Rai

by Maia Starr

  “I am going to carry you so let me know if it is painful on your back,” I said. She cocked her head to the side as though she was surprised that I was concerned. What did I need to do to prove to her that I cared for her? I scooped her up into my arms with her legs over one arm and her back on the other. She put her arms around my neck. I smiled looking into her brown eyes.

  Then I flew into the air, keeping low. I did not want to fly too high. Anyone could see us if we were above the trees: Qon, humans, cyborgs.

  I felt Hannah squeezing me tight. I knew that I thought bonded to her, it was part of the process of having sex with a human female. I didn't know if the same thing happened to her that happened to me. A part of me hoped that it did. I did not want to let her go. I was not ready to take her home and leave her there. Of course I would hold my promise and take her wherever she wanted to go, including home, but maybe she could convince her human colony to speak with us; then I could stay with her. I was already processing all of this.

  “There it is. There is my ship,” I said as I flew lower toward the clearing of my parked ship.

  I landed in the wooded area, setting Hannah down on her feet.

  “It looks good,” I said looking at the ship as I walked around it. “Wait. What is this?” I said as I got to the rear of the ship. The back panel was open.

  “I did that,” I heard a familiar voice say. I turned to see Qon. He had his arm around Hannah's neck with a knife against her belly. Her eyes were wide with fear.

  “Qon! Let the human go!” I shouted. I was in a rage. I had to restrain myself from charging at him because then he could hurt her. But it was what I wanted to do. All I could see was red. How dare he do this. He was my subordinate.

  “You think you can have everything, don't you? You think you can order me around? I was the one that was supposed to make general before we left Tivoso. But it never happened. We have been on Earth for months, and I am still a lieutenant. Then I get a signed to work under you; I hate you. You are pathetic. You rule with your heart instead of your strength. Then you found this human, and you claim her for yourself? You cannot do that either. You are not the king! I wanted this human, and now I am going to have her,” he said.

  “It is too late. I have already laid with the human. She has bonded with me,” I said.

  "You think that's what I want? You think I want to lay with her to prevent myself from getting the blackness plague? That is not what I want. I want her because she is yours. You took my dignity from me by making me follow your orders, and now I will take something from you,” he said.

  Shit. This was not good. He wasn't trying to use her to vaccinate himself against the plague. He wanted her to spite me, and I knew there wouldn't be much I could say that would talk him out of it. I took a step toward him. He lifted the knife higher.

  “Don't do it. I will hurt her. I will gut her right here in front of you just to see your face,” he said. I put my hands up.

  “That's better. Now turn around and lay on the ground,” he said. I turned around with my hands up. I felt the wind against my back.

  I got up quickly. I looked around but could not see them anymore. I flew straight up into the air above the trees. I looked for him, but I could not see him. Not even a blur. Then out of nowhere, a small scout ship flew overhead. It flew so fast by me that I could barely see it. It was just a blur. I would not be able to catch up with it using my wings. I flew back down to my ship. I went to the rear panel and looked at the damage. I saw that he had disconnected the voran. I quickly ran inside the ship and pulled out a box of tools. I ran back out and made quick work of the disconnection. It should do for now, but it wouldn't hold for long. I closed the panel and ran into the ship.

  I was relieved when the ship turned on. I flew straight up and in the direction that they had flown. I punched it hard. I had to go fast to catch up to that speed.

  I radioed in. “I found Qon. Tag my coordinates. I'm going after him,” I said into the radio.

  “Come in… Again… we can't hear…” was all I got back. Shit. We were too far out of range from each other.

  Then I saw the small ship in the sky. I went after it. Now I was on its tail. Suddenly the ship turned and fired some shots at me. I flipped my ship, rotating it in the air. I couldn't shoot back at it. Hannah was in there. I would put her in danger. I could only do evasive maneuvers and stay with the ship.

  Both ships were flying very fast. Then I saw the side of the ship clearly. There was only one thing I could do: I could shoot at the fuel and cause a leak. Then he would have to land; he would have no choice. “I'm coming to get you,” I said.

  I made maneuvers, going left and right, trying to get in the right range. I couldn't mess this up. Hannah's life was on the line. I had to do it just right. I fired, but he fired at the same time. I was so concentrated on making my shot that I did not have enough time to move my ship out of the way. I was hit. He was hit: right in the fuel line.

  We both started going down fast. I pulled up, trying to make a crash landing instead of a crash. I couldn't see Qon any longer. “Dammit. What have I done? Hannah…”

  Bam! My spaceship crashed in the woods. It finally came to a complete stop. It was on fire. I jumped out and looked around. I grabbed my gun in my hands. Then I heard another crash.

  “No! Hannah!” I shouted. I ran in the direction of the noise. I had no way of knowing if Hannah was alive or not. I would not be able to live with myself if anything happened to her. I was bonded to her now. I needed her. I wanted her. I wanted to make her mine forever. If she did not survive the crash then I hoped that Qon did, because I was going to make him pay for it.

