He didn’t answer me directly. “Who are you?” he asked, returning to his table. “We do not dress our claimed in our uniforms. Not down here. You are someone special.”
“I am no one,” I told him. “I am of no interest.”
“You are of great interest,” he said, picking up a crowbar then setting it back down. “Tell me who you are, and I will set you free.”
It must be a trick. There was no other explanation for Kist’s odd behavior. “I am a human woman. I am a person with a soul. That alone entitles me to my freedom.”
“In an ideal reality, yes,” Kist said, “but this is not an ideal reality.”
“Then what kind of reality is it?” I asked, turning the interrogation on him.
He sighed and sat on a tire near me. “It’s the type of reality where a granddaughter who loves her grandfather and her grandmother very much must one day learn that her grandfather is a heathen, and her grandmother is a slave. She discovers her purpose in life is to grow healthy and bear children. She is treated like glass, unable to swim in the sea or climb the trees. As an adult, she must choose a mate before she is twenty-five. Otherwise, one will be selected for her. She runs away, altering her appearance look like a boy. She tells the military recruits that the disease disfigured her while she was in the womb, when, in fact, her only disfigurement is being a woman.”
“You’re a girl?” I hissed under my breath, unsure of how to react. I felt compassion for her, but I was even more confused than before. I could not understand her decision to join the military and force upon other women what she had experienced herself. “How can you do this to us?”
“I came here to rescue them,” she declared, keeping her voice low. “I am the destiny of Earth if this war is lost.”
I repeated her story in my mind, and it struck me. The grandmother she spoke of was of the Earth colony that the Surtu attacked sixty years before. Kist was not fully Surtu. She was part human.
It was hard to tell. She had the same elfin eyes as the rest of the Surtu, and the same flecks of light around her pupils.
“You’re not here to fight?” I confirmed.
“I can’t fight. My size won’t allow it. That’s why they put me on mechanical detail with the fatsos and the lazies. But if I were on the frontlines, I’d protect the women the fleets are seeking. That’s what I came here for.”
I wanted to trust her, but it was difficult. Torture came in many forms, and so did great actors. “Why did you tell me your story?” I asked.
“Because like me, you are more than what you seem.”
“What makes you say that?”
She stood, remembering the role she was meant to play. “Scream again.”
I did, but it wasn’t half the performance I put on earlier. “Who do you think I am?”
“You tell me.”
My situation was desperate. I needed someone to trust. “Lift up your shirt,” I demanded.
“I’m not that kind of girl, but thanks.”
I rolled my eyes. “Show me that you truly are who you say you are.”
Understanding, she lifted up her shirt. A nude cloth was wrapped in layers across her chest, binding her breasts.
I relaxed. “Good thing the Surtu uniforms are thick.”
She nodded but didn’t speak, waiting for me to say more.
It took me a moment to form the words. I knew once they were out, I wouldn’t be able to take them back. My efforts to hide the glider far from the northern base would be lost. “I am Terra Lynch,” I confessed. “I am light bonded to Jidden, of the Surtu.”
I didn’t know what she expected to hear, but that wasn’t it. Her eyes went wide with awe. “I knew Jidden and his mate had rescued an entire space station full of women, but I thought you were dead.”
There seemed to be a pattern forming. I did not realize everyone knew about our escape from the Fortuna. “Have you heard anything about my sister warriors?”
Kist glanced past the graveyard of vehicles, making sure no one was near to overhear. Then she came to me and pressed her lips close to my ear, working the ties around my hands as she spoke. “Earth is lost. The Surtu will win. It is inevitable. I belong to a network of Surtu who are helping humans to flee to a secret location – men, women, and children.”
The news was hard to take. “Is it that bad?” I asked.
“It is,” she said gravely, pulling away the last of the ties. “While it is still night, I will take you back to the woods. I’ll tell the others you died during torture, so I buried you. Find your way to the waterfall. I’ll have a messenger meet you there. It may take a few days. Whatever you do, don’t get caught again.”
I flexed my wrists, allowing the blood to return. “Can’t you tell me more?”
“No. It’s not safe,” Kist said adamantly. “The messenger will tell you more.”
I was uncomfortable with the secrecy. Everything was out of my control. But I had no choice. I went with her on her hover bike back into the woods, glad to be as far from the Surtu camp as possible.
“Thank you, Kist,” I said when I jumped off. “I hope we meet again, victorious in our cause.”
“It’s Kista, actually,” she admitted. “I changed it to Kist when I entered the military.”
“Thank you, Kista,” I corrected.
With a nod, she was gone, leaving me in the wilderness once again.
The waterfall was beautiful, especially in the daylight, but it was cold and isolating. I’d spent too many hours alone since watching the escape from the Fortuna. I wanted to find my friends, more than anything. I hoped that the messenger coming to help me would finally give me the news I longed to hear – that their ship had landed somewhere safe.
