Arobi's Queen: A Mate Index Romance (The Mate Index Book 11)

by S. J. Sanders

  The vessel moaned as its weight settled on the land apparatuses before coming to a stop. From the scars of blaster fire to spots of obviously hasty welding, it looked every inch a small battlecruiser. It shuddered one more time before a panel opened on the side and a platform slid out to the ground. Hayley held her breath anxiously, but Tanji nudged her with a small, encouraging smile.

  Then they stepped out from the ship. A distinctly reptilian-looking male stepped out first wearing a stiff uniform and a forbidding glower. Behind him Hayley spotted a sapphire blue Edoka in ratty traditional clothes for the species, descending at the side of a heavily armed Itashvanda. A swarthy human with dark hair and the typical “romantic” features that many of women lusted after shoved playfully at the Edoka, a mischievous grin on his face. At his side strode a tall golden female with fiery wings and a full crest of plumage on her head as she glanced at the human beside her with a sharp gaze. Both were clothed in stark black and dull gray armor that she recalled were worn by some private companies. She wasn’t the least bit prepared to see a tall, muscular Agraak follow close behind, his dark hair swinging from multiple braids as he seemed to scowl out ahead. Tucked near his side was a tall human woman with braided hair… Frankie.

  The woman broke out into a wide smile as she touched the ground. Rushing forward, she threw her arms around Exeri. Hayley’s lip curled as Frankie squeezed him, and she felt Tanji’s arms tighten around her. Exeri pulled away from the woman’s arms, and her face fell until she noticed Hayley. A look of understanding settled over her features, and she offered Hayley a wry smile.

  “Sorry about that. Trust me—that wasn’t whatever you thought it looked like.”

  “Indeed not,” the intimidating Agraak growled, his spines rustling as he moved closer to the woman’s side, his eyes narrowed on the Arobi pack.

  Her guys hadn’t done anything wrong. She had grabbed them!

  “Not helping, Kade,” Frankie said before her smile widened. “I’m Frankie, and this is my mate, Kade.” The emphasis wasn’t lost on Hayley, and she immediately relaxed. She hadn’t realized that Frankie was mated.

  Hayley flushed and wanted to creep away, but Exeri wrapped his arm around her and hugged her tightly against him. “This is our queen, Hayley,” he stated warmly.

  His eyes shifted over the reptilian alien standing off to the side with his arms crossed over his chest. “Commander Vish, I had not realized that you were coming.”

  The male’s tail snapped irritably but a small smile curved his lips. “How could I not?” he rasped in a sibilant voice. “When I found out that one of the best units I have had the pleasure of serving under me was going to do something so entirely reckless as to confront some sort of giant monstrosity on their own, I had to see it with my own eyes. So that you are aware, Rodriguez was the one who informed me and had the temerity to ask for ‘a lift’ from his current station.”

  Rodriguez slung an arm around the alien female at his side. “Etina and I needed transportation. We had a cruiser, but there was an unfortunate accident…”

  The female rolled her eyes, her wings fluffing out behind her. “If by accident you mean that you decided to try to take it between two fighters on Prixar, in a narrow space that it was not designed to move through, then yes, a most unfortunate accident,” she quipped.

  “We got picked up on the way,” the Edoka chimed in with an amused grin.

  Exeri returned the male’s smile. “Thank you, Mi’yar. In fact, I thank you all for coming on such short notice. It humbles us to be able to count on friends such as you.”

  “Friends nothing,” the Itashvanda grumbled. “We served for revolutions together. You are as close to a family as I have. Which reminds me—everyone needs to keep in touch more. Monthly comms, or at least on the holidays.”

  A deep laugh rumbled from Borth. “Agreed, Emagul. I get tired of waiting around for some action. At least let me hear it from the exciting lives my family leads. Now let’s get inside and break open some wine. I recall that Bilax always has something good. Business is best discussed over a good meal.”

  “I cannot argue with the logic.” Bilax chuckled with a grin.

  “Inside then,” Exeri said as he turned to lead them into the house. “We have meat roasting on the spit. We will fill our stomachs, speak of better times, and talk of the dangers to come.”

