monitor. Whatever it’s showing, she’s chosen not to bring it up on her holoscreen. “Your placenta has detached from the wall of the uterus. This baby will die if we don’t do an emergency Caesarean right now.”

  “Then fucking do it,” I grit through clenched teeth, as another wave of pain crashes through me.

  “I have to inform you that there’s a chance you might not survive.”

  I grip Lorelei’s wrist, anger giving me strength. Even if I see her as an enemy, I need her to be my child’s ally right now. “Save my baby first,” I implore her. “Worry about me later.”

  My child must survive, at all costs.

  “Call through to the OR and tell them to prepare for an emergency C-section,” Lorelei instructs Nick. He activates his comm and calls through.

  “No-one’s answering,” he says, looking bemused.

  “Run ahead and check,” the doctor orders. “Make the necessary preparations. We need to get her in there now.”

  As Nick rushes out the door, an ear-splitting alarm goes off.

  “What now?” I groan, as Lorelei starts to stick leads and wires all over me. She places something around my arm. “This bot is going to put an IV in you.”

  The pain is becoming excruciating. My vision goes dark, then light, then dark.

  The music is the only thing grounding me right now. I wonder if it’s even real, or if I’m going crazy.

  “Code Black,” a detached female voice calls out, over some hidden speaker. “This is a Code Black. All personnel find the nearest evacuation point and prepare to enter your pod.”

  “What’s a Code Black?” I ask weakly, as another spasm of pain grips me.

  “Fuck,” Lorelei swears, her composure finally cracking in a big way. “It’s a major security breach. A terrorist attack.” She looks at me, then at the exit, then back at me.

  Through the haze of pain, I manage a grin. It’s crazy to smile right now, but I’m feeling triumphant.

  Because I know there’s only one reason this secret medical facility would be on a Code Black alert.

  One big, bad, silver-and-fanged reason.

  “What are you going to do, Doctor Asher?” I grip her wrist more tightly, forcing her to look at me. “You see, I think, no, I know my mate is here, and I can tell you right now that he will be beyond furious. The only way you will survive is if you save the lives of both me and my child.”

  Lorelei shakes her head in disbelief. “There’s no way that-”

  Nick appears in the doorway, panic distorting his features. He cl
utches his chest and coughs. “The OR is off-limits,” he cries, his voice high-pitched and breathless. “They’ve smoked the place out. There’s fighting going on. I don’t know what the hell’s happening out there, but it’s a bloodbath. All the staff are gone. We have to get out of here.”

  “A-ah!” I cry out as savage pain rips through me. I fight it, never once releasing the doctor from my grip. “What’s it going to be, doctor? Because if you leave now, you’re a dead woman. If anything happens to us, he’s going to hunt you down and kill you.”

  She looks me over, clearly torn. “I need to operate, but without access to an operating room and the right equipment, your chances of survival are extremely low. And there will be no anesthetic.” She shakes her head. “I can give you painkillers, but I can’t do the-”

  “You can,” I say. “You most definitely can, because I am not going to let my baby die. So stop wasting time, and do it.”

  “You know what this potentially means for you, right? Are you sure you want to do this, Abbey?”

  “Do it.”

  The doctor gives me a long, hard stare, then nods. “Nick,” she says. “Go to the supply room next door and get me a pair of sterile gloves, a laser scalpel, all the synthetic O-negative you can find, every vial of Neuranol in there, a sterilizer node, a bio-barrier, coagulant gel, tissue glue and an infant resus kit. Then get your ass back here as quickly as you can and lock the doors. We’re going to get this baby out.”

  It’s been decided. From here on in, I can only trust our lives to fate.

  I pray that Tarak gets here soon.

  Now more than ever, I need him.

  Tarak

  I look behind me as we walk down the empty corridor, my hand on the back of the ‘president’s’ neck. He moves stiffly, resenting my control. In front of me, Jeral and Nythian walk slowly, their swords drawn.

  We have explosive devices, but no plasma-based weapons, as the exposure to water would have put them at risk of malfunctioning. Our respirators hang around our necks, replaced by standard protective visors.

  On the surface, the facility looks relatively normal, but we pass many closed doors. The rooms are all windowless, and there is a strange smell in the air.

  It is the smell of blood and fear and suffering. It’s a smell I know all too well, as it reminds me of the secret Kordolian medical facility where I spent the better part of my adolescence.

  “Argh!” The Human in front of me cries out, and I realize I’m squeezing his neck too hard. Anger has gotten the better of me.

  How dare they take my mate to a despicable place like this?

  And how could I have allowed this to happen?

  “What exactly is the purpose of this facility, Human?”

  “That’s classified.”

  I squeeze his neck again, making him scream. “Then unclassify it, president.”

  “It’s a research facility,” he says, thinking he can get away with not offering any more information. He is testing my patience.

  “It stinks of death,” I say quietly. And here I thought Humans were such a benign, clueless species.

  If Abbey has been harmed in any way, I will paint the walls with their blood.

  We come to a junction. From here, the corridor branches off in two directions. In front is a large, empty room lined with beds and monitoring equipment. Attached to the beds are restraints.

  “Which way, Human?”

  “Left,” the man answers, in a monotonous voice. “The Human women stay in the Southern wing.”

