Karek

by Maia Starr

  “How did you do that? I barely even saw you move,” she said with awe.

  “Just the way I always do. But perhaps with more energy. I am telling you, there's something going on,” I said.

  “I am going to head to the lab after I take you back to the house. I am going to look through the data from the test that I ran on you,” she said as she pulled on her clothes.

  “I just feel so much stronger,” I said feeling it running through my veins.

  “Well, that is good to know,” she said.

  A couple of minutes later, we were walking back to the street where I lived.

  My soldiers were waiting for me on the front porch. I felt like they were looking at me like they knew what we had done.

  “I will come check on you later. Please stay out of sight,” she said.

  “Yes, as you say,” I said to her.

  “I am going to go to the lab now. I will bring back food for you when I return,” she said.

  “Thank you. There are still provisions here that you gave us,” I said to her.

  She nodded to us and then walked down the street.

  “You look well, my king,” Azlo said.

  “I feel well. In fact, I feel better than I ever have in my life,” I said walking inside. They followed me in.

  “What do you mean?” Jex said.

  “I mean I feel a change within me. I know this sounds strange but I think that I might be cured of the blackness,” I said.

  “How can that be?” Azlo said.

  “Do you think that it could be the environment of the Earth? Maybe it is being here in the village? Maybe it is the human food,” Jex said as he was thinking out loud.

  “No, I think it is the humans themselves. Particularly the human females,” I said.

  They looked at each other confused, then they looked at me for answers.

  “I felt it when I first kissed her,” I said.

  “What? You kissed the human?” Azlo said.

  “Is that why is, my king? The humans do not trust us as it is,” Jex said.

  “Yes, it is dangerous. I understand that. But I could not help myself. I am drawn to her more than I have ever been with any female, including my past wives. When I kissed her, I felt a feeling of happiness. I felt euphoria. I felt joy. I felt strength. I thought it was just the effects of getting what I desired. But just now in the woods, I mated with her,” I said.

  “You did what?” Azlo shouted.

  “It was wrong. I know that. But I felt something happen when I was inside of her. It was as if we became one. I can't explain it. But after I was with her, I felt completely different. Not only did I feel that extreme feeling of euphoria and joy, but I felt stronger. I don't know if it is a temporary feeling. Maybe when I wake in the morning, I might be completely weak and sicker than I have been. Only time will tell. But I can only tell you what I feel now,” I said.

  “That is most intriguing indeed. We must keep track of this,” Jex said.

  “Yes, I agree,” I said.

  “If mating with human females can cure the blackness, then that is going to be very complicated,” Azlo said.

  “Yes, it will be. But let us not worry about it until we know for sure. Vanessa went to go work in her lab and check on the results of my tests. I will wait to hear her diagnosis. For now, let us sit and talk about what I saw with the perimeter defense,” I said, leading them to the table.

  We sat around the table, and I told them everything that I saw. I ensured them that they would get their chance to get a look at the defenses and meet with the engineers that created the electrical fences. We started to lay out a plan. We worked late into the evening drawing up battle plans. Figuring out ways to place our army in defense against the Clenok cyborgs if they ever decided to invade this village. It felt good to get my mind off of the NASA. I found myself thinking about her over and over again, particularly thinking about her naked underneath me. If I close my eyes, I could see her rosy nipples.

  In the evening, she returned with a crate of food. She would barely look at me in the eyes. I think she was feeling embarrassed about what she had done. I didn't see any reason for embarrassment.

  “I have bad news,” she said.

  “I am listening,” I said.

  “The tests that I ran on you show me your DNA and that your body is slowly dying. I could not get any real answers though. There is another test that I could run tomorrow, if you would come to the lab with me,” she said.

  “Slowly dying? What does that mean?” Azlo said in a panic.

  “It means that your organs are on the verge of shutting down. That is all that I could really tell from these tests. We need to do more. The machines we use in the lab are very old. I do not have the computer power that we used to have before the cyborg attack. Those machines could do a lot more work in a short amount of time. This is all that I have to work with. It is telling me what is wrong with you but not really why you are going through this or what could possibly cure it,” she said.

  “I understand. I will come to the lab tomorrow,” I said.

  “Yes, come at noon. Dr. Douglas will not be in the lab during that time. He is not a fan of what I am doing. He does not trust you,” she said.

  “I understand,” I said.

  “I must be getting to bed. Good night to you all,” she said.

  “Good night,” I said. I wanted to follow her out. I wanted to bed her again. I wanted to sleep in her home, but I knew that I should not. She was not inviting me to, and I think that she was overwhelmed by what we had done. I would give her some space. I did not want to crowd her mind.