  “Thought I smelled a good roast,” Grish said with relish.

  Hayley snickered as she leaned against Exeri’s side, her pack surrounding her like a comforting buffer as they went inside together.

  It was only after much food and drink were consumed, and even more laughter over old stories and exploits, that the discussion came around to the business at hand. Simah set his datapad at the center of the table and initiated is holographic projection settings. Within seconds, a schematic of the entire property popped into view. Hayley’s eyebrows went up. It was larger than she had known, even after weeks of living with her pack.

  “We do not know if it will come from the mountains or the open fields, but we believe we should place the drill here,” he said, motioning to the further edge of the schematic, far away from where the house sat. “It will bring the creature close enough to where we have accessible supplies without being too near our dwelling to put our queen in danger.”

  “Seems pretty straightforward,” Frankie said, stacking her hands beneath her chin as she frowned at the schematic. “We’re dealing with a predator. So limited intelligence and probably limited cunning. You mentioned that it’s unpredictable, which means it’s at least smarter than your average beast.

  “We are looking at brute force,” Borth chuckled. “Just like the old days. Lure it in. Trap it and beat the shit and guts out of it.”

  “We don’t have much information to work with,” Simah cautioned. “All we know for sure is that it is big and may have limbs similar to an insectoid creature.”

  “Please tell me it’s not a giant spider. The universe can’t hate us so much as to put giant spiders on more than one planet, and Vora already has those,” Rodriguez complained with a shudder. “Those two weeks on Vora were a nightmare.”

  “Quit being so fussy, my mate.” Etina laughed and licked her lips. “At least they tasted good.”

  “We are not sure what we might face,” Exeri said, his brow furrowing as he looked at the schematic. “We can only hope that with our combined force we are enough to take it down.”

  “So when do we do this?” Rodriguez inquired with a raised eyebrow.

  Bilax leaned forward against a chair and smirked. “Eager, my friend? Most activity occurs in the very early morning hours. I hope you enjoy waking before sun-up.”

  “You do not enjoy waking before sun-up, Bilax,” Tanji snorted mirthfully, earning him a glower while the people clustered around the table chuckled.

  “Very well,” Grish said as he sat back heavily in his chair. “Morning it shall be. Sleep well, everyone. Fuck if you can because tomorrow will tell the tale of what fate has in store.”

  Chapter 29

  Exeri breathed in the pre-dawn air. It was cool and comfortable against his skin as they moved the drill into place. He glanced up at a camera knowing that their mate was watching from the comm system room. He had wanted her to sleep as much as possible. If he had his way, she would be safe in their private chambers, the only other place as reinforced was the systems room, unaware of the ugliness that was a part of fighting these creatures. Borth rubbed his knee but smiled despite whatever discomfort the Teril was feeling in the joint.

  Squinting down at his datapad, Simah nodded. “This looks about right. Tanji, start it up!”

  The younger male grinned and nodded as he flipped on the power switch. Simah had been certain to point out its placement the night before when they were going over the plans.

  “Gradually turn it up until it is on full power.”

  The first dull thump from the drill making contact with the ground violently shook the earth beneath
their feet. Exeri’s tail shot out to aid his balance. From the corner of his eye he could see the rest of his pack, the Edoka, and Agraak do likewise, whereas the winged species braced with their wings outspread. The Tagrith female fanned her wings wide, holding Rodreegez upright as he cursed.

  As the drill reached a great depth, the surface shocks subsided, but the entire ground seemed to vibrate as the machine spewed out rock. Their team stood, scanning their surroundings.

  “How long did we estimate that we needed to run this?” Vish shouted.

  “One hour, maybe two,” Simah replied.

  The male shook his head, his eyes glowing brightly in the low light, and he drew a long blade from the sheath strapped across his back. “I think we overestimated. Something is coming our way. Judging by the vibrations it is giving off, it is very big and traveling very fast.”

  “Tanji, switch off the drill,” Exeri barked. “If the thing is heading toward them, they need to be able to fully sense it. Few species can detect vibrations like the Grwali can.”