  As we move down the corridor, a squad of armed Human guards appears in front of us. By my count, there are about ten of them. I look behind and see a similar number coming up the back of the corridor, effectively trapping us from both ends. Accompanying them are a group of six Ifkin. The pale-skinned, blue-eyed Ifkin hiss at us, chattering in their strange tongue. They hold plasma guns in their dominant arms, and in their lower arms, they clutch small, round devices.

  More of their noxious smoke-bombs, perhaps.

  All of the Humans are wearing respirators, and they raise their guns at us as we approach.

  In their hands are Kordolian-made plasma guns.

  Now how in Kaiin’s name did they get their hands on those?

  In the background, a shrill alarm goes off, a sure sign the Humans are panicking.

  “You are a fool to deal with the Ifkin,” I snarl at the Humans. “They will betray you in a heartbeat.”

  The ‘president’ raises his head, his eyes full of anger and disbelief as he stares back at his own people. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, guards?” A note of panic enters his voice. “Can’t you see that they’ve taken me hostage? Lower your weapons right now!”

  One of the Humans steps forward. “I’m sorry, President Tremain, but the Board has voted for us to take extraordinary measures to secure the facility.”

  Tremain’s eyes bulge. “This is my company, Mercer. You will not fire until my safety has been assured. You and your men will stand down, and that’s an order.”

  Under his mask, the Human soldier’s dark eyes are cold. “I’m sorry, President, but the Board’s decision overrides yours. We must consider the future of the company over the welfare of one individual.”

  “Fuck the board,” Tremain shouts, becoming increasingly desperate. “Stand down right now, Mercer!”

  I have had enough of this time-wasting. I need to reach Abbey. I push Tremain aside. He falls to the floor. “You can’t do this,” he splutters, terrified. He knows he’ll be caught in the crossfire. As the Humans prepare to fire, I make small signals to Jeral and Nythian with my hand. They both extend two fingers, acknowledging that they understand. I will take the front, Jeral and Nythian will deal with the Humans at the back, along with the Ifkin. We have to move fast. Our Callidum exo-armor can take full plasma hits, but not too many.

  But Humans aren’t very physically strong. They will get one shot off, and then the recoil will throw them to the floor.

  The three of us tense, and then we charge, swords drawn. The Humans fire and then the Ifkin release their smoke bombs, blanketing the area in a thick white haze.

  A plasma bolt hits me straight in the chest. It knocks me to the ground. I feel as if I’ve been punched in the sternum. Ignoring the pain, I jump to my feet and push forward. All around me, blue bolts streak past, turning the walls into rubble. Each shot fired has a massive recoil, sending the Humans crashing backwards.

  The Humans are all shouting amongst themselves in their own language.

  I use the smoke and the chaos to my advantage, moving by sound more than sight. Humans are clumsy and slow, and my Callidum blades slice through flesh and bone and sinew with barely any resistance.

  They will not stand between me and my mate.

  They fall, one by one, and my armor becomes slick with their crimson blood. The nanites will slowly absorb it, using it to restore themselves to their resting state.

  As I deal with the rest of the Humans, I start to run, passing down a long, brightly lit corridor. Visibility improves as the smoke begins to clear. There are signs all over the place, but they’re written in Human script, and I can’t understand any of it.

  I come to another junction, deciding to turn right. I pass into another corridor, growling in frustration. Everything around me looks the same. All around me are closed doors. Abbey could be in any one of them. I curse. I choose the one closest to me and try to open it by pressing my palm on the entry panel.

  No response.

  Using the old tried-and-tested trick, I stab my blade through the panel, and it explodes in a shower of sparks. The door slides open.

  I peer inside and see an ordinary room; a holding cell of sorts. Inside, a winged Avein female stares up at me fearfully, backing into a corner. Dressings cover her arms and legs, and one portion of her wings has been stripped of all its plumage.

  She cowers and whimpers in fear.

  I turn on my heel and stride out.


  I try the next room and find a Human male lying on the bed, attached to all kinds of medical lines and monitors. He stares at me in shock, but he appears unable to move.

  I move on.

  In the next room, there is a Soldar male. He cries out as I appear. His grey scales are dull, lacking their usual shine. There are patches all over his body where his scales have fallen out, revealing raw skin underneath.

  An angry growl escapes me. These deranged Humans have been keeping these aliens for research. They are no different to the Kordolians whose ways I rejected when I left Kythia.

  The Soldar misinterprets my anger, crawling into a corner, his green eyes wide with fear. “Go, Soldar,” I tell him, gesturing towards the open door. “I am not one of them.”

  I move on, looking in every room, finding more and more terrified aliens. Abbey is nowhere to be found. A terrible rage is building inside me. The longer I am without her, the more desperate I become. And now that I’ve seen what they do in this facility, I am full of fear.

  If they have harmed her, I will lose my sanity.

  I come to the last door in this wing. I destroy the entry panel, and the door opens to reveal an empty room.

  There’s nothing and no-one inside.

  Cursing loudly in Kordolian, I run back to the junction and take the other route.

  That’s when I hear it.

  Her scream.

  The sound tears into me, touching the very essence of my being. It reaches into the depths of my soul and rips out a fury so dark and savage that I am no longer capable of rational thought.

  I run towards the sound, forgetting all reason. My mate is hurt. Someone is harming her, and I must protect her.

  Unacceptable. The situation is unacceptable.

  Whoever is responsible for this is going to die.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN