Rai

by Maia Starr

  "Shit. I can't do it,” I whispered to myself. It was the first time that I had admitted out loud that I could not go through with an order. It would be the first time that I ever even thought about disobeying an order. This was not the loyal warrior that I had become. I was someone else entirely. But touching her cheek, wanting to take away the pain made me feel something that I had never felt before. Seeing the pain in her eyes and how proud and arrogant she remained even through the humiliation made my heart swell for her.

  Her words in front of the Corillion and in front of Titeq telling every single one of us off made me want to burst into laughter. She was fierce and feisty, and I loved that about her. At that moment I wanted to scoop her up into my arms and kiss her and make love to her. But the slap from Titeq snapped me out of that. It snapped me from joy at her performance to extreme rage at his. Now I was walking into his office where I would have to speak with him as though I did not hate him.

  "Viqer, come in come in,” Titeq said as he sat behind his desk. I stood in front of him at attention.

  "Thank you, Leader Titeq,” I said.

  "Viqer, you have done well. You have done tremendously well. Now that I see for myself what a handful this human female assassin is, I can only commend you on getting her here successfully even more. She is a complete bitch. But you have done well, and you will be rewarded.”

  I restrained anger at the fact that he was calling her a bitch. I clenched my teeth.

  "Thank you, Leader Titeq,” I said again. I hoped that this meeting would be short because I could not take his insults about Saramina much longer.

  "After you kill her in a ceremony in a few days, you will take her back to Earth as you know. But now we have coordinates for you. Here,” he said as he projected a map on the wall.

  "You will be taking her here. This is the Earth Embassy over here. It is well guarded, of course, so you will not be able to get in unnoticed. I do not expect you to do that. Instead, you will be taking her here,” he pointed at another area on the map. “This is in view of the Earth Embassy. Anyone in the building of the Earth Embassy will see this wall of this building. On this wall is where you will pin the dead body of Saramina with the words that I send you with. I wanted to give you these coordinates so that you can plan your quiet entry there now."

  "I understand,” I said as he handed me the projection device with the information. His words disgusted me. The thought of Saramina dead and hanging on the wall in display was an image that made me very angry. So much had changed since I first took on the mission. At first, I was glad to do this; I even considered it an honor to be able to give Cultan the vengeance he deserved. Now thinking about it made me sick to my stomach. I knew then that there was no way in hell that I was going to go through with this mission. I knew then that I had to come up with another plan. It would be a very dangerous plan, and I did not know if Saramina and I would live through it, but it was better than being forced to kill her. I knew that I could not do that not now or ever.

  "When you return from this mission to Earth, Viqer, I have another mission waiting for you. As you know, our attempt to get more blaster guns to supply our army did not go as intended. I have another supplier in the Agason galaxy. When you return from Earth, that will be your next mission. But we will speak of the details then. For now, get some rest. You have been on a long journey with a horrible human female. It must have taken great restraint not to kill the human that killed our leader Cultan. I know that you two were close. I commend you on your restraint and allowing the rest of your brothers to enjoy the vengeance as well. You have put the rest of the Corillion tribe before your own desires for revenge. That makes a great leader, another reason why I will name you my second.”

  "Thank you, Leader Titeq. I take your words as a great honor,” I saluted him.

  "Now go and see your human wife. You deserve the rest and mating rituals she has waiting for you, I am sure. Go and enjoy her and enjoy your home; soon you will be off again to complete your mission."

  "Thank you,” I said as I saluted him and left his office. I was glad to be out of his sight because I could not hear any more about killing Saramina. The mission was off. But he was right: I did need to go see my human wife; hell, I had almost forgotten about her. There was much to be done and little time to do it. I needed to get started right away.

  I walked out of the fortress and into the village toward my home. It was a large dome-shaped mud brick home that was very comfortable. It was far on the outside of the village, which allowed it to have vast amounts of land surrounding it. It was private, and as soon as I walked in, I remembered how much I loved it. The entire curved glass wall in the back looked out toward the green grassy plains, and if you only looked in this direction, you would think there was no village around at all. It calmed my nerves to see it.

  "Viqer, I saw you arrive. Did you see me? I was out in the town with my companion human female friend, Jennifer. We were gathering food,” Bethany said as she walked toward me as I entered the door of our home.

  "Forgive me, Bethany, I did not see you. Who is Jennifer?” I asked her. We were fortunate to have over 30 human females on Krillis at this point and hearing the same name that Saramina gave me from my wife was promising.

  "Jennifer is a human female that was brought here not too long ago. She is the wife mate of the Corillion warrior known as Barlo."

  "Yes, Barlo I know him well,” I said already picturing where in the settlement he lived. I would go find this Jennifer and take her to Saramina. It would be the first step of my plan.

  "Are you hungry?” she asked as she moved toward the food area of the home. It was then that I realized that she had not touched me at all. She did not give me an embrace or a kiss after not seeing me for so long.