  From where he stood, Vish nodded his agreement as Tanji hastened up the side of the drill. He barely seemed able to cling to it with his claws as it vibrated, yet after struggling over the side of it for several minutes, he slapped his hand against the panel, disengaging it. Dropping off, he trotted back over to Exeri’s side, his chest heaving as the machine’s whine slowed.

  “That was fun,” Tanji gasped out.

  “Only you would find that entertaining,” Simah said with a grin.

  “Yet the ground is still shaking,” Bilax observed. “Why?”

  “Friends, we have incoming!” Grish shouted.

  Exeri hissed. That was why!

  A loud shriek pierced the air. Trees crashed and large rocks overturned in the path of a monstrous creature rising from the ground. Three sets of enormous mandibles, two of which were actually stinger-tipped forcipules, slashed through the air as dozens of legs pulled it out of the ground, the hole caving in behind it.

  They had never looked for overturned earth, Exeri realized. They had checked the mines and looked for signs of the creature’s passing, but this thing closed its own holes. Turned earth was not even noticeable. Worse, the creature had no scent by which to detect it. It shrieked, piercing his ears as he scurried back from its path with his unit. Its body whipped straight toward the humans as it lifted its front segments into the air threateningly.

  “Fucking shit! Not a spider, a second worse thing—giant-ass monster centipedes! What is with the fucking bugs that the universe wants to throw at me?!” Rodreegez shouted.

  “Technically, centipedes don’t have rows of giant fangs sprouting from their mouths like sharks, or a pelt of fur down its back like this guy,” Frahnkee called back as she dodged one massive leg. Kade’s tail wrapped around her, hauling her to his side as she fired at the creature. Another shriek followed the impact of the blaster with a hot, electric scent not unlike burning ozone.

  Exeri had never seen a centipede, and assuming it was something from Earth he was very unlikely to, but he could understand Rodreegez’s discomfort. Four long, claw-like antenna sprouted from the top of its head just above six bulbous black eyes. There were no vulnerable areas along the head that he could see. The entire top of its head was protected by a horned exoskeleton like the linsek beetles, giving it a fearsome appearance. It had more of these horns that rose up from the fur on each segment of its body.

  When its mandibles spread as it turned its head in his direction, he could see the rows of fangs clearly in the early morning light… in part due to a sickly greenish-yellow bioluminescent glow coming off the creature. The fur was contained mostly on its back, as Frahnkee pointed out, but its belly was bare, and each segment of its long body possessed a joint for a pair of its enormous legs.

  “Attack the joints and the belly!” he barked to his pack. “Stay away from the head. You have seen what its bite did to the drill.”

  The males nodded and loped toward it, taking up natural formation as they ran along its side. Exeri raced around them, cutting into the lead, ducking around legs. With his sharp claws, he slashed around the joint. He was forced to dodge the knife-like leg that attempted to skewer him more than once.

  “Tracker is implanted!” Bilax shouted.

  Exeri’s chest swelled with triumph that was immediately ripped away, a sharp yelp directing his attention to where Simah fell back, a gash running from his sternum to his hip. Blood flowed freely as he evaded the giant legs clashing all around them at a frenzied speed.

  Grish bellowed as he came out of nowhere, swinging his large laser-edged ax, slicing through a leg before it could come down on Simah. The monster shrieked at an even higher pitch, but Grish swept up Simah and moved him to safety. Relieved that his pack brother was away from harm and would soon be treated with the field medkit, Exeri bolted ahead and attacked again.

  The sounds of blaster fire rang loud in his ears, as did the shouts among his unit. A flash of fire, and he watched as the Tagith darted into the air, raising a laser spear to plunge into one of the creature’s eyes. It snapped, squealing in pain and rage while Rodreegez fired at the segment that connected its monstrous head.

  With the creature stalled, Grish and Borth attacked its legs at once in a cooperative effort, hacking at them with their massive weapons while Exeri, Bilax, and Tanji attacked together, rending into the joints to tear into the soft tissue of its body. Its entire body thrashed, the impacting sending Exeri flying.

