by Maree Dry
“She had breakfast with me two, no three days ago.”
The walking corpse rubbed his head again. Zurian silently sneered at him for his continued attempts to draw Julia’s attention to his hair. He could not even protect his own woman and now he tried to obtain Zurian’s woman with his pathetic preening.
“I spoke to her on the TC four days ago, and after that I haven’t been able to find her. Her room doesn’t look as if anyone’s been there for a while.”
“Have you tried her mother?”
“That’s what made me suspicious in the first place. She’s very cagey and has this crazy idea that Sarah stole her diamond ring and ran. The old bat is hiding something.”
“I never liked that woman, and Sarah would never steal from her own mother,” Julia said.
“I’m going to see if I can find anyone willing to talk.” He walked away.
“I’ll ask around as well.”
The human turned back to her and looked her over. “Curvy figure, long blonde hair.” Zurian clenched his hand on his sword, took a step forward. “You’re very naïve if you think you’re not on the reverend’s list,” Charles said. “Get out of town fast. You’re lucky they haven’t taken you yet.”
Zurian checked his advance. He would kill the woumber later, where Julia couldn’t see. Human women were ruled by their emotions.
“I can’t just leave and abandon Sarah. It wouldn’t be right.”
Zurian approved of her loyalty, but he would not allow her to put herself in danger.
“You won’t do her any good if you are taken as well.”
“I suppose you’re right, Charles. Have you seen Natalie? I haven’t heard from her in over a year.”
“No, but I’m sure she’s all right. She knows every inch of that mountain. My bet is her TC failed.”
Julia nodded and, with a wave, he turned and walked away. She closed the door and leaned her head against it, looking small and fragile. When he found her friend and brought her to Julia as a gift, she would smile at him the way she smiled at the puny male. Zurian dropped the camouflage.
Still with her back to him, she went absolutely still. Like a deer scenting a predator, she froze in place. “You are standing right behind me aren’t you,” she whispered.
He placed the Eduki pelt on the floor where she could see it when she faced him.
“I am,” he said in the lisping human language and waited for her to turn around, curious to see how she would react this time. Maybe if he pretended to bite her she might hit him with the club.
Her shaking body screamed her terror and reluctance to look at him. She turned with slow, incremental little steps only to freeze in place to stare at the Eduki pelt he’d placed on the floor as proof of his worthiness to have her.
Every time he came to her he waited for that moment when she raised her eyes to his. That instant of recognition, when her eerie glance went through him like ice shards from one of the frozen planets. He experienced it like a physical touch, craved it like a drug.
Her eyes climbed his body in a caress that touched his feet and legs, lingering on his chest. She always took a long time to study his chest. He had to resist the urge to puff it out for her like a pre-change warrior. She couldn’t see his scars and he’d studied his chest in the mirror but couldn’t find any anomaly.
At last, she raised those alien, sky eyes to his and a shock bigger than the one she tried to induce with her electricity trap struck through his body. Her gaze briefly flicked to his scarred cheek.
He held out the club to her and she stared at it, her trembling increased.
“But the salt,” she said weakly.
He held the club out in front of her, determined that this time she would use it. “If it was meant to keep me out, it failed.”
“Why do you keep giving me that, what am I supposed to do with it?”
“Choose.”
“Choose what? Why do you do this to me?” She grabbed the club and swung at him. “I’ll show you choosing,” she screamed with that spirit that drew him back to her every time.
He stood still and allowed it to make contact with his shoulder. She’d aimed high but obviously her skill lay with pistols. Her screeching hurt his ears more than the club could harm his body.
Noting with approval how she quickly stepped out of range, he reached over and grabbed the club from her, to return it to Azagor.
She went for the pistol in her pants and he grabbed her. Slid his fingers below her shirt and into her pants and slowly drew the weapon out, allowing his knuckles to stroke her flesh. She shivered against him, made a high squealing sound that hurt his ears. If she would stop that annoying noise, he could enjoy how she felt pressed against him, enjoy the way she wriggled. “Quiet, human,” he said.
“Let me go, demon.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Still, woman.” With great reluctance he withdrew his hand from her clothes and stepped back.
She gasped, a useless sound. “Give that back.” She jumped and tried to grab the pistol and then stepped back when he held it out of reach.
Zurian planted his feet wide and crossed his arms over his chest. “You will not shoot me. I have brought you the pelt that proves I am worthy.”
He stood a little taller. Never had he thought he would say those words to a female.
“Worthy of what?” She threw her hands up in the air. “Oh, never mind. Just leave me alone, demon.”
“No.”
He waited to see what she would do next. Her continued attempts to outwit him were somewhat amusing.
She looked at the back door. “How did you get through the salt, demon?”
She persisted in calling by him the name of a lower life form.
He made his displeasure known in strong Zyrgin, unable to articulate in her language at that moment. Julia flinched and he forced the angry words back down his throat. He paused, satisfied she understood his displeasure. Sudden, deafening silence. Even the humans outside became quiet and part of him wished they would come and investigate, so he could kill them--to show her that he was a fierce warrior and capable of protecting her.
