"Do you remember Colonel Tucker?"
Her heart stuttered in her chest. Of course she remembered him. Following her father's death, her grandfather had tried to convince Cassidy's mother to marry Colonel Tucker. Jackie Hamilton's flat refusal had made her already strained relationship with her father-in-law worse.
The colonel's son Eli was a handsome young man and already a military officer. For the two years Cassidy had lived in her grandfather's home following her mother's arrest, Eli had been her escort at public functions. He'd been unfailingly polite.
"Colonel Tucker has a son about my age." She warmed to the idea of marrying Eli. He'd always been respectful. Certainly being wed to him couldn't be worse than becoming a nun. She would have her own home, maybe far away from her grandfather. Yes. This had possibilities.
"Yes, well a stepson a couple of years older than you isn't such a terrible thing."
Cassidy's heart again skipped a beat, and she looked at her grandfather with dawning horror. "Stepson? I'm to marry Colonel Tucker?"
Hamilton's chest puffed as if he'd bestowed her with a priceless treasure. "A mature, God-fearing man who will be an excellent influence on you. He and I have planned a quiet ceremony immediately after you've taken your classes in wifely obedience and deportment. Wonderful, isn't it?"
Married to that old man? His eldest son is almost Grandfather's age!
Cassidy thought of the retired Colonel George Tucker, his sparse gray hair that barely covered his liver-spotted crown, the deep-set wrinkles of his face like ravines. Was she, not even out of her teens, really supposed to marry a septuagenarian?
Maybe being a nun wasn't such a horrible choice after all.
She searched for something to say, something that wouldn't offend her powerful grandfather yet convince him she couldn't possibly be wed to her ancient fiancée. Her mouth opened and closed like a beached fish. The words wouldn't come. Instead, the horrified scream was back, slowly creeping up from her guts, readying to shatter the air with her angry despair.
The hiss of the chapel's opening door and running footsteps saved her. "General Hamilton!" a young man screamed.
Hamilton was on his feet, facing the man in the courier uniform who raced down the aisle toward him. "What is the meaning of this interruption?"
The gasping man drew to a halt before him, his eyes wide and his close-cropped hair standing on end. "Kalquorians have entered the dome!"
Cassidy gasped and rose from her seat. She clutched at her grandfather's arm.
White-faced, he shook her off. "Kalquorians? Here?" For the first time in Cassidy's life, the general looked unsure.
"Yes sir. I can't raise the transport either. They don't respond to my hails. Do you think the aliens have already taken it?"
Hamilton didn't answer him. Instead, he turned to Cassidy. "Raise the alarm, girl. Tell everyone to lock themselves in their cells. Go!" He pushed her towards the door.
She took off running down the aisle, her heavy shoes clunking against the hard floor. Behind her, she heard the general say, "Where did you see the demons and how many are there?"
She flung herself out into the convent's perpetual night before she heard the answer.
* * * *
Osopa pointed several yards ahead to the one building among the others that didn't look like a featureless block. "The Earther ran in there."
Degorsk peered around the depressing compound, wondering why anyone would choose to live in such surroundings. Suspended lights kept the compound from succumbing to the total darkness of this side of Europa. They emitted little illumination, but for sensitive Kalquorian eyes, it was more than enough to see by.
Besides the low rectangular building with the pointed spire shooting towards the star-strewn sky, two rows of squat box-shelters each sat in the center of a square of trimmed green grass. Straight walkways led from building to building, with a main thoroughfare between the double strings of structures. Like most Kalquorians, Degorsk preferred the natural state of vegetation growing wild, even on terraformed colonies. This collection of squares, rectangles and straight lines appeared aberrant to his eyes. He felt if he spent too long looking at it, he'd go crazy.
To his left, Lidon issued orders. "Osopa, lead the team into that building. Capture that man and any other male without killing them, if possible. Remember, we want General Hamilton alive."
On Degorsk's right, Tranis spoke up. "Also keep in mind there are supposedly a large number of women here. Earther females are fragile, and anyone who causes more than superficial harm to them will be dealt with by Commander Lidon. I don't care if a woman comes at you with a percussion blaster. You are not to hurt any females."