  The next morning I woke up and jumped out of bed. I felt strong. I felt stronger than I had ever felt, even before I got sick. I could not believe it. I wanted to run and jump and fly. It was amazing. I went downstairs to find Azlo and Jex eating at the table.

  “We were just about to wake you. You never sleep this late. You have an hour before you are to meet Vanessa at the lab,” Azlo said.

  “What? What time is it? Surely the sun has only risen,” I said looking out the window.

  “No. It has been hours since the sun came up. You have been in a very deep sleep,” Jex said.

  I looked at my armband. I pulled up my systems and saw that I had been asleep for twelve hours. That was unlike me. I never slept much. I was a king after all.

  “That is unbelievable. But I must tell you, I feel like I am completely cured,” I said.

  “What? How can you tell?” Jex asked.

  “I just can. I don't think I have the blackness anymore. I think my body has healed itself, and I must think that it is all because I was with Vanessa. Somehow, the human female has cured me,” I said.

  “You cannot know that for sure. I think it is best that you let her examine you once more. This could be a side effect that is temporary,” Azlo said.

  “Yes, I am going to continue with the test. But I know. I know inside of me that I am cured. I can just feel it,” I said with a big smile.

  "Well if mating with a human female does all of that, then I want to try,” Azlo joked.

  "No kidding,” Jex said.

  "I must get a move on to the lab,” I said.

  “We will walk with you. You cannot go unguarded,” they said.

  I grabbed food off the table and bit into it. My soldiers followed me out into the street. We took the back way along the tree line to stay away from the busy human areas of the village. We had not yet talked to them the way that Vanessa thought we should. Perhaps this evening we could get to know them, and they could get to know us and know that they had nothing to fear. In fact, with this new turn of events, we needed them now more than ever if the Veruka were to survive.

  Chapter 10

  Dr. Vanessa Lopez

  I could not believe it. I had sex with an alien. Not just any alien but an alien that was part dragon. I had been turned on beyond believe when he showed me what it was to shift into dragon form. I was ashamed of m
yself that I had been such a naughty girl. What was I thinking? I did not know this strange alien. I did not know what he really wanted with humans. I didn't know if he could be trusted. Yet I allowed him to have sex with me. I practically begged him for it. It was something that I wanted to keep a secret.

  As I walked through the village, everyone was looking at me and whispering. I figured it was simply because I was the one that introduced the aliens. But my paranoia made me feel like they all knew that I had sex with one. What if they knew? It would be absolutely terrible. They would never trust me.

  “Good day, Dr. Lopez,” a young teenager said to me with a smile.

  “Good day,” I said smiling as I walked faster. I did not want to talk to anyone. I knew they all had questions and they were all going to direct them at me. The village was still very quiet because it was still early. I was glad for it. I walked down Main Street wishing that I would have taken a backstreet, but I always took Main Street because it would let me know how the village was doing that day. If there was panic or an emergency, Main Street was where everyone would gather. Everything seemed normal despite the fact that there were aliens around us.

  I finally made it to the lab. I began to work, taking notes and looking at the schedule for patients at the clinic. I would be going to the clinic around two that day.

  I was glad that Dr. Douglas was not in yet. This was my alone time in the lab. I looked over the results once more that I had taken on Karik. I wished that I could do more. If I had the technology that I used to have as a doctor, I would know so much about him by now. I looked again at the DNA results. They were so similar to humans, but yet very different. I could see why we were able to have sex.

  “What the hell do you think you're doing?” I heard Dr. Douglas say. I closed my notebook before turning around to him. He did not know exactly what I was up to with the aliens. I did not want him to know about the sickness.

  “Good morning to you too, Dr. Douglas,” I said.

  “What do you think you're doing with that alien? I saw you walking with him yesterday,” he said as he came toward me. There was anger on his face. I was mortified. Exactly what did he see? Did he know?

  "Were you spying on me?” I said trying to defend myself.

  “No. I was on my way to the engineering office on the outskirts of the perimeter,” he said.

  “I was showing Karik the perimeter fence. He requested to take a tour of the village end of the defenses that we have in place,” I said.

  “Of course he did. He needs to know everything he can in order to plan his invasion of taking over our village,” he said.

  “That is what you think?” I said.

  “Yes, and you would do well to think that too. You are exposing us. You are betraying the humans for some visiting aliens. What would everyone think if they saw you taking a romantic walk with that alien? They would never trust you again,” he said.

  “Romantic walk? That is not what that was. This is simply because I am a woman. If I were a man, then you would not be saying such things. Now if you are done belittling me, I would like to get back to work. I have a very busy day, including working in the clinic this afternoon,” I said turning my back to him.

