by Erin Raegan
But it did us no good, the aliens kept going and we were just along for the ride.
Chapter 8
Peyton
The tiny human female screamed in my hima canal incoherently the entire way back to the ship. I winced with every high decibel that left her pink mouth. The older male had a more pleasing howl, it was low and not nearly as grading on my membranes.
Fihk, carting the male, grinned as he glanced back at me. He was enjoying this far too much. Yilt’s, and my ridiculous attempt at communication was greatly amusing to my second. It would still be some time until our minds melded with the human language. And even after, I was unsure how well we would actually be able to speak it. But these humans would at least help along the process. We would take them aboard and scan their vocal cadences for our translators.
If we had just cut out one of their throats, Yilt could have studied them more easily, but that was forbidden. Our King commanded we do not participate in the harming of the humans. And I obeyed my King above all others. We were here on this huktbores planet to eliminate the Vitat, and that is all. No matter the task would be much less arduous if we could understand and communicate with the weakly human species. The sun beat down on our hide here. I had fought many wars, at many planets. The Vitat’s planet was bright once long ago, this Earth reminded me of their horrible suns.
Oh, how weak they were. My spines shriveled along my forelimbs. It was no wonder they were invaded by the Vitat so easily. They had no defenses, and measly armies. Fear was their greatest downfall. The moment the Vitat warship entered their atmosphere, chaos ruled their planet. They stood no chance against the light race.
Their primitive planet was very lucky that my species, the Dahk, followed the Vitat to this tiny hole in space to save their hide’s. If it were my call I would not have. It was a waste of resources. The King had misplaced emotions regarding this Earth. So, we were now here, and forced to fight for the human’s survival for them while their leaders cowered in their ground holes.
“Where should we stash the humans, Tahk?” Yilt called back to me as he stopped beneath the ship.
“In the storage hold,” I told him and bent my hind legs. Gripping the shaking female tighter to me, I spread my winged limbs and leapt into the air.
“Great Dahkish!” I growled when her piercing cry ruptured my hima. I smacked her sharply on her rump to quiet her. It seemed to work, for the screeching stopped, but a huktbores whimper escaped her, and my spines flared in agitation.
“OOOWWW!” She cried and rubbed at her flesh lump.
“You will be quiet female,” I told her, I could not handle the screeching this day, or the painful whimpering. I was not an emotionless male, I understood her distress was fueled by her fear, I just did not have the patience for human female vocal cries.
They were strange enough to look at. Smooth skinned as a dahkling. Strangely large eyes and raised snouts. They were small and five fingered. They had fur.
Hybolt felt my call and opened the hatch as I landed on the lip of the ship. Entering the bay, Yilt and Fihk had their own screeching human to contend with. The Dahk in the bay scuttled back away from the aching noise.
I dumped the female onto the ships floor and marched away. Someone else would handle her from this point on. I had Vitat to hunt down.
“Hy yu gt bck hre!” The older male latched onto my wing. I turned and growled menacingly. Thus far I had tried my best to soothe the humans, going so far as to attempt communication. But no one. No one. Touched a Dahk’s wing.
“What?” I flashed my teeth and the human male tripped backwards, I startled him but did not frighten him. His shoulders straightened, and he pointed back outside the ship.
“M dg!”
“What does the male say?” Fihk tilted his head and watched the male with curious eyes.
“How should I know? We cannot understand their language!” I grumbled.
“He is distressed about his booboo,” Yilt nodded.
“What is a booboo?” Fihk asked him.
Yilt huffed and folded his arms. “I do not know, but he cried for it the whole three click flight up. Listen to the females. They cry for their booboos as well.”
We three turned along with the others in the bay to watch the females. They danced around the older male, patting his back and pointing outside. Listening closely to their jumbled language I could just make out this booboo sound.
“We cnt leve booboo!” The brown-furred, pale skinned female I carried cried in anguish. She left the male and ran to me, her hands lifted towards my chest and all Dahk under my command sucked in a horrified breath. But the female did not strike me. It was a good thing, for I have dismembered many for less offences. I was already on edge after her companion touched me. She thought better of it and hopped up and down pointing and screeching.
