by Marie Dry
“Put on the TC. The resistance bombed the hospital and several other places in the city,” someone screamed from down the hall. Viktor accessed his TC and the newscast played across the table.
“...the Zyrgin administration has imposed a curfew after a hospital was bombed in Helena, Montana, and several other targets were bombed in that city,” the presenter said. She fidgeted and then read a statement from her desk. “The Zyrgin administration also said that they will publicly execute the people responsible. Their statement stresses that this will be done in retaliation for the loss of human lives. Further, the statement said that Zyrgins are too tough to be harmed by mere humans.” Documents flashed over the screen.
“What’s that?” one of the interns asked.
Everyone peered at the documents.
“It’s criminal records, of the people responsible for the bomb.”
Madison thought guiltily about the anonymous messages, asking her to get hold of Viglar’s DNA. These were the same people who were bombing humans. The thought of what might have happened to Rory had almost made her agree to do it.
Viktor turned to Madison. “Why don’t you go and talk to your boyfriend and find out what’s going on?”
Madison glared at him. “I’m fixing to slap you, Viktor, lay off,” she snarled and stormed off. As if he was determined to prove them right, she ran into Viglar, literally. He steadied her and looked her over. “You are unharmed?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” she said through clenched teeth. She appreciated his concern but his timing sucked. She was very aware of all her colleagues standing in the door of the conference room and watching them.
“Stay with the other humans.” Viglar pressed his forehead against hers and walked off.
Rachel took her arm. “let’s go to the cafeteria while he deals with the bomb situation. We might not get another chance.”
After work, Rachel gave her a lift home in the car she’d bought a week ago. Madison still didn’t know how she was able to afford a car, even an old one like this, on an intern’s salary and, as far as she knew, Rachel’s family were not very rich. Rachel had told her that her considerable extended family had contributed to the bribe that got her accepted as intern.
“That alien might be irritating, but he’s sexy. Have you seen his thighs? It’s just rippling muscles. And he’s