Mated to the Jardan Warrior

by Aria Bell

  “No supplies from my ship?” I had plenty of gear and supplies on it. I was already thinking of heading back there and setting up camp to await rescue. The crash site would be the starting point of any rescue mission.

  Unfortunately those predator whatever-they-were happened to be between me and the ship. Oh, and I had no idea where or how far away my ship had crashed because I’d been unconscious at the time.

  “I am sorry, no,” Ryrke replied. “By now your ship is below the surface of the lake. The waters are not safe.”

  I didn’t know if I bought his claims or not. At some point, I would have to check for myself. “So what is the plan?” I could come up with a few I thought were good, but right now he had the blade, so I wanted to hear what he intended first.

  He pointed to a distant mountain perhaps forty or fifty kilometers away. “We head for the lower slopes of that mountain. Find a place near snow runoff where we can better defend ourselves. I will see if we can either boost the signal of the beacon or somehow signal the space station.”

  I nodded. It was a logical plan, especially if this place had lots of predators. The downside was that we were moving away from the crash sites. That would make it harder for rescuers to track us. It was a risk, but any ship that flew below the magnetic field interference of the upper atmosphere should be able to track the beacon once they were near the planet surface.

  We walked for a while in silence. The terrain stayed difficult. It was uneven, full of sharp rock outcroppings and ravines. I spotted a few small, strange creatures scurrying for holes as we moved. There were flying creatures with gray, leathery skin and big transparent wings that perched on some of the strange vegetation that looked better suited to growing on the bottom of an ocean.

  I was still reeling from all that had happened. Now that it was quiet, everything was beginning to sink in. I could have died…probably should have died…and this criminal had saved me. I didn’t understand why. It was confusing and unsettling. But I couldn’t let myself feel fear, either for him or for the situation I found myself in. I was unarmed, with no map, no tech, no ship, and no idea where I was. The only thing I knew for sure was I happened to be marooned on a planet that seemed like one big empty wilderness with no cities or towns or vehicles. Then again, at least I wasn’t stuck here alone.

  Although time would tell whether or not that was a good thing.

  Noises suddenly sounded in front of us where the way ahead narrowed into a canyon between two huge cliffs of red rock. Ryrke halted and put out a large hand and gripped my shoulder. His touch was gentle enough, but I could sense the incredible power in his grip. I stopped as we both listened and scanned for whatever had made the noise.

  Then the things hunting us came into view. They walked on all fours and were covered in lean muscle. Their bodies were hairless and the same red color as much of the surrounding stone. They had blackish eyes with yellow pupils, claws on their feet, and very protruding teeth. Also, there were three of them at least, with more popping up with every passing moment.

  Definitely predators. Definitely interested in us. Definitely going to be a problem.

  Ryrke strode forward, drawing his blade in a smooth motion that was far quicker than I imagined he could move. He raised his arms, his muscles bulging, and bellowed a war cry that echoed off the surrounding landscape.

  The loud war cry nearly had me jumping out of my boots in surprise. Even the predator creatures hesitated, clearly unsure about what this sound was all about.

  “Come to me,” Ryrke yelled, holding the blade ready. His stance was pure warrior. Strong. Capable. Deadly. My heart was pounding, but it was hard to take my eyes off the impressive sight he presented. In a less dangerous situation, I knew my panties would’ve been soaked at the sight of such a powerful, staggering vision.

  The predators didn’t stay wary for long. One by one, the creatures started to approach, hissing and chattering to each other. But then a spear flew out of nowhere and buried itself in the side of the closest creature, killing it. The rest of the creatures instantly scattered and fled.

  Both Ryrke and I wheeled around to face whoever had thrown the spear. It was a male, humanoid alien with silvery yellow skin. He stood at the top of a ridge behind us, one we’d crossed a short time ago. He wore elaborate leather-like garb with what looked like short rope or cords dangling from it all over. The hood of some kind of rust-red, poncho-like apparel was thrown back to reveal his completely hairless head and his dark eyes. There were more spears slung in some kind of carrier on his back. He grabbed another spear and held it ready as he watched us. This had to be one of the indigenous Voltuni who lived on this harsh world.

  Again I wished I had my blaster. I would’ve felt a thousand times safer.

  Ryrke moved between the alien and me. I was bright enough not to feel annoyed at the protective gesture. After all, he had the blade. And he was huge. I could hide behind him if the Voltuni started throwing more spears.

  Still, I whispered to him, “Don’t be aggressive. We don’t want to provoke him.”

  Ryrke grunted, but I suspected he wasn’t really listening to me.

  For almost a minute, we all stood there staring at each another. The tension in the air was immense. Then the Voltuni let out a whooping cry that echoed off the surrounding rocks.

  “That doesn’t sound good,” I murmured.

  “Be still, d’mura osefei,” Ryrke warned, his voice deep and low.

  After the echoes faded away, more Voltuni began to appear, seemingly out of nowhere. They surrounded us completely. All the high ground was occupied by spear-wielding Voltuni warrior men.

  My heart began to beat faster. My mouth was suddenly dry. I took a step closer to Ryrke. I couldn’t help it.

