When Jet felt Laksri’s arm curl around her again, she glanced up.
Before she knew it, he was kissing her face, then her neck, running his tongue over her skin and nibbling at her gently down to her shoulder. He pulled her closer, wrapping his tail more tightly around her as well, when a new voice broke the quiet, this one holding so much anger it made Jet jump a few inches off the padded bench.
That time, she didn’t need to wait for a translation.
He spoke English.
“Just what in the hell do you think you’re doing?” Anaze demanded, standing over them with clenched fists.
His face was bright red, visible even in the dim lighting of the room.
He seemed to be struggling for words, as if each one came out of him with only a determined, half-strangled effort.
“Get your damned, four-fingered hands off her… you ugly, worm-eating, sewer-smelling, water-fearing, lizard skin!”
9
Mistake
By the time the four of them got back to Laksri’s room, things had finally calmed down some.
Richter still kept his body firmly between Laksri and Anaze, and stayed with them in the room until Anaze and Jet retreated into Laksri’s bedroom.
Jet heard Laksri and Richter arguing through the wall, along with a few more violent thumps that Jet guessed had to be Laksri’s tail smacking against something more solid than Richter himself.
It was difficult leaving Laksri.
That should have puzzled Jet maybe, but it didn’t seem strange at the time.
Anaze barely spoke to her once they were alone.
He instructed her to lay down and go to sleep, and Jet didn’t argue.
She could only really muster up a mild concern at his furious silence.
She got under the sheets in all of her clothes except the toe-less shoes decorated with blue stones. Lying there, she listened to Laksri and Richter argue. At some point––really, after not much time passed at all––the argument abruptly died down.
Jet didn’t know if Richter left or stayed, but not long after that, she must have fallen asleep, because everything faded from her awareness at that point.
Unfortunately, the same wasn’t true the next morning.
Jet woke up to a sore side, her shirt bunched up in a loop around her back, her hair knotted, and bruises all over the side of her neck. Unfortunately, she remembered how she’d gotten every one of those marks, and in excruciating detail.
In fact, her memories stood out more clearly than even ordinary memories did.
Clearly enough, Jet found herself tempted to simply remain in the washroom until everyone else had left. The feeling only strengthened when she heard Anaze moving around on the other side of the door and realized not only was he awake, he was still here. He hadn’t left Laksri’s quarters.
Jet tried moving very slowly, hoping that anyone out there might take the hint and leave. She took a long shower before re-donning the clothes she’d worn the night before. She washed her face, brushed her teeth with a brand new, human-style toothbrush that must have been supplied by Laksri as well, and even found a kind of lotion for her face.
Eventually, though, she ran out of things to do in that room, and realized Anaze had no intention of leaving without seeing her. Whether or not Laksri was still there, or even Richter, she’d just have to deal with that, too.
Clenching her jaw and throwing back her shoulders, she jerked the door open and found herself facing Anaze directly and all at once.
He sat on the bed now, watching her.
Instead of looking angry, the expression on his face looked a lot more like guilt.
“Jet,” he said, before she could wrap her head around him. “Jet… I’m so sorry.”
She paused, still standing at the door.
Maybe it was the left-over venom, but she still wasn’t sure what to think of Laksri or the rest of it herself, much less her own role in it… or Anaze’s.
“What for?” Her words verged on dismissive. “Is that a confession of some kind? Or are you just assuming Laksri forced himself on me? That I was some pliant victim?”
Anaze’s expression abruptly hardened. “Did you sleep with him?”
“Clearly I didn’t,” Jet said drily. “I slept with you.”
“You know what I mean!”
“Sure, I do,” she said, feeling her jaw harden. “Maybe I just don’t see how it’s any of your business.”
“Because I’m the one who brought you here!” he burst out, thudding his hand down on the mattress. “Of course it’s my business! I put you in range of that asshole!”
“Which one?” Jet said, her mouth still taut.