“I am not a demon,” he said in English.
She shrank away from him, covering her ears with trembling hands.
“The salt was supposed to stop you,” she wailed and he braced himself in case she started that shrill screaming again.
“Superstitious nonsense and salt will not keep me out.”
If he hadn’t been so angry at her insult, he might have thought the confused look on her face amusing. When they first arrived, they’d found the humans’ ugly faces difficult to read. After spending a long winter--with his leader’s breeder going everywhere she shouldn’t--and Zurian spying on the humans, he’d learned a lot.
“Okay.” She spoke in a placating manner that he did not appreciate. “I’m gone anyway,” she mumbled. She probably did not realize he had superior hearing.
“Nothing can stop me from getting to you.”
“That’s what you think,” she mumbled.
“If you run, I will follow you,” he stressed.
“A--all right, I get it.”
He could see she still did not understand. No place on this planet could hide her from him.
“Don’t you want to go back to your family? You know the demon--I mean family--that is probably missing you right now,” she said.
Again he had to battle back the rage living inside him. “I do not have family. I am not demon.”
Julia nodded her head in agreement, in that irritating human habit his fellow warriors had picked up from his leader’s breeder. She stared at his head. Did she prefer men with silk hair on their heads like the walking corpse who dared come to her door? He knew exactly where Charles of the yellow hair lived.
Killing him would not take much of Zurian’s time.
“Uh, what exactly are you?”
“I am your warrior.”
“Is that a--”
His co
mmunicator bleeped and he was temped--for the first time since Zacar had allowed him to join his legion--to ignore his duty. He looked at her, wanting to remember her like this: her blue eyes flashing, her cheeks pink, and her toe tapping on the floor. “I will return,” he told her and prepared to camouflage himself.
She waved him off. “Uh, really, don’t feel you have to.”
He walked up to her and pressed his forehead to hers. Her skin was cool and soft against his--so female--that, for a moment, he had to battle for control. She froze, not moving, barely breathing. Their scents mingled. He drew her sweet essence into his lungs while he stared into her eyes. Her forehead rested softly against his, much cooler than his skin. Those eerie blue eyes stared up at him and he could see terror reflected there. He’d always thought the humans’ habit of kissing to be truly revolting. But the soft skin of her forehead pressed against his and her sweet scent in his nose tempted him to try it. His communicator bleeped again. She didn’t react to the noise and, even after all this time among humans, he still felt disgust at their inability to pick up sounds on certain frequencies.
“I will return for you. Be ready to leave for your new home when I come for you.” He stepped back and placed the pistol on the table and remembered Zacar’s advice. “I am pleased that you are nice and round.”
He struck his chest with his fist and then camouflaged. He knew she thought him gone from her dwelling when she moaned and sank down on the floor, her arms around her shaking knees.
With one last look at her, he left to execute Zacar’s orders.
“Nice and round,” he heard her mutter and was pleased he’d thought to compliment her.
Chapter 2
Zurian returned to the shuttle and sat down in the pilot seat. They had one shuttle for each Zyrgin warrior who came on the mother ship. They did double duty as escape pods and could also be used as fighter planes. Although the chances of ever needing fighter planes against the humans were zero.
“Contact Zacar,” he ordered the computer in the old language.
“Zurian,” Zacar said. His image was clear, without the distortion caused by the humans’ primitive TC. “We intercepted another transmission to the town.”
“Could you find where he called from?” Zurian asked.
“No. And only their government has the resources to hide the origin of their calls.”
In the last year they’d picked up encrypted messages coming into and out of the town. The probe covering the town could not determine the exact location. Azagor had been working on it, trying to fix the locator problem. If their probe had been working as it should, the human operating in secret in town would never have been able to cover his tracks like this.
Zurian flashed his claws to show his disgust. “What government? They can’t even pay their people.”
From their intelligence all over the world, they had found out that most government servants went to work in the hope that they would eventually be paid. But because they hadn’t been paid for a while, they did not do any work while they were at their offices. Zurian had nothing but contempt for such nonsense. Under Zyrgin rule they would not be able to indulge such laziness.
“They still have access to remnants of technology.”
“Remnants,” Zurian sneered.
“Since the murder of President Jacobson five years ago they have been deteriorating fast,” Zacar said. “From what I can glean from newscasts and their primitive databases the dead president might have turned the tide for humans for a while. He was a man of vision.”
“Any news on who murdered him?” Zurian asked. “If we could find the killer, we would have the person working behind the scenes. The humans’ collapsing society has stumbled much faster since the murder of President Jacobson.”
“No, unfortunately. I have been unable to determine this.” Zacar paused then changed the subject. “Can you find out why the government interested in this town?”
“Has to be the reverend,” Zurian said. “No one else is running anything.”
“Who are you impersonating to infiltrate the reverend’s organization?”