For days, I waited by the waterfall, watching the waters tumble like tears of the Earth. I almost gave up, believing no one would come, but I forced myself to stay.
He came one night while I was sleeping, shaking me gently awake. When I saw him, I thought I was still dreaming. Had the moonlight cast a spell? Was I projecting my heart outward.
It was Jidden.
Realizing I was awake, and he was beside me, I threw my arms around my alien lover, holding him tighter than I’d ever held him before, as he did to me. For the first time since Gallia’s death, I cried, overwhelmed with my love for him and the sense of safety he brought.
“I missed you,” he murmured, smoothing back my hair as I sobbed. “My life is empty without you. I love you, Terra. I love you more than I can say.”
I didn’t reply in words. I kissed him, my need for him great. My journey back to him had too many bruises and too many fears. Right now, all I wanted to feel was the bliss of his touch. I took off my Surtu uniform, resisting the urge to throw it over the waterfall. I helped him remove his clothing, sliding my hands up his hard abs and down the muscles of his arms, taking him in as if it were my first time with a man.
My sex was wet and ready to feel him inside me. Like a woman starved for too long, I pulled him onto the ground and wrapped my legs around his firm, naked body. He put his hand behind my back, lifting my hips up slightly, and then he entered me, his cock warm and thick inside me. Moving slowly, he began to gyrate, cherishing the joy of our lovemaking, in no hurry to let me go.
Every lingering thrust sent a jolt of ecstasy through me, making my body tingle with electricity. Jidden continued to take his time, sliding his cock in and out of me, savoring me. His lingering was deliberate. He was building my fire, touching me from the inside as his cock massaged my pink flesh.
“I love your smell,” he whispered into my ear, his breath hot and delicious across my neck, arousing me even more.
I began to moan, panting with every thrust, feeling a charge crackle across my body that sent shock waves of pleasure through me. I didn’t want him to stop. I wanted to feel his cock inside me like this forever.
Finally, my body could take it no more, and he unleashed a fire within me. I grabbed his hair and screamed out his name as he pushed further into me
, giving me an extra charge of pleasure. I felt as if I had once again transformed into light, but I hadn’t. I was blissfully aware of every sensation running across my flesh.
His cock remained hard inside of me. I had come, but he had yet to. Hearing me scream his name set him off, and he began to drive harder into me, growing inside of me, causing my blood to flow back and making me ache for more. I grabbed his backside and rocked my hips, pushing him deeper into me, uniting our bodies as one.
My hands moved down his backside and over the base of his cock, which was sticky with our love. He continued to thrust as I massaged his cock, and the fire returned, shaking my body with an agonizing rapture. Euphoric, I came again, this time with Jidden. He plunged into me one final time, his cock expanding, and then he released his love, spilling into me.
Our bodies hot despite the chill of the waterfall beside us. Jidden fell beside me, holding me in his arms, refusing to let go. I hoped he would never let me go again.
Chapter 22
Jidden
I had finally found her – my light bonded. Being apart from her all of these months had been agony. I knew she lived. The connection we shared had told me so. I also knew she was suffering. She wouldn’t admit it, but her time as a slave to Captain Fore and his men had wounded her. Only revenge could heal this wound.
There was no time for vengeance right now. Earth was losing the war against my people. Soon, nowhere would be safe. The only option we had left was to break away from the war and rebuild in a secret refuge far from Earth. I had searched a long time to find Terra, not knowing if she was still on the Fortuna or made it to Earth.
Now I knew. I only had regret in my heart. I could have gotten to her so much sooner. I owed the network a lot. It had saved Terra and brought her back into my arms.
There was also no time for regret. We had to get to the rescue ship before it left. They timed departures accurately. It was the only way the network could ensure the safe passage of those we rescued. We ran. I held her hand as we raced across the grassy plains. I wouldn’t let go again.
A sudden blast caught our attention. Ahead of us, a Surtu craft landed beside a boarding school for young women. For the Surtu, it was like hitting the jackpot. The blast had been a warning shot, scaring the girls out from their hiding spot in the cellar of the school. We watched as they emerged from the cellar doors with their hands raised high.
Three men exited the craft, their blasters out. They wouldn’t shoot, but the girls didn’t know that. They trembled in their long nightdresses, dropping their arms to hold each other.
Terra stopped and looked at the girls, her face twisting in anger.
“We don’t have time,” I told her, trying to pull her away. “We can’t save everyone.”
She didn’t respond, caring little for her rescue. I knew then that I’d lost her to the cause. But Terra was my everything. My love for her was absolute.
If she were determined to die right now, then I would die with her.
Chapter 23
Terra
I crept behind the barn of the boarding school with Jidden by my side. There were only three men, and none of them wore armored suits. They were vulnerable, easy targets.