Anaze glared at her. “That damned pervert lizard-skin. Who do you think?”
Jet felt her jaw harden more. It took her a second to realize it was because of what he’d said about Laksri… and then she was too confused to know what she really thought, about much of anything.
Frowning, she forced her eyes back to Anaze, still try to piece through what was definitely her, and what might be remnants of the venom.
“How long does this venom last?” she said finally.
As soon as she said it, she wished she hadn’t.
It was already too late.
Anaze’s features turned back to stone.
“Why?” he said angrily. “Do you still want his tongue down your throat?” He motioned angrily towards her. “It’s not enough that he’s marked up most of your neck?”
Jet clenched her fingers into fists, in part to keep from using them to cover the bruises she could feel Anaze staring at. Biting back anger, she forced herself to shrug, her expression flat.
“Well,” she said easily. “Am I a rape victim in need of your protection, Anaze? Or some kind of lizard-skin whore? Or are the two basically the same thing in your mind?”
Even as she said it, she was still trying to assess her own brain, to decide whether she remained under the influence of venom or not. She felt clear enough; but then, she felt clear the night before, too, at least for most of it.
“Are you staying here from now on?” Anaze demanded, rising to his feet.
Jet shrugged, taking a step back.
She covered the reflexive move backward by leaning down for her shoes.
“You know this was your dad’s idea, right?” Jet said. “You know he made me choose, right? Prince Ogli or Laksri? Pardon me for not being too thrilled with the idea of being a Nirreth child molester. Or stuck as one of the Prince’s well-trained pets.”
The anger on Anaze’s face worsened, right before he glowered at the door that led to the main room of Laksri’s apartment. When he looked back at her, most of that harder fury had leached from his eyes, but the frustration coming off him was palpable.
“Speaking of the prince… aren’t you due there now?” he said, his voice as flat as hers.
Jet glanced at the clock in the ceiling, which now showed the sun and clouds and blue sky, instead of the stars. Seeing she was already two minutes late for her standard meeting time at Prince Ogli’s chambers, she cursed under her breath.
Clenching her jaw, she finished up with her shoes, already bracing herself.
Straightening, she fought a wave of rage of her own.
That any of them… any of them… but especially Richter or Anaze, would turn around and try to lay this shit on her now, well, that was pretty damned rich.
More and more, she was starting to wonder what she was doing here.
More and more, she was starting to think trusting Richter and Anaze had been a colossal mistake.
10
Running out of Time
“Higher!” Alice said, her voice a snarl.
When Jet leapt up, catching hold of the ring with one hand, the woman gave an approving nod, albeit with obvious reluctance.
She shook her head a bit more sharply, her posture and expression exuding impatience when Jet continued to hang from the rotating bar, grinning.
“Come down now!” the woman commanded, her crisp accent sharpening.
There was a silence.
“You are target for every thing they might want to throw at you,” she complained louder, when Jet didn’t obey her right away. “This thing is for quick escape. Quick only! Grab… then jump. Grab… then jump. Understand? You are being a fool.”
Jet jumped down, still grinning, just long enough to catch Tyra’s eye.
The taller woman winked at her, snorting a laugh.
Things had gotten a lot easier between Jet and the other woman fighter in the past few weeks. Tyra came up to her pretty much within minutes of Jet showing up at the changing room, the day after she and Laksri went to the aquarium restaurant and got publically “seen” as a hybrid couple.
Given Jet really hadn’t spoken to the woman before, not to mention the fact that she was pretty conked out from the night before, it startled her a lot when Tyra came bounding up to her, a big smile on her face.
“So you got de-virginized, I hear,” Tyra said, grinning from ear to ear. “By that big bodyguard of yours? We’d all been wondering. I’d heard a rumor that he was the reason they didn’t match you with a Nirreth trainer. They said he bribed someone on the Board to make sure you got a human female instead… the dog! We all wondered if it was true…”
Jet couldn’t help wondering which “we” Tyra meant.