I grimaced. “Their noises are intolerable.”
My Dahk nodded in commiseration.
“Get them this booboo, we must go, or cut out their tongues. I cannot take much more of the high decibels.”
“Yes, my lord, er how should we find them this booboo?” Yilt’s brow ridges rose high in question. I held back a sigh.
“They did not fret for it until we brought them here, maybe they just wish to leave the ship?” Fihk looked back to the females. “You cannot leave females. Is earth your booboo? We will return you when we have finished learning your language.” Fihk winked at the tall golden-furred female. She grinned blunt flat teeth back at him.
“Tht ons so nce.” She twirled a lock of fur around her finger.
“Dfus! Th whte alns ar gnna et Booboo!” The brown-furred one smacked the golden-furred female.
“I thnk th bts klld thm all.” She looked outside wearily.
“Hy chtty cthys shtp! Yu!” The old male pointed at my lower chest, he did not come up much higher. The male began making a series of beastly noises.
“Wy ar yu brkng at thm? Vv alrdy trd tht, t ddnt wrk.” The brown-haired female rolled her white and green eyes. I was momentarily distracted by the sparkle in them. They reminded me of the gems my First Mother placed on the table every eve.
“f thy wnt let me off ths shp thy bttr gv me my dg!”
“Ahhh.” Yilt grinned wildly at the male. “The mule they traveled with. They must keep it with them for some sustenance.” Several Dahk gaped at Yilt. The male was smart. He was a new Lieutenant under my command, still young, but proving his usefulness.
“Milkish of some sort? Though did not see glands. Mayhap meat?” The Dahk nodded to themselves. Booboo was a beast of earth. So be it.
“Grab it, we must go,” I told them and turned back to the females. They were huddled with the male, their tongues out of their mouths, panting. They locked eyes with me and I shook my head, humans were very strange. Why would they pant to expel bodily fluids, I could have sworn they had sweat pores?
“See, they imitate it.” Yilt chuckled. “A valiant attempt to communicate.”
I walked to the hatch. The Dahk would stand here all day captivated with the humans if I let them. “There.” I pointed down below the ship. The beast was spinning in circles growling up at the ship. Hmmm, strange for a human meal. Perhaps they formed attachments to their human owners.
“I will retrieve the beast.” Fihk chuckled and flew from the hatch. The females cheered.
The brown furry one stepped up to the hatch and without much thought I gripped the scruff of her neck to keep her from falling out.
My spines sparked.
Huktbores!
I stared at the human in horror.
She was my Pythe!
Chapter 9
Peyton
Mohawk held me by the back of my neck and I shivered. The skin of its hand was thick like leather and so smooth. Goosebumps pebbled all along my neck. It was frozen and staring down at me. Its silver pupils dilated, its mouth hung open, scary teeth peeking out. It looked a little horrified, though it was hard to tell.
I had on
ly ever seen the tiny bats on Mr. Lake’s ranch, in his barn. But this alien reminded me a lot of them, minus the brown fur. And the size―yikes. They were huge. The top of my head barely reached its bulky chest.
One of the aliens flew from the ship, hopefully to grab Bobo, and a part of me was surprised they would grab him. I felt like asking to leave but they had brought us up here so part of me worried we would push our luck trying to escape. But no way in hell was I taking a trip into outer space.
“What did ya do to it?” Colt grumbled somewhere behind me.
“Nothing,” I said low and perfectly still. The bat alien was touching me, I dared not make any sudden movements.
“It looks like you stepped on its six toes or something’, I want off this UFO girly, don’t piss it off,” Colt grumbled and shuffled closer.
Mohawk started growling and huffing again and I started to shake. It sounded super pissed off now. Its eyes narrowed, and its hand tightened along my neck.