  He landed hard, the air rushing out of his lungs. Struggling, he glanced up and saw Tanji lying a short distance away. Exeri crawled over to him, his brow knit with worry. With shaking hands, he found his pack brother’s pulse. He was covered with the creature’s gore, but he was still alive. Exeri shook with relief.

  “Tanji!”

  Exeri looked to see Simah stumble forward. The med-kit had sealed the gash, though it still seeped with his exertion. He collapsed into the grass next to him.

  “You’d better not be dead, you idiot,” he hissed.

  Exeri opened his mouth to tell him otherwise, but Tanji wheezed in his arms.

  “Not yet… Did not know you cared.”

  In response, Simah hugged him close. “What would I do without you to keep things interesting?” he whispered so softly that Exeri barely heard him as he pushed himself to his feet.

  Still rattled from the impact, Exeri snarled and looked to where the creature was still thrashing. The Terils were dodging it with minor successes, hacking at it while Vish darted in to stab his blade deep into weak places before spinning away. Mi’yar used both his double swords and the spineblades from his forearms to create a targeted slashing frenzy before he danced out of the way. He worked in tandem with Vish as they wore down the joints and the vulnerable places between the segments.

  Blood sprayed everywhere, but it hardly seemed to slow it down.

  Meanwhile, Etina and Emagul continued their attacks from above, seeking out the eyes and any weaknesses they could find from the air. Three rivulets of blood already ran from where they had dug their laser lances deep into the ocular orbits. Bleeding and half-blind, it rolled and renewed its attack, its body lashing and legs attempting to rip into them as it shrieked and squealed. At the front of the creature, Frahnkee, Kade, and Rodreegez stood firm with a coordinated a wall of blaster fire targeting the neck and chest area as it swung its armored head protectively in front of itself. Its long antenna whipped around it with such strength that it sounded like hissing.

  The Tagith let out her own battle shriek as she closed her wings to dart down, targeting another eye as Emagul attacked the other side from above. Her light spear buried deep for a second time, but this time the creature whipped its head at her retreat and one large antenna snapped out, knocking Etina out of the air. The female’s wings crumpled around her and she dropped at an alarming speed. Exeri flew forward across the ground, a sickening knowledge settling in his stomach that he wasn’t going to make it in time. />
  A shout of exultation roared out of Exeri when Borth burst up from the ground, springing off one of the monster’s legs and using it to propel himself higher into the air. With arms outstretched, he snatched up the female and dropped, protecting her body as he absorbed the impact into his frame. He groaned painfully but pushed himself to his feet, releasing Etina to the care of her mate, who shouldered his gun to take her.

  Exeri snapped by them, Bilax racing up along his flank as they both looked for a spot to zero in on. They dodged when it suddenly rolled and moved away, retreating at a high speed.

  “It is changing directions!” Simah yelled.

  Exeri glanced back at his pack brother in confusion. Tanji had managed to sit up on his own, but Simah held up his datapad that he had pulled from his harness pack.

  “Where to?” he roared.

  The fear and sickness on the male’s face answered his question, and Exeri felt his heart drop. No… not there.

  Chapter 30

  Hayley grumbled as she stepped out of the cleansing unit. Damn her inconvenient bladder, and of course she had forgotten her comm unit beside the comm system. She hoped that no one was trying to get ahold of her, not that there was much chance of that. Though she had sat at the edge of her seat looking for some way she might help them, it hadn’t taken her long to notice that her help wasn’t needed.

  But that was also a good thing. She hadn’t been able to tell if they were overcoming the monster bug—what a horrible creature—but it looked optimistic to her, the way they were tearing it to ribbons. Her inability to help them was disappointing, but the fact that she was of no help whatsoever was what convinced her to leave the systems room to relieve her bladder. She really needed to speak to the guys about putting another cleansing unit in somewhere that didn’t require cutting through the kitchen. And getting someone out to look at it, because it had a habit of whirring loudly every time it was used for several minutes.