Grinning, the other woman motioned around her, but she and Jet were the only two people in the cavernous room.
“…So how was it?” Tyra asked, without missing a beat. “Is he as good as he looks? I was thinking he was kind of a hottie, your guy. I wondered how long it would take you to stop saying no. It was pretty obvious he was into you.”
Jet found herself completely at a loss for words.
She never in a million years would have imagined having this conversation, even a month ago. The idea that Tyra, or really any human, could embrace the idea of living side by side with the Nirreth was a little beyond her.
It also made her think about Laksri in a way that was more than a little uncomfortable. Although she’d had most of the day to think about it, she still couldn’t seem to get as angry at him as she knew she probably should be.
Luckily, Tyra didn’t seem to require Jet to keep up her end of the conversation.
“…I’ve been with my trainer for awhile. Anslom,” the woman added. “It really helps with the training, I gotta say. That whole mind-meld, empathy thing lasts for a good twenty hours or so after you’ve been stung, and improves your memory, too. A lot of the trainers take their human combatants as lovers, to up their chances in the Rings. It also helps with the whole political aspect, as you’re a lot less likely to piss the Board off on accident if you know the ropes well enough through feeling how a Nirreth feels.”
At Jet’s probably blank look, Tyra shrugged, waving vaguely with a hand.
“You know. The kinds of things they react to, and so forth. The more psychological side of the Rings.”
Studying Jet’s face thoughtfully, she added,
“Wonder why they gave you a human one. Whether your guy bribed them or not, it really tanked your odds on the rankings, I hear. I thought there was some rule about that… only Nirreth trainers for the humans, and only human trainers for the Nirreth. Something like that.”
Jet started to attempt to answer, but again, Tyra kept on speaking.
“Maybe you can get your hunk to help you out, now that you’re playing footsie,” Tyra suggested. “He looks like a fighter… and all Nirreth know the Rings. The myth is that humans gave them the idea, but Anslom told me they had something really similar back on Astet, their home world. Even in pre-colonial days. Only most of the contestants died back then and it was all Nirreth versus animals and other Nirreth.”
Tyra rolled her eyes, still grinning.
“According to Anslom, humans only gave them the idea to use players more as recurring figures. Kind of like sports heroes, I guess… boxers and football players, maybe?”
She smiled, as if they were talking about the weather, instead of a sport that would probably at some point get one or both of them killed.
But then, Tyra wanted to be in the Rings.
She wasn’t faking it.
She didn’t even seem overly obsessed with the perks part of being a Rings fighter. Meaning, from hearing Tyra talk, her motivation didn’t stem solely from the additional freedoms she would gain as the result of being a regular player.
No, as far as Jet could tell, for Tyra, it was about winning.
It was about being at the top of the heap.
Tyra wanted to be a full-blown, star player for the Rings.
If she got rich, or ended up living free and large as a result, all the better.
Jet wondered if Tyra had any family she would bring to the Green Zone, in the event she racked up enough points and wins. If she did, she didn’t mention that to Jet, either. She didn’t mention it in any of her interviews by the Nirreth media.
Jet had the first of those scheduled in a week, too.
Everyone was curious about the first two human female candidates. Jet was owned by the Royals, an added novelty. For now, they were concentrating more on Tyra, presumably because she’d be the very first female human ever to run in the Rings.
Which was fine with Jet.
“…They have all these giant lizards living on their home world,” Tyra added, pulling on a tighter pair of practice pants, as Jet listened. “Or they did, anyway. Anslom told me the whole lizard-skin thing actually predates humans, too. It’s an insult they have for one another, too, meaning a kind of cave man or barbarian-type Nirreth. I guess back in the old days, most of them actually wore lizard skins, so…”
Throwing up her hands, Tyra laughed, showing perfectly white, straight teeth.
They were so straight and white, Jet wondered for the first time if maybe Tyra wasn’t a skag, like her. Maybe Tyra had been raised in the Green Zone.