  The Voltuni moved down from the ridges and surrounding rock formations. There were twenty of them at least. I did some quick mental math and decided that an unarmed galactic officer and a Jardan warrior armed only with a blade might be able to handle ten. At the most.

  The tension grew even more intense as the Voltuni closed in. They held their spears, but they weren’t pointing them directly at us. I took that as a good sign. What was troubling, though, was that after they looked Ryrke over (seeming as impressed by his size and build as I had been), they all began to stare at me. Maybe they’d never seen a human before. Or a human female. But they were all chattering to each other. The translator on Ryrke’s computer began to turn their words into Galactic Common. They were talking about me. How pretty my hair was. How soft my skin looked. How big my breasts were. And on and on.

  “We are in trouble, d’mura osefei.” Ryrke’s fists were bunched, his blade in hand. But even he, as strong and big as he was, couldn’t have taken on all of these Voltuni. “I think they like you.”

  “You just figured that out?” I snapped. “Good thing we had a translator device.” I didn’t know whether to be relieved that we’d found intelligent life out here in the wastes, or terrified that they seemed so interested in me and carried spears.

  One Voltuni came closer to me, gesturing and grinning as he stared at my breasts. They were covered by my flight suit of course, but my flight suit fit rather snugly to protect me. Only now the tight fit was drawing more attention to me.

  Ryrke growled at the Voltuni and raised his blade.

  “Don’t,” I said quickly, putting a restraining hand on his heavily muscled arm.

  At first, it seemed as if he wouldn’t obey. He appeared determined to fight the male Voltuni who was looking me over so lasciviously. Ryrke still held his blade ready. He still seemed every inch the Jardan warrior.

  “Don’t. Please,” I pressed. No man I’d just arrested was going to get himself killed on my watch. “Maybe they can help us.”

  Still, when one of the Voltuni reached for Ryrke’s blade while mocking it for not being a spear, Ryrke tensed, readying himself to make his move. I could tell from the set of his body that he was an instant from striking. This wasn’t going to
be good.

  “Ryrke, please,” I begged. I wasn’t too proud to beg. I was smart. Probably the smartest one here, the only female surrounded by a bunch of aggressive-hormone males. And being smart meant I had to realize the situation was hopeless. We couldn’t win this battle, so I had to accept the odds and surrender.

  For now.

  Ryrke finally yielded, although I could tell by the set of his shoulder and his clenched jaw that it went against every fiber of his being. It even seemed to cause him near-physical pain when the Voltuni took away his blade and then his pack. Ryrke clenched his fists, set his jaw, but he didn’t attack as he was so clearly ready to do.

  That meant something to me, although I didn’t have time to acknowledge it at the moment. Right then, I had to focus on keeping us alive.

  I only hoped I hadn’t made the wrong choice.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Nena Brax

  The Voltuni marched us through a dizzying maze of canyons, ravines, and narrow trails for at least an hour. I couldn’t help watching them closely, trying to guess what they wanted. They traveled with their hoods up and a spear in hand. Their clothing was the same rusty red of the surrounding rocks, and even the leather-like armor or clothing beneath the poncho was stained red. Their skin was silvery yellow, a shade similar to the leaves of a ronu tree on my homeworld. They didn’t seem to have any hair on their lean bodies either. The Voltuni didn’t touch us. They only walked all around us as if escorting us…or guarding us.

  Ryrke had said the Voltuni were unfriendly to strangers. But so far, they hadn’t been particularly aggressive. Although we hadn’t really challenged them or put up a fight either. The one who seemed to be the leader was now carrying Ryrke’s blade on his hip and the Jardan warrior’s pack slung over his shoulder. I could feel the coiled tension in Ryrke as he walked beside me. He was not happy that they’d taken his blade. I couldn’t blame him. I wished I had my blaster pistol. Then things might have been different.

  The Voltuni had tied the predator creature they had killed with the spear onto a pole and two of them carried it along with us. I assumed it would turn into a meal at some point. That was good because I didn’t want to end up anyone’s meal instead of that four-legged beast. Worrying that these spear-carrying Voltuni would eat us wasn’t a very charitable thought…but I wasn’t too proud to admit I was nervous. I kept hoping I’d made the right choice in not fighting them. Ryrke had surprised me by standing down when I begged him, so now whatever happened was on me. I had to own it.

  Ryrke and I didn’t talk as we moved across the harsh landscape. This world’s sun was still and high overhead. Although it was very bright and large in the sky, it wasn’t too hot. I was grateful for that as we hiked along. My flight suit had some built-in survival features, including efficient use of my body heat. But Ryrke wasn’t wearing a scrap of clothing on his torso. The elements might affect him more. Then again, he was a Jardan and probably chiseled out of rock.

  I no longer knew how I felt about the big warrior after all that had happened. Yes, I still intended to bring him to justice…I just had no idea how to pull that off. And honestly, it no longer seemed like my greatest problem at the moment. Getting off this rock and back to civilization was my first priority. Having the galactic police send a ship out to take me back to the core was the next.