It was Degorsk's turn. "Nobeks, medics will be following you in to sedate prisoners. We'll work as fast as possible, but remember there are only seventeen of us. Try to be patient."
Osopa nodded to his seniors before turning to the two dozen Nobeks eagerly waiting to be set loose on the Earthers. "You have your instructions. First squad, straight in to hunt. Second and third squads, you will provide defensive-"
He paused as the spired building's door slid open and a tiny white figure ran out onto the main concourse. Every Kalquorian froze, and the instant the little Earther noticed them she froze too.
Degorsk had never seen an Earther female up close. He'd been off Kalquor so long, he'd not had the opportunity to meet any of the two thousand or so who'd clanned with his people these last two years.
His eyes drank in the creature staring at them. A pale miniature version of the few Kalquorian women left alive, she would barely come up to his chest. Her hair, if she had any, was covered by a white hood of fabric, leaving her cherubic face bare. A face that, despite being drawn out in an expression of terror, was the loveliest he'd ever seen.
A little nub of a nose and pouty pink lips left her with an almost childlike appearance. In contrast, the heavy-lidded blue eyes gave her otherwise innocent features a seductive cast.
The huge swath of cloth draping her body couldn't mask the soft curves swelling beneath. Degorsk went hard at the thought of the warm yielding flesh of the girl/woman before him.
Her scream shattered the air, and she raced towards the building across from the one she'd exited. She gathered her voluminous skirts to run, displaying heavy blocky shoes and a tantalizing glimpse of white calf. Degorsk suppressed a groan at the sight.
She got to the building and the door slid open for her. Casting one last frightened glance over her shoulder at them, her pretty face lit with the interior's golden glow, she disappeared into the building. A high thin wail of a voice carried through the air: "Lock your doors-" The closing door cut off the rest.
Lidon recovered first, his voice bringing the men out of their shock. "I'm guessing most of the women are in that building. Osopa, change of strategy. "
"Yes sir. Two parties. You five will come with me and take the building the male went into. The rest of you follow that female."
Tranis said, "Lidon and I are with you, Osopa. Degorsk, your choice."
Degorsk heard the reluctance in his Dramok's voice and knew Tranis wanted to catch the delectable little Earther as much as he did. But Mataras or not, their main objective remained capturing General Hamilton and getting the codes to disarm Earth's defense grid.
"Duty before pleasure," he grouched. "Sometimes I hate my rank."
His clanmates quirked grins for a bare second before sobering again. It made him feel better that he'd amused the too serious pair. Pushing the pretty Earther to the back of his mind, he followed them to the spired structure.
* * * *
Cassidy smashed both fists against the first of the cell doors, drumming a frantic tattoo to wake its sleeping occupant. "Kalquorian invasion! Lock your door!"
She whirled and attacked the door across the narrow, featureless hall. "Kalquorian invasion! Lock your door!"
The door behind her, the first one she'd beat on, opened to show Ruth Meredith sleepily rubbing her
eyes. "What's going on?"
Cassidy was already running to the next cell. It opened before she could repeat her message, and Mary Anderson stepped out with a scowl, her dark hair tousled. "Who is banging on doors at this hour?"
More doors opened down the hall, more girls stepped out. "It's a Kalquorian attack! Get back in your cells and lock your doors!" Breathless and frantic, Cassidy rushed to beat on the still unopened doors.
"Cassidy, have you gone mad?"
"Kalquorians can't get this close to Earth."
"This isn't funny. I'm telling Mother Superior."
Cassidy confronted the crowd of angry aspirants filling the hall. "It's not a joke! For the love of Jesus, Mohammed and Moses, hide!"
Twelve-year old Darci Soames burst into tears. Her younger sister Marci, huddled at her side, joined her sobs.
Mary huffed. "I hope you're happy, Cassidy. Your prank has upset the little ones. When Mother Superior hears-"
The door to the outside slid open. The first impossibly huge Kalquorian swept in, his purple cat's eyes taking in the throng of young women and girls in their long white nightgowns.