  I was going to make him pay for taking her from me. I would do it long and slow, making sure that he suffered the way he would make me suffer if she were dead. I ran hard and fast. Branches from the trees were scraping at my face and arms. I didn't care. I needed to get there.

  I stopped and looked around. I didn't know which way to go. But I could smell the vapors of fuel and burning. Was it my ship? Or was it their ship? Finally, I got a good bearing and ran in that direction.

  Please, please be alive, Hannah. I love you

  Chapter 10

  Hannah Maven

  This was not happening. This was not happening. Lieutenant Qon had a knife held to my belly. I was a pawn in his game. I was his vengeance for some hate that he held for General Razook.

  General Razook looked at him with such rage. I thought he was going to explode any second. But I didn't want him to. I could feel the sharp dagger against my belly. One sudden move and this alien with slice me open. If General Razook charged at him, then he would cut me. I didn't know what to do. I was at a loss.

  Now I sat next to the scary alien, trembling. I was in another scout ship, just like the one I had been in with General Razook. Qon was flying the ship, and he was flying it fast. But what was terrifying was that he was mumbling under his breath.

  “I am going to take you… I am going to do things to you… You are going to suffer, human…” He said these things over and over as though he was talking to himself. Could aliens be crazy? I felt like this alien would belong in a mental institution if human.

  “Would it not be better to get vengeance against General Razook by fighting him and winning?” I said trying to change his mind. If his mind was that crazy and weak, perhaps it could be persuaded.

  “You dare speak to me, human!” he shouted at me. His voice echoed through the spaceship. Clearly, he was not to be reckoned with. What was I going to do? Where was he taking me? At some point, he was going to land this ship. I needed to figure out a way to defend myself. But how? He was three times my size. He was also a dragon. How was I supposed to fight such a thing? I had knocked out General Razook with a blow to the head. Maybe I could do the same thing. I looked around the spaceship, but there was nothing that I could use. There was nothing loose; everything was made to be strapped to the walls because we were in a flying machine. I wa
s sure there were probably some weapons somewhere hidden behind some cabinet in a wall, but I did not know how to access them. Maybe I could get his knife away from him?

  These are the thoughts that were going through my head over and over as I listened to him mumble to himself about all the awful and sadistic things he was going to do to me. It was making me extremely anxious. I wished that I could not hear I am at all because the anxiety with making it a thousand times worse than if I didn't hear it.

  “What the fuck?” he said loudly. Then he moved the ship to the left and to the right quickly. I realize that he was trying to look over his shoulder. I looked at the monitors on the console. There was something on the radar coming after us. What is it Rai? I hoped so. It had seemed like Qon had disabled his ship when we were in the forest. But I didn't know how badly or what he had done to the ship. Maybe General Razook was able to fix it and come after me. Only a day ago I was trying to get away from him, and now I wanted to be with him. Something happened to me when we were together. I now felt bonded to him. It was the best sex I have ever had, and he showed me a different side: a caring side. Now comparing him to this lunatic beside me, I knew just how important it was that he had treated me with such care, tenderness, and perhaps even love. I wanted him now more than ever.

  "Come on, Razook. Come and get me. Let's see what you got. I will show you that I am a better soldier than you. I will show you that I should've been the general. See how you take this fire,” he said as he suddenly turned the ship. Boom! Boom! Bullets shot from the ship.

  “No!” I shouted. I did not want him to hit the ship that Rai was in. I did not want him to die.

  “Shut up, human! Watch your precious general die!” he said as he let off another round of bullets. He was laughing loudly, like a madman. He was flying the ship recklessly. My body was jolted from side to side, and I was glad that I was wearing the seatbelts. Otherwise, I would be thrown about.

  Suddenly a siren went off. The sound was all inside the ship, and a red light flashed.

  “Fuck! I'm hit!” he shouted. “The fuel tank has been shot. Have to go down. Have to go down. Have to go down,” he repeated over and over to himself. He was absolutely terrifying me with his crazy repetition. He was obviously completely insane. But we were about to crash.

  I put my hands over my face and tucked my head in toward my chest. I didn't want to look up. I didn't want my last image to be of crazy Qon. If I was going to die, then I was going to think about something nice and calm. I thought about my sister. I thought about Willow Springs. And then I thought about General Razook.

  Boom! I felt the ship vibrating underneath me. It was obvious to me that we were sliding across the ground. We had crashed into some trees. I could hear Qon shouting. I just tried to calm my mind.

  Then they ship came to a stop. I opened my eyes and looked around. I was alive. The ship was still intact, but very broken, and there was smoke starting to fill the cabin.

  Qon was shouting in anger. He stood up and came toward me. I screamed. There was heat in his eyes. He grabbed at my seatbelts in and undid them. Then he grabbed my arm and yanked me out of the ship. He pulled me a couple of yards away from it.

  He let go of my arm and turned to look at the ship. It was on fire.

  “You bastard, Razook!” he shouted with his fist in the air looking at the ship. I took a step back away from him slowly and then another and another. Then all of a sudden…

  Bam! A blur knocked Qon off his feet.