Before the Surtu invaded, if I had imagined myself in this situation, I would have thought I could save the teen girls by reasoning with the men. It was almost laughable.
There was no reasoning with the Surtu soldiers. They had come to dominate Earth. The only way to win against them was to kill them first.
I entered the barn to search for weapons, not expecting to find a group of men, women, and children cowering behind the hay. On instinct, I pushed Jidden back before he could follow me in, not wanting to scare the people inside. There was more than a boarding school full of girls at stake. There was an entire community, likely farmers and their families from around the plains.
Holding a finger to my mouth, signaling for them to stay quiet, I picked out a rake from the tools on the wall. I thought it my best option, but a man approached me with a set of daggers in his hand. Grateful, I accepted them, and then I returned outside.
The soldiers had lined the girls up, no doubt choosing their favorite. It was repulsive. I waved Jidden back, indicating for him to cover the barn, and I went to the well at the side of the boarding school. It was the closest I could get to the soldiers without being seen.
Daggers could not kill soldiers. I had witnessed that firsthand the day Gallia died. But daggers could disarm them, even if only for a few seconds. That’s all I needed – a few seconds.
I threw a dagger from behind the well. As I intended, it landed in a soldier’s throat. He dropped his blaster and fell to his knees, choking on his blood. The two remaining soldiers immediately had their guard up, but I was Nightshade. They were fools. I threw two more daggers, and the soldiers went down.
Knowing there was only a little time before they healed themselves, I went to the first soldier and picked up his blaster. I pointed it directly at his head. I had never killed a person before. I never thought I could do it, but I did not hesitate as I pulled the trigger.
A blast echoed across the plain.
You cannot use your mind to heal if you have no mind to use, I thought, and I moved on to the other two soldiers to do the same. Two more blasts. Two less Surtu soldiers to claim the innocence of the young women.
I threw the blaster down and signaled Jidden to watch over the girls. “You can trust him,” I told them. “Don’t be scared.” Then I went to the barn and coaxed out the families inside. “We have to hurry. A rescue ship waits.”
“But our town – it’s just west of here. We managed to escape when the Surtu invaded, but we have to go back and save the rest,” a woman explained, grabbing my arm.
From my time as Commander on the Fortuna, I had learned that there was a time to fight, and there was a time to sacrifice. We had fought, and now we had to go. “They’re lost,” I told the woman. “We have to head to the ship. It’s your decision if you follow.”
Tears of sorrow spilled down her cheeks, but she nodded her understanding.
With Jidden leading the way, we continued to run across the plains. It was no longer just the two of us. Most of the rescued followed, but some had stayed behind to go back and fight. They would likely die, but at least they would die honorably. I respected their decision.
We arrived at the ship just as it was about to take off. It hovered over the ground, but the loading door was still open. Jidden and I lifted the people onto the ship one by one until only we remained. The stronger of us, Jidden jumped on first, and then he reach his hand down to me. “This time, we stay together, or we leave together,” he said.
I wanted to continue the fight on Earth, but I knew people needed me elsewhere. I grabbed Jidden’s hand and allowed him to pull me onto the ship. “Wherever we go, it will be together,” I promised, and I sealed that promise with a kiss.
With great sadness, I watched from the ship as the Earth grew smaller and faded from sight. Jidden wrapped me in his arms, feeling my pain through our light bond. Earth was lost. The growing number of military space stations floating in darkness told me so. The war against the Surtu was a war we could not win.
But I found comfort in Jidden’s arms. The Earth may be lost, but hope wasn’t. I looked forward to the refuge. My sister warriors waited for me there in a secret place where humans and Surtu lived together in freedom and love.
“Are you ready?” Jidden asked, caressing my cheek.
We would not be traveling at warp speed. The Surtu ship could move much faster than our own.
“I’m ready,” I said, and I braced myself for the light.
* * *
The End
Continue the Warriors of Surtu Series in book two, Kidnapped by Surtu.
https://lisalace.com/book/kidnapped-by-surtu/
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About the Au
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Lisa Lace is a bestselling sci-fi romance author and lives in northern California with her spouse and five children. Her stories have:
1) Good-looking aliens
2) Strong, independent Earth girls
3) Happy endings
Read More from Lisa Lace:
https://lisalace.com
I Am Human
Mella Amade and Michael Trozzo
I AM HUMAN © 2017 Michael Trozzo and Melle Amade
* * *
Copyright notice: All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
I Am Human
All he wanted was an employee of the month placard. He didn’t ask to be treated like a god or hunted by an assassin.
In 2017, the year Charlie Richards made his universe changing discovery, mankind had become content using their most significant technological advancements primarily to share videos of cute cats. Which is why when Charlie wrote the computer/genetic bridging code that would give birth to a whole new race, its importance was noticed by no one. Not even by Charlie Richards.
Myths & Magic: A Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection Page 95