High-pitched screams erupted, but Cassidy didn't wait to see more of the dark-skinned aliens enter the dorm. She raced to her cell, pushing panicked girls out of her way.
Any moment she expected to be grabbed or shot down by the Kalquorians, but she made it to her cell safely, ringing shrieks filling her ears. "Lock!" she yelled, and the closed door obediently beeped. She leapt on her bed and yanked savagely at the vent cover. It came out with a protesting squeal. Hanging onto it with one hand, she jumped into the opening and squirmed into the shaft.
The other girls' cries echoed in the confined space with chilling hollowness. Cassidy wriggled around to get a better angle so she could replace the vent cover. If the aliens didn't know her hiding place, she might get away. She could hide until Earth sent help or the aliens left.
Screams continued to travel down the shaft, but even worse sounds joined them. Cassidy's heart lurched to hear the faint appeals of her fellow aspirants.
"Please, don't!"
"No!"
"God, help me!"
I told them to hide. I told them, but they wouldn't listen! I tried to help, God, it's not my fault!
A pinging sound told Cassidy her cell's door lock had been released. An instant later, she heard it slide open. With a gasp, she scrambled away, pushing past her reader and cache of snacks, rushing to escape the monsters who had found the frequency to breach her private room.
Terror descended over her, and she crawled blindly through the dark ventilation system, gasping and sobbing. Screams and pleas rose and fell in cycles, each surge of audible terror quieter than the last. Deep voices, speaking in unintelligible staccato bursts, joined the noises filling her ears.
In the dark, Cassidy missed a bend in the shaft and crawled headfirst into the side. Dull pain thudded through her head, and she collapsed on the floor with a gasp. She lay still as the sudden shock broke through the panic that had gripped her.
She breathed deep and slow, willing her frantic heartbeat to quiet. She was safe in the main part of the ventilation system; it was small enough that she couldn't turn around in its confines. No way could the Kalquorians get to her in here, not those massive brutes.
She swallowed, thinking of the alien men she'd encountered outside. The light had been too dim to pick out details, but she'd seen the one who'd entered the dorm first. His hair had been glossy blue-black and his skin dark brown, much like the men depicted in The Kama Sutra. But unlike those slender Earthers, the Kalquorian had been all muscle, his tight black outfit molded to every bulge in his chest, shoulders, arms and legs. Having lived with her grandfather for a brief time, Cassidy had been around many soldiers who kept themselves fit by working out with weights, but none had come close to the behemoth who'd invaded the dorm.
Were all Kalquorian men like that? She shivered, wondering how it would feel to be subdued by such a beast. Her sex tightened.
What am I thinking? They kidnap and rape Earther women, force them to bear their monstrous children! How dare you lust for such creatures!
Cassidy sobbed in shame. "Forgive me, Heavenly Father, for being a weak female," she whispered. "Don't let me fall into depravity like my mother did."
The prayer helped her get control over her unwanted thoughts. She collected herself and set about getting her bearings.
The shaft angled left, with no other avenue for escape. Cassidy had explored the ventilation system of the dorm and knew exactly where she was. Following the shaft would take her from the aspirants' wing to the nuns' side of the dorm. She listened for
the sounds of the sisters, but the screams had ended, and all was quiet, save for her own soft breath.
Cassidy crawled slowly towards the nuns' wing after pulling her skirts up to allow for easier movement. What a racket she must have made in her panicked struggle through the conduit! Hopefully her passage had gone unnoticed by the Kalquorians, who'd no doubt been deafened by their victims' screams. She fought off a wave of terror for the other women. No telling what those deviant aliens had done to them.
She paused at a conduit that led to the infirmary. No one was presently sick, so there'd be no patients in there. She looked anyway.
As she'd suspected, the stark room was empty of life. The dim light showed her hospital beds, ten in all, lined up on opposite sides. Cabinets filled with nursing implements and sheets for the beds filled one wall, and the pharmacy was on the far end of the room. The pharmacy was dark, and no doubt locked. Cassidy moved on.
The shaft bent left again. She was now in the nuns' wing and slowed her progress, being very careful to make no noise.