Zacar glanced briefly to the side and Zurian knew he was checking on Natalie. Zurian had thought it unworthy behavior of a warrior until he had seen Julia the first time. Now he went to check on her regularly and had her watched when he was not available. “A person who called himself an ‘enforcer’ for Denver city.”
“You found him close to town?”
“Yes,” Zurian confirmed. “It is another factor we have to keep our eyes on. He was from Denver and came to do business with the reverend.” He also knew Julia, a fact that Zurian did not appreciate.
“That works into our plan,” Zacar said. “We have been aware of Denver for a while.”
Three of the ten probes in Denver had malfunctioned and were being fixed by Azagor. With several of the probes malfunctioning, Azagor was working day and night to get them operational. Before the malfunction, the Zyrgins had traced several calls, indicating that someone in town was communicating with the Denver Corporation. From Denver, Zacar had traced calls to Washington. Though they could pinpoint calls in Denver, they could not find the exact location in No Name town or in Washington. What he and Zacar did not know was what they were working on.
“Did you have any problems making him talk?” Zacar asked.
“After I cut off his third finger, he begged me to let him tell me everything.”
The physical weakness of the humans constantly surprised the Zyrgins. Once or twice, some of the humans had shown unexpected courage, but mostly they just cried and begged for mercy. They would be conquered soon enough.
“Why do you sound disturbed?”
“He came here for my breeder,” Zurian snarled.
Did Zacar doubt Zurian’s ability to torture prisoners? They all knew he visited Julia and planned to bring her to his dwelling. Did they think he would become soft because he took such a small female?
“How is that possible?” Zacar touched his hip and Zurian didn’t blame him. The thought of anyone coming for Zurian’s breeder made him want to reach for his sword as well.
“It seems she belonged to a powerful family who wants her back. This woumber thought to take her for his own.”
“I can send another warrior to the reverend if you want to bring her here now.”
Zurian appreciated the offer. Next to conquering worlds for their empire, protecting a breeder was the priority for any warrior. “That won’t be necessary. I will keep her safe.”
He frowned when Azagor walked into view to talk to Zacar. More malfunctioning probes. Azagor was the youngest warrior in their group. He had only recently gone through his third change and had developed the habit of talking to Natalie. No doubt he would try to talk to Julia as well. It would be unfortunate if I have to kill another warrior.
“Anything else I should be aware of?” Zurian asked.
“New Raider camps are going up fast,” Zacar told him. Zurian understood the anticipation Zacar clearly felt. Zurian wanted a battle as well--any kind of battle. Since they had come to Earth, they’d only fought Raiders, who barely afforded them any sport. “These humans are like the locusts on planet Y2539,” Zacar continued.
“We will make them as extinct as Solari worms,” Zurian assured him.
Rumor had it their supreme leader owned the last Solari worm in their galaxy. Speaking of their leader...
“I do not understand this delay in conquest our leader is insisting on.” Zurian watched Zacar carefully. As the leader’s son, Zacar wasn’t necessarily privy to his father’s plans but if anyone would know, he would.
“I suspect he wants to test a new weapon.”
“You don’t like the idea.”
“How do you think Natlia would feel if one of our weapons were tested here and wiped out all her people?”
“Why does it matter what she feels?” Zurian wondered aloud. Zacar had given Natalie a bear pelt after she’d hit him with the ceremonia
l club. She should know her place and not interfere with warrior business.
Zacar signed the tablet Azagor handed him. “You are still guarding your yellow-haired woman?”
“Golden, and I am. What of it?”
“Would you like to go to her and tell her that you tested a weapon on her people and killed the human race?”
Zurian rubbed a finger on his scar. “You are right. I would not want to do that.”
Still, nothing would give him greater satisfaction than wiping out the humans. And Zurian was not altogether sure they should cater this much to the whims of their breeders.
Zacar nodded. “We could not trace the call but we could listen to the conversation. A slaver is coming here and he will be bringing information to the reverend. They said it could not be trusted over their primitive TC.”
Zurian sneered. “And they think a puny human could keep the information safe.”
“Their logic escapes me as well.”
“I will meet with the reverend and stay in town. I can camouflage and listen to their conversations.” Many times he’d camouflaged and stood next to a human who had never known he was there. It was something that had puzzled the Zyrgins from the beginning. Zurian might not be able to see other warriors when they were camouflaged, but he could sense them. Humans had weak hearing and didn’t see very far and, on top of that, had no sensors to warn them when danger approached.
“The conversation clearly indicated the slaver knew the new Raider leader,” Zacar explained. “And he knew who put him in power.”
“The person, whose identity I assumed, admitted that he would also buy humans while here,” Zurian said. “They are a truly disgusting species.”
“That they are. Do you have the cover personality in place?”
“Yes, I will meet with the reverend in a few hours and find out who the third party is.”
“I want him dead,” Zacar said.”
“I will find the person coming with the information and then kill the reverend,”” Zurian promised.