  “Run, Hannah; run!” I heard Rai shout. I ran toward the forest and stopped when I got to an area of brush. I squatted down behind it and watched. Rai and Qon were rolling across the floor, fighting. There was a lot of screaming and shouting. I could hear dragon roars coming from both of them. They were like animals. It was terrifying to watch. They moved so fast that I could not tell what was happening. I couldn't tell if Rai was injured. I sat there anxiously not knowing what to do. Even if I had a gun, they were moving too fast for me to hit Qon.

  Then they both stopped. Qon was on top of Rai. He had his hands around his neck, and he was squeezing him.

  “No!” I shouted. I looked around. There was a large branch on the ground. I picked it up. I had to help him. I loved him.

  I picked it up. “Augh!” I ran toward them.

  “No, Hannah…” I heard Rai barely whisper. Qon turned to me with an evil smile. His belly started to glow. He opened his mouth and shot fire. I stopped in my tracks. I jumped out of the way and rolled across the ground. Luckily the fire didn't reach me. What the fuck? I didn't know they could shoot fire like that. They really were dragons. But me running toward them was enough to distract Qon. That was when Rai took his shot. He lifted his leg, and I saw his hand dig into his boot and pull out a dagger. He plunged it into the side of Qon, right above his hip. Qon roared like an injured beast. Rai rolled him off of him. Now Rai was on top of the screaming Qon. He slid the knife across his throat. With a gurgle, Qon died.

  Rai was panting hard. He stood up and watched as Qon died. Rai had an angry look on his face. He spit on Qon.

  “Oh my God,” I said falling to my knees. I was so weak with shock.

  Rai ran over to me. “Are you all right? Did he hurt you? Answer me, Hannah,” he said.

  “I am not hurt. I am just shaken. I am in shock. I thought he was going to kill you. I thought I was going to burn in the fire. What the hell was that?” I said.

  He grabbed me and hugged me tightly. “You are safe now. You are with me. I will not let you out of my sight. Do not worry; I will protect you,” he said.

  "I believe you. You came after me. You chased him. You could have just let him go and take me,” I said.

  “No way in hell. You are mine. I would do anything for you. I have bonded with you. I don't know if you feel the same as a human, but we have bonded together when we had sex. I am yours. I am your protector. I am your dragon,” he said.

  “But you risked your life for me,” I said.

  “And I would do it again and again,” he said.

  "I believe you. Now that I have seen it, I believe you,” I said hugging him back.

  He pressed his lips against mine. I kissed him eagerly. I thought that I would never see him again. I thought I was going to die, so now I kissed him with all the passion that I wanted to give him at the moment I thought I was going to die. It was a deep and passionate kiss. It lasted almost a full two minutes. Then we finally stopped.

  “What now?” I said looking at the burned ship.

  “My ship is crashed too. Let's get you away from here. I will figure something out; do not worry. You are with me. Let's get back to my ship; it is not as badly damaged as this one. Maybe I can use the radio on it and send out a rescue signal. Can you walk?” he said.

  “Yes, I can,” I said as he helped me to my feet.

  "Let's go,” he said putting his hand out to me.

  “Rai, I want to thank you. Not just for rescuing me from that crazy alien, but also for rescuing me from the machines. I never properly thanked you.”

  “You're welcome.”

  Chapter 11

  General Rai Razook

  When I saw him pull her out of the wreckage, a rage flooded over my body. It was a murderous rage. She was alive, and I was happy for it. But that happiness was quickly overshadowed by the fact that he was dragging her. I was trying not to growl loudly as I watched. But as soon as he let her go, I watched as she stepped away from him. My smart Hannah, always thinking. Always processing. I was glad that she was smart. It was giving me room. As soon as she was at a safe distance, I took off and flew straight at him. Knocking him off his feet. It was just the surprise that I needed.

  I took care of business. I killed the alien that tried to take the human female from me. He had it coming. I knew the king would see it my way. This lieutenant had gone off the path of any honorable Veruka.

  After the fight was over, I pulled Hannah to me and held her tightly. I didn't want to let her go. For
a moment, I thought I would never see her again. When the ship went down, I thought she would die in the crash. She did not seem to be injured. But I could not know that for sure. It could be the adrenaline. I needed to get back to the fleet as soon as possible. But it was not going to be easy.

  Hannah and I walked away from Qon and his burning ship. We went back to my ship that was wrecked also. But it was in better condition.

  “I am going to try the radio. I am going to call in. Wait right here. But keep your eyes sharp. All the chaos we caused could have attracted a lot of attention. Cyborgs, humans: we need to be on the lookout,” I said to her.

  “I will keep watch,” she said turning her back to the ship and looking around the area.

  I crawled inside the ship. The radio was completely damaged and broken. There was no way to fix it. I grabbed the toolkit out of the ship and walked back outside.

  “The radio is broken. But the ship does have an emergency beacon. I think I can activate it if I cross some wires and maybe give some power to it,” I said as I walked around the ship. I opened the rear panel. I went to work. I crossed wires. I peeled back, exposing copper. I did everything I could. Thirty minutes later, it worked.