The longer Jet thought about it, the more plausible and likely it seemed.
It would explain her teeth, the smoothness of her scar-less skin, her size, her muscle tone, and, well, her attitude, really. Tyra could easily be someone who grew up eating clean, Green Zone food, seeing clean, Green Zone doctors, learning Nirreth culture and language since she was a kid… watching Rings matches while she was still a toddler.
No wonder she wanted to be a superstar player.
Tyra added, matter-of-fact,
“Anslom says the Nirreth haven’t changed much, really, but the Royals like to think everyone’s more sophisticated now. They only eat animals below a certain level of intelligence. They have all these rules around taking humans as mates. I guess all of that is new, though. It’s only really being enforced on Earth and one other colony for now… but she has plans to create a kind of ‘colonized species’ Bill of Rights, kind of thing.”
Jet couldn’t frowning, thinking about that.
Then she got distracted by another question she had. It struck her as strange, suddenly, that the Nirreth would take mates among the species they conquered.
Why? she wondered. Why wouldn’t they just mate with their own kind? Why would they be attracted to humans in the first place?
Human hair couldn’t possibly be THAT fascinating.
“…Even so,” Tyra warned, bringing Jet’s eyes and attention back to her. “Watch your back, hey, Jet? I hear that prince has got a real thing for you, and he might be young, but he’s still a prince. Tell your guy to be careful, or you could wake up next to a corpse one morning. Or find yourself moved to the prince’s quarters in the middle of the night…”
Jet swallowed, but felt her jaw harden.
“Noted,” she muttered.
Tyra grinned at her, slapping her on the back.
“Well, nice miss on that one, anyway. I know their kids are supposed to mature sooner than humans, but I wouldn’t want to end up playing nursemaid to that spoiled little brat.” Tyra rolled her
eyes, blowing at her bangs. “I don’t envy you, girl. I’m glad I’m not owned by the Royals. That whole family’s nuts, as far as I can tell. They can take their ‘social status’ and stuff it, as far as I’m concerned…”
Jet nodded, hands on her hips.
“Yeah,” she muttered, noncommittal. “Noted.”
She found herself thinking about Tyra’s words for hours, and the few things Laksri said that stuck with her while she was venomed.
Towards the end of that day, Jet still struggled with the whole empathy thing and why she wasn’t more angry with Laksri. All she could muster was a fair bit of irritation. Embarrassment, of course. Even a small amount of shame. But not a whole lot of honest-to-goodness anger, at least not of the variety Anaze aimed at her that morning.
She had no idea what Laksri was feeling, if anything.
He wasn’t there by the time Anaze and Jet left the bedroom.
She hadn’t seen him at Prince Ogli’s chambers that morning, either, despite his usual role of chaperone and guard to the Prince. He hadn’t been there to pick her up for lessons when the Prince was shuttled off to class.
Instead, she’d had some middle-aged, female Nirreth waiting for her outside Ogli’s room, wearing an exotic-looking skirt made of colored, reed-like fabric and a tight, pale pink, silk-looking top. The female Nirreth drilled Jet for over two hours on Nirreth customs and history, reacting at every wrong or muddled answer as if Jet’s very life depended on her full comprehension of every nuance and particular.
When Jet finally just bit the bullet and asked the female Nirreth where Laksri was, the other frowned, a faint glimmer of what might have been sympathy in her bluish-black eyes.
That was another thing Jet noticed that day.
The Nirreth no longer all looked the same to her.
Not just Nirreth she’d gotten used to picking out of the crowd, like Laksri, Ogli, Tyra’s coach and so on. All of them.
Their faces all looked so different to Jet now, she had trouble understanding how they could have looked the same to her, just a few days before.
The Complete Alien Apocalypse Series (Parts I-IV Plus Bonus Novella): An Apocalyptic, Romantic, Science Fiction, Alien Invasion Adventure Page 27