  Things had turned complicated and quickly. Ryrke Zo’dan was completely different from my assumptions of what a Jardan wanted for murder would be like. I’d encountered Jardan before, but rarely. I’d known they were big, but Ryrke seemed huge, even for a standard Jardan. They were warriors with a culture of honor who were fiercely protective of their mates and offspring. They were also said to be lifelong friends…but challenging to get to trust you. But hey, it wasn’t for me to tell if Ryrke was guilty or innocent. I was only the arresting officer. He’d get his time before the galactic court.

  Besides, if he hadn’t been hiding out on the galactic rim in the first place, I wouldn’t have had to chase him all the way into this uncivilized backwater. Then I wouldn’t be in this sorry situation at all. It was enough to make me want to elbow him again. Although I valued my elbows too much to break them on his stone-thick skull.

  We hiked for over an hour. Eventually we headed down into a big canyon—the largest I’d seen so far. The cliffs of the canyon soon rose over fifty meters on each side. They were made of sheer, rust-red rock that would have been a challenge to climb by hand. A kilometer or more into the canyon, we encountered large stone fortifications and a gate. There were spear-carrying Voltuni on top of the walls stretching from one side of the canyon to the other. The leader of our group, the one with Ryrke’s blade and pack, lifted a horn to his mouth and blew.

  The long, powerful blast of the horn echoed up and down the canyon. An answering horn blast sounded from behind the walls. The gates began to swing open.

  “That’s one impressive hailing system,” I muttered under my breath. As doorbells went, theirs could be heard for literal kilometers.

  Ryrke glanced at me, scowling. He’d been in a dark mood since we’d been captured. I knew he blamed me for our current situation, but I wondered if he blamed me for everything that had happened to us today. Probably. I’d shot him down after all. Something he’d better not forget. Ryrke might be as big as a prehistoric opoloron, but I was clearly the better pilot.

  We were escorted through the gate. The new Voltuni gathered around, staring at us. A few of the Voltuni were clearly female. They wandered right up to Ryrke and began touching him. Feeling his muscles. They seemed to love the fact that his massive chest was bare. A few of them even managed to give his ass a squeeze.

  “Hey,” he grumbled. “What is the meaning of this?”

  “It’s probably how they make friends in their culture,” I told him, grinning at the expression on his face. “Just go with it.” On the other hand, if one of these males came over and started rubbing on my boobs, his face was going to meet my elbow.

  Ryrke actually jumped when one of the oldest Voltuni females grabbed his crotch. She turned to the others, laughing and smiling and making sounds like she was impressed. I actually envied her a little. But as tempted as I was, it was against galactic code to fondle a prisoner.

  Or potential prisoner who hadn’t actually been arrested yet.

  The Voltuni who’d ambushed us waved the females away. The banter back and forth was lively, although so many Voltuni were speaking that the translator seemed to have trouble with it. I started to feel some hope that this would turn out okay after all. The Voltuni seemed friendly enough with each other. I was sure that given time, we could sort out this whole misunderstanding.

  The leader motioned us onward, so we kept hiking. I was tired, but I wasn’t going to let anyone around me know. Especially not Ryrke. But my thigh muscles were sore and so was my elbow, of course. A mild headache reminded me of the crash landing that had started this wonderful adventure off.

  Soon we reached the Voltuni settlement. It was carved and built into the side of the cliff that received the most sunlight. Many of the elaborate structures looked to have been shaped out of the rock. There were bridges and balconies and alleyways that became tunnels as they led back into the cliff. The settlement went at least a hundred meters directly into the cliff, lit by hanging lanterns, with chimney holes tunneled through the rock. Many of the houses and buildings along the cliffside were connected with ladders and rope bridges. The canyon bottom itself had ordered rows of plants growing around a small river winding its way between the cliff walls. The whole elaborate settlement spread along the canyon wall for as far as I could see.

  We were brought to a massive structure with pillars and benches carved out of the rock. It looked like somewhere important. Soon we were escorted inside and brought before a Voltuni male who looked like he was some kind of leader or high priest, judging by his ornate clothing of gold and diamond-glittering scales, as well as his very big hat.

  “I am Glorious Celeb
rated Chief Moppo,” the Voltuni announced. I began to wonder how accurate Ryrke’s translation program was, because that was certainly a mouthful of a title. “You are strangers. Your presence on the sacred land is an affront to the gods.”

  That didn’t sound good. I stepped forward, hoping the translator would do an adequate job of turning my words into something the Voltuni could understand. “I am Sergeant Nena Brax of the Galactic Police. I mean you no harm. I did not mean to trespass. I was apprehending this obstinate criminal when my…” I searched my brain for a word or concept they would understand. “When my sky chariot crashed.”

  The chief looked me up and down with a smug smile. “You mean your starship? We are not completely unaware of the worlds beyond this world. We simply choose to keep to our own ways and our own gods.” He turned to Ryrke and squinted at him. “You have the look of a warrior.”

  Ryrke stepped forward and bowed slightly—a gesture of respect but not obeisance. “I am Ryrke Zo’dan of Xy’dolma Clan. The human is wrong about me being a criminal, but she is correct about our having unintentionally crashed on your planet. If you know about the star systems, perhaps you have a way to contact the space station?”