  “You are being a fool. He is playing you for a fool. I can't believe that you cannot see that. If the village finds out that you are getting cozy with this alien, then they might decide to cast you out of the village. How would you like to live beyond the walls, without protection?” he said as he stomped into another room of the lab and slammed the door.

  I was relieved. He did not say anything about knowing that I had sex with Karik. It was a relief. But I was mad that he suspected it because he would be right to be suspicious. I had given in to the alien. I had put my own feelings above the well-being of the village. It was wrong. I was being selfish. What if Karik and his soldiers were lying to me? I had no proof that they had an army that could help us. I had never seen it. They could be lying about that just to get what they wanted. Even though I wasn't sure exactly what that was just yet.

  I wished that Bradley Douglas had not said anything at all because now I felt paranoid and suspicious. It was not a good feeling. What if the village did get this witch hunt type of mentality and decide to cast me out along with the aliens? I would not last two days outside of the walls. There were no resources, and I knew very little about gathering my own food from the land. Not to mention that the Clenok cyborgs would pick me off easily and in no time.

  I spent the morning working on various projects and did not work on anything to do with the Veruka aliens. I have been neglecting working on things for the village. I had to get back into my own work. There was bloodwork to test and different medications to replicate and ration. There was a lot of work to do. Finally, Dr. Douglas left just a little before noon. I was glad to see him go. He was going to the clinic for his shift. He did not speak to me. He only gave me an angry look, like he always did, but this time it was cruel.

  Was Karik right about him? Dr. Douglas thought that he owned me and that's why he was so mean to me. It was out of jealousy. It was out of his desire for me and frustration that he could not have me. I found him to be repulsive. I would never let him touch me. I longed for the intelligent colleagues that I had at the hospital in Atlanta. I wished that I could go back to that life. I wished that I could go back to Blake. What would my husband think of me now knowing that I had been slutty and given myself to a strange alien that I hardly knew? What would he think of me being attracted to a weredragon? I felt sick to my stomach.

  At noon, Karik walked into the lab. I was not happy to see him. It wasn't his fault. It was just spending the entire morning in paranoia that I could not trust him and regret about what I had done with him. But as soon as he walked in, my eyes roamed over his body. What the hell was wrong with me? Could I not put my lust aside for just a second?

  “I am here just as you requested,” he said in a deep voice that brought goosebumps all over my body. As soon as his words reached my ears, I could picture myself touching him. I could picture him naked and just how delicious he had looked. I thought about having him inside of me and what that felt like. I swallowed hard.

  “Are you going to tell me what is really going on here or not?” I said.

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “Why are you really here? Why did you travel across many galaxies to get to us? Why would you come to a planet that is under siege by Clenok cyborgs? These machines are ruthless. Why would you put your life at risk? This does not make sense to me. I cannot trust you. I think that maybe you should leave,” I said.

  "You want me to return later then? You seem as though you are engulfed in the work, and I do not want to disturb you,” he said with sympathy and a sensitive heart. It made me feel weak in the knees.

  “No, that is not what I meant. I meant that I think you should leave the village. Leave with Jex and Azlo and never return here. This cannot be good for anyone. I don't know what you are up to, but it cannot be good. I have to pick my people over you,” I said.

  “I don't know what you are talking about, Vanessa. Where is this coming from? All of a sudden you do not trust me? I have no ulterior motives. I have told you the reason why we have come to Earth and why we need human help. There is nothing beyond that,” he said.

  I looked at him for a long time. His brown eyes looked sensitive and filled with apology. He took a few steps toward me. I backed up away from him. I know that if he touched me, I would give in. If he put his hand on me I would feel the heat of his body and then I would be kissing him. It was though I had no control over my own senses when he was within inches of my own body. I suddenly had this strange primitive reaction. I wanted him inside of me when he was near me. I couldn't let that happen right now. I was on the verge of getting rid of him forever. I had to stay strong to what I was saying. Otherwise I would be defeated again. I didn't want to admit to myself that I let Dr. Bradley Douglas’s words get to me. It was like he
had brainwashed me with fear and paranoia. It was getting the best of me. It was silly, but it was something that I needed to consider. Maybe Dr. Douglas could see what I could not.

  “Don't cast me out, Vanessa. We are so close. I know that something has happened inside of me. I need your help. My entire race needs your help. I beg you,” he said as he got down on one knee in front of me. He looked so sincere, and I could feel my heart going out to him. Dammit. He was getting the better of me, like he had been over and over. There was no use. I knew that I was going to give in.

  Chapter 11

  King Karik Korinth

  Jex and Azlo walked with me in the village. We stayed away from Main Street and walked down one of the back streets. But there were still humans about. They all stopped and stared at us.