“You did piss it off!” Colt nocked my arm and shoved his face between me and the alien. “SHE. DIDN’T. MEAN. IT!” He said slowly and very loudly. “How about you just let us off this ship and you won’t have to kill her.”
“Kill me?” I squeaked and looked at Colt horrified. I didn’t do anything to piss the alien off, just looked outside!
The alien growled louder, and the other bat aliens joined in. There was arm waving, and bat wing shaking, and head shaking. It looked like they were all arguing with Mohawk. It shouted, and all the aliens quieted. It growled something very menacingly and pushed away from me. I stumbled back into Colt and watched Mohawk stomp out of the huge room in the spaceship.
Bat-two slowly stepped up to me and said something with wide eyes. It growled low and slow into my face. It reminded me of Colt trying to slowly talk to the alien before, trying to calm it. Was this alien trying to reassure me?
It lightly touched my arm and I jumped. It patted me. Holy shit it was.
Bat-three flew into the ship with Bobo held tightly in its arms. Bobo was whining and shaking. He jumped from the alien’s arms as soon as it landed. He ran to Colt and started licking all over his face.
“Calm down boy, we’ll be gettin’ off this UFO in no time.”
“Peyton, we have to get to the ranch,” Viv sniffled and wiped at her eyes. “Hector will be so worried.”
“I know,” I sighed. I looked at the bald alien absently patting my arm as it watched Viv sniffle.
“We want to leave,” I told it. It ignored me and said something to another alien.
Bat-three grasped Viv’s arm and guided her around.
“Wait! We want to leave!” I yelled and held her other arm. It was a tug a war for a few moments. Bat-two grabbed my arm and gently pulled me away from Viv, I held on. It growled low. Three huffed and picked up Vivian, throwing her over its shoulder. Three did the same to me and I cried out, “Hey!”
“Don’t you be liftin’ me,” Colt grumbled and backed away from another alien. “I got two feet, I’ll walk.” He followed the alien as it guided him out of the big alien ship bay behind us.
I was tempted again to beat against the alien, but Mohawk had looked so angry when I almost did it before, so instinct kept my violence in check. Instead Viv and I screamed and shouted. They didn’t seem to like that too much.
We walked through a dark hallway for a while until the aliens stopped at a wall. Three raised its free arm over the wall and it slid open, revealing a wide doorway. Inside looked like what could only be described as a lab. There were beds, or cots that hovered in the air, and all kinds of lit up machines, and gadgets on tables.
“Hell no. Oh hell no!” Colt shouted, he had no problem beating on the alien as it shoved him into the room. Looking around at the alien lab, my eyes caught on a table of sharp needle looking things. I suddenly had no problem beating against them either.
“You ain’t probin’ me!” Colt wailed his arms and kicked out with his feet nearly toppling over into a cot, and Bobo growled menacingly.
The aliens growled at each other. Three dropped Viv gently on a cot and had her tied down before I could comprehend what was happening. Two pushed me onto the cot beside hers and I kicked out at it. It growled low and pulled a strap over my chest and I reached for its face, scratching at its black eyes.
“Peyton!” Viv cried and sobbed. She was wiggling against her restraints. Colt’s shouting nearly drowned her out. My nails caught on Two’s thick skin around its eyes and pulled. The skin was so thick my nails nearly tore. The skin didn’t break, but Two howled so it must have hurt.
I scratched every inch of it, but ultimately it over powered me and strapped me down. Colt was strapped a few moments after us. He quieted and scowled up at the alien. “You stay away from my orifices! Ain’t no one sticking anything’ in any orifices!”
“Orifices?” Viv sobbed louder, “I want Hector!”
Bobo barked, the aliens ignored him and moved around the room. They left the dog to roam free, I guess they weren’t all that concerned with him. I could see why, Bobo growled and bared his teeth, but he did not get close to them. Instead he trotted from cot to cot, some guard dog he was. When Two came to Viv, Bobo yelped and skittered out of the way.
Two patted Viv on her head, and lowly growled and huffed at her. She sobbed louder, Two looked up eyes wild, and panicked.