  "Bethany, are you in love with me?” I asked her bluntly.

  She turned to me with shock on her face. “You have never asked me that before.”

  "I guess because I did not think it needed asking. It didn't matter then. All that mattered was that I had a human female mate. Now I see that there should be more to it.”

  "I care for you; I have learned to care for you these many months together, Viqer, but in truth, it is not love. I loved another on Earth, but I was taken before I could be with him. This is my fate now,” she said sadly.

  "I understand, Bethany. I must go. I will return later, and we will continue this conversation,” I said, leaving the home. I needed to find this Jennifer. The longer that Saramina sat in that prison cell practically naked, the higher the chance that a guard would take advantage of her. I moved into the settlement and found the home of Barlo. I had to do this in secret. I found a human female outside the home cleaning cloth in a wash basin.

  "Jennifer…” I said quietly.

  She turned around, and I knew that it was she. She answered to her name, and her hair was flaming red.

  "Yes?” she said timidly.

  "Do not be afraid. I mean you no harm. I come in the name of your friend, Saramina," I whispered to her as I grew closer.

  Her eyes grew wide, and she became excited, “Saramina. Is she all right? She is the one that is to be killed? It can't be,” she started to ramble.

  "I cannot speak long. I promised her that you would bring her some of your clothes to wear. She has none. She wants to see you and speak with you. By bringing her clothes, it can be arranged. The guard at the prison tower is expecting you. I can take you inside the fortress myself and to her,” I said to her.

  "I understand. Wait here; I will go inside and fetch clothing for her,” she said as she rushed inside her home. A few minutes later, she emerged with a small bag. I looked inside of it, and there were boots, a plain long dress, a jacket, and some food.

  "Good, let's go. Quickly,” I said as she followed me to the fortress. I took her into a side entrance, letting each guard know that this human female was with me. No one ever questioned my orders. I took her to the stairs to the prison tower and walked her to the t
op. When we arrived outside Saramina's cell, I was glad to see that the guard was standing at attention against the wall and not paying any mind to her. She stood up when she saw us and her eyes lit up. I put my finger to my mouth as to let her know not to say the human females name.

  "This human female is about your size, and she has come to dress you. Open the door,” I said to the guard. He nodded and opened the door and let Jennifer in.

  "I will return in half an hour to fetch the human female," I said to the guard. He nodded, and I left them their privacy. I had work to do of my own. But seeing that smile and light in Saramina's eyes as I brought her Jennifer made me feel very good, very damn good. Making her happy was enjoyable. Because of this, I knew that I was doing the right thing. I was taking matters into my own hands, and it was going to rock the entire planet.

  Chapter 9

  SARAMINA JEDSIN

  I could not believe that I was locked up in another cell. I had made my way to the Corillion planet after all. This was my destination when I was held at the secret base, and I had got away, and yet I ended up here anyway. Jennifer was not so lucky, and she must have been recaptured that day. I felt guilty that I had been in Brooklyn all those months while she was still a captive of the Corillion. Now she was living among them, and I was a prisoner, and I was sentenced to die. Fear began to grip me as the hours passed. There was no way out of here.

  Then a familiar sight walked into the prison tower. It was Viqer, and he had Jennifer at his side holding a bag. He announced her presence and that she was bringing me clothes. The finger to his lips told me to stay silent. I understood why. It would not look good if I shouted her name and was excited to see her. She was supposed to be a random human female stranger to me. The guards let her in, and Viqer left us.

  I restrained a smile as I said, “Thank you for bringing me clothes. My name is Saramina,” I said loudly. Then I whispered to her, “Jennifer, it is so good to see you.”

  She smiled and said loudly, “Yes let's get you into the new clothes.” Then she whispered back to me, “Saramina, it is good to see you too. What are you doing in the prison tower? I was shocked when I saw you get off that ship in chains. You cannot be the one they want to kill,” she said as she walked over to the bed and dumped the bag. There was fruit and bread. I hid the food underneath the blankets and then looked toward the door. The guard had his back to us and was minding his own business. I sat down on the bed and took off the damn nightgown that I had been wearing for so long. I pulled on the long dress that Jennifer gave me.

  "It is a very long story. But when we were at the secret base, Cultan tried to capture me again, and I shot him. That is why I am here now. They went to find me, and I am sentenced to death for shooting Cultan," I said to her quietly.

  She gasped. “The entire city has been talking of nothing else for the last couple of months. Never did I think it was you. I thought an Earth soldier killed Cultan. I can't believe that you are the one they seek to get revenge on. That is unfair. He is the one that stole us in the first place,” she whispered to me. She grabbed a boot and sat on the ground as though helping me to put on the boot in case the guard turned around. But she just held it in her lap as we spoke.

  "Yes, it is all unfair, but this is my reality. But what about you, Jennifer? How did you get here? I feel guilty if you have been here since the secret base. I went home after that day and had lived my life until they came to find me days ago,” I whispered to her.