She took the first passage to lead off the main shaft. She blinked to see light ahead. She proceeded slowly, letting her eyes adjust to the illumination.
She approached Sister Katherine's cell. She'd come here often, not to spy on this particular nun as she did the others, but to listen to the quiet woman pray in her soothing, sweet voice. When Cassidy had a bad day, one in which she thought she'd go mad from the drone of never ending boredom, she sought out this very spot to soak in the gentle peace that emanated from her favorite nun.
Sister Katherine was a beautiful, delicate-featured woman who wore a kind smile for everyone. Hearing the deep voice of a male coming from the nun's room, Cassidy paused for an instant. She listened to the guttural alien speech, and a second man's voice answered it. Dear God, two of them were in Sister Katherine's cell! What were they doing to her?
Cassidy crept slowly to the vent opening, terrified of what she might see. The cell came into view by careful increments.
The room was every bit as bare as Cassidy's own. On the opposite wall, Katherine's black habit and wimple hung by the hook. Inching forward, the next sight that greeted her eyes were the tops of two black-maned Kalquorian heads. One man's hair was wavy, the other's straight. Their shoulders were wider across than Cassidy's ample hips.
They stood over Sister Katherine, who knelt by her bed in her nightgown, her white hands clasped in prayer. Her head was bent so Cassidy couldn't see her face, and her dark blond hair cascaded in soft ringlets around her shoulders. She murmured, her voice a soft cadence.
A fine tremor ran through the nun's frame, but she didn't flinch away when one of the Kalquorians gently brushed aside her hair to expose the graceful column of her neck. The other Kalquorian pressed a metallic cylinder to the pale pink-tinged skin, his hand squeezing one of her shoulders as if to comfort her.
Her voice rose for an instant loud enough for Cassidy to make out the words. "…and give me strength, O Lord, as you gave Moses as he wandered the desert; as you gave Jesus on the cross; as you gave Mohamm-"
A low hiss cut her words off, and she sagged bonelessly. The Kalquorian holding her hair back moved in a blur, catching her before she could slide to the floor. He lifted her in his arms, and Cassidy wept soundlessly to see her mentor's sweet tea
r-stained face.
The two men stood looking at the nun for an instant, the expressions on their strong features identical with wonder. Then they left the cell, the wavy-haired alien carrying Katherine.
Cassidy backed into the main shaft, shaking violently with anger. She'd wanted to jump out of the vent and pound on those aliens for daring to put their filthy hands on Katherine.
Damn them! If only I was strong enough to fight them!
Enraged to be unable to rescue her mentor, she crawled to another vent opening on the opposite side of the main shaft where she could see the hallway.
She bit her lips together, horrified. Unconscious nuns lined either side of the corridor, placed feet to head as far as Cassidy's limited vision could see. Every cell door stood open. Hulking Kalquorians walked up and down the hall, watching the insensible women and occasionally muttering their incomprehensible language to each other. Some went in and out of the cells, carrying out blankets and covering the nuns to their chins. They carefully tucked the blankets around the unconscious women.
If Cassidy didn't know better, she'd think the brutes were concerned for the Earther women's welfare.
* * * *
Tranis, Lidon, Degorsk and five Nobeks guarding General Hamilton and his shuttle pilot entered the dorm. Tranis gaped for a moment before recovering his senses.
On either side of the hall, Earther women laid in rows to the end of the corridor. The men had covered the tiny bodies despite the lack of any real chill. Looking at the ones closest to him, he couldn't blame them. The females looked so delicate.
He glanced back at the mute Earther general, who beyond offering his name and rank, had refused to speak. In English Tranis taunted, "What kind of man hides among such frail creatures?"
Hamilton kept his eyes trained forward. Except for a muscle twitching in his jaw, he gave no response.
Osopa appeared from a corridor halfway down the hall. He hurried towards his commanding officer. Tranis moved to meet him, his group following.
"Report."
"One hundred seventy-seven women secured, Captain. Some on the other side of the building are well beyond childbearing age, but the majority can be clanned."
Alien Conquest Page 3