Three picked up a machine and walked to Colt. “What’s that?” Colt wiggled his butt to the outside of the cot, Three huffed and walked to the other side. Colt wiggled his butt to face the other way. Three huffed again and walked around. They danced this way for a few minutes until Three said something to the other alien in the room. This one had ridges on its head from its ears trailing down the back of its skull, it looked like braids from a distance.
Braids growled and walked to Colt, it placed its hands on Colt’s hips and held him down. “No no no! You stay away from my butthole!” He shouted. Viv sobbed, and snot trailed down her face. Two sniffed her nose, scrunched its face and backed away.
Three grabbed the edge of Colt’s pants and yanked them down so his naked behind was resting on the cot. Braid’s tilted Colt so his butt was facing Three. “Hey!” Colt wiggled but he was no match for the alien’s strength. “You shove something up there you ain’t gonna like what I do! I’ll shove something up your asses!”
I couldn’t see what the aliens were doing, and part of me was grateful, Colt seemed mortified and angry and though I cared for his privacy, I was also terrified of what they were doing and would rather stay firmly in denial. Instead I looked away and to Viv, Two was watching her hysteria horrified and scratching at its ears. I got the impression it didn’t like her wailing.
I lifted my head and looked down at the straps holding me, they were thick and white. There didn’t seem to be a latch, just a strange strip of material that went across me and down the sides of the cot. I wiggled against the ones at my chest and legs, but they wouldn’t budge. So, I scooted up on the cot. They weren’t so tight that they kept me still, so I was able to scoot a couple inches until my head hung off the end of the cot.
Colt suddenly bellowed a bunch of curses before falling quiet. I refused to look at him. Instead I scrunched my eyes shut tight and wiggled up more. Desperation was clawing at me. Viv was crying my name, but I didn’t look at her, I got so far up the cot I was using my abdominal muscles to stay upright when I could finally get my hands free.
I gripped the edge and shoved off to free my legs. One leg popped free when hands clamped down on my arms. Shit. The hands yanked me backwards and free of the cot and my heart leaped. Then the hands shoved me face down over the cot and I screamed.
My pants were yanked down to my ankles, my butt pebbled from the cold air. My breathing became erratic and my eyes blurred from the tears streaming down my face.
The aliens growled and clamped hands onto my wrists. Their purple-black skin contrasted starkly against my own paleness, ramping up my fear.
Aliens were
holding me down.
Aliens were holding me down and looking at my ass. They were going to do something to my ass, and it was going to hurt.
I screamed louder.
Chapter 10
Tahk
My Pythe’s cry of terror burned my hima canals and spurred dormant instincts. I roared and charged from the command chamber.
She was afraid.
All would die.
Chapter 11
Peyton
“Quit yer yappin’ it wasn’t so bad,” Colt grumbled from his cot.
“They stuck me with a needle!” Viv sobbed. “In my hiney!”
“It was a baby needle, nothin’ to scream about,” he huffed and turned to the aliens that were moving around the room. “It could have just as easily been in my arm though, could have avoided stickin’ my ass.”
Tiny needle? That was not a flu shot, more like a giant turkey thermometer!
There was a loud roar that shook the ship and put the aliens in the room on edge. Three stumbled away from Viv, where it was placing a tiny bandage on her wound. Two edged closer to the door and stood tall, bracing for something.
The door to the lab burst open and Mohawk charged in, eyed crazed and teeth bared. He roared so loud I wished my hands weren’t tied down, so I could cover them.
The bat aliens looked stunned for a moment before Mohawk charged them. There was menacing growling and roars that shook the room. Tables and tools went flying. A large cup of very strange looking green liquid smacked into Colts face drenching him and he gagged.
The two aliens that stuck us with that overly large needle were unconscious thanks to Mohawk’s rage. Before I could even comprehend what was happening, straps were ripped from my body and I was torn from the cot. Three was the only one awake and seemed pretty beat up. Dark burgundy blood seeped from several laceration on its face, and it cradled its arm protectively to its chest.