  "Remember when we ran? We all ran different directions. I happened to pick a direction that led to a small ship that was in the midst of taking off. One of the warriors grabbed me and threw me in, and the ship took off, and the Earth military did not catch it or shoot it down. A week later, I was here,” she said.

  I wanted to cry for her. I felt so sad. Running in different directions was my idea. If she had only run alongside me, she would not be here. I felt very guilty. “Oh, Jennifer, I am so sorry.”

  "No, do not be sorry, Saramina. Actually,” she said with a big smile and leaned in. “I am in love. I cannot believe it. I never thought that I would fall in love with a Corillion warrior after everything that I had been through. But the warrior that I was given to is kind, he is so attractive, and I have never been happier. Being with him is unlike anything that I have ever experienced on Earth with a human man. The sex is wild and passionate. I love being here. This planet is absolutely beautiful and green. I am treated well. I am on an adventure that I could never have experienced if I would've stayed on Earth. So do not feel guilty for me. I am so happy here. If I were given the chance to go back to Earth, I would not go.”

  My eyes grew wide in shock. But I understood. I understood the feeling of falling in love with a Corillion warrior because I was on my way there as well. Only my Corillion warrior was destined to kill me.

  "Jennifer, I am so glad that you are happy. I am so glad that you have found joy, love, and peace here,” I said to her.

  "It is more than that. I am with offspring. Soon I will have a family here. It is absolutely insane to think about it,” she said with a smile.

  Somewhere deep inside of me, I envied her, but I was also glad that she was well. She put the boot on my foot and laced it up. Then she did the other and loudly said, “These boots fit you perfectly!” so that the guard could hear. Then she leaned in again and whispered, “And what about Viqer? He seems to care about you a great deal. I don't see that he will allow them to go through with your punishment.”

  "Viqer? No. He hates me just as much as everyone else for killing his leader. I am afraid that my punishment will stand. But do not worry about me. I am grateful for these clothes that you have brought me, and this,” I said pointing to the food underneath the blanket.

  "I was tired of wearing that nightgown. I have been naked for a long time. Thank you for everything, Jennifer. Now go and enjoy your family and your adventure,” I said, giving her a hug. We hugged for a long time, and I could not help myself. For the first time since I was taken, I cried. Tears fell down my cheeks; as I looked at her, she cried too. Suddenly my death was looming nearer.

  "That is enough time,” I heard a familiar voice say. I looked up and saw Viqer standing at the bars. “Open the door and let the human female out.”

  Jennifer gave me another squeeze and whispered, “Never stop hoping. Look at me; everything worked out.”

  I smile at her, and she walked out the bars with Viqer, and they locked me back in. I locked eyes with him. I didn't know what he was thinking. He didn't show any emotion at all or give me any sign that he was going to try to stop what was happening. Then he walked out of sight with Jennifer, and I was left alone again. I moved to the bed and sat with my back to the guard. Then I ate the fruit and bread that she brought me. It was delicious and satisfying. I was not expecting good eating on this planet. As I sat there and ate, I thought about what Jennifer had told me. She was happy here on this planet. It was ironic. If I had not run away and killed their leader, perhaps I would've come here with Jennifer where I would have fallen in love with a warrior and been as happy as she was. But that was not my path. My path was violent and full of danger, and I did not know what tomorrow would bring.

  I was glad to be out of the vulnerable dress that I wore for so long that showed every part of my body. Now I felt a little more secure, and I felt extremely exhausted. I laid down on the bed, and before long I was in a deep sleep. I slept through the night and did not wake up until the morning. I must have been very tired after everything that I went through to sleep so comfortably in a prison tower.

  But the next day I would have another visitor, and it was not Jennifer or Viqer. It was someone much more menacing.

  "I thought the punishment of no water and no food had gone on long enough. I want you to be able to stand on the day of your death not be weak,” Titeq said as he walked beside a guard. The guard held a tray with water and food and set it down on the table. Titeq looked at him and said “Leave us. Keep your guard a
t the bottom of the stairs. Let no one up.”

  I looked with wide eyes. I hoped that he was not going to try to take advantage of me. That would not be good for him. I would fight back. He looked at my clothes and said, “Where did you get these clothes?”

  I did not want to get Viqer in trouble since it was obvious he did not have the permission of Titeq.

  "A human female brought them to me. I assumed you had ordered it,” I said as I picked up the water and poured me a glass. I was very thirsty, and I chugged it down.

  "I think I preferred what you were wearing before,” he smiled, “but that is not why am here.”

  "Why are you here? Have you come to your senses and have decided to let me go?” I said as I bit into some fruit.

  Titeq laughed loudly at me. “You are a very interesting human female. I am sorry that your interesting personality will be wasted on this death. I find you very attractive and hate to see a good human female go to waste when there are few for us already. But I am here because I want you to tell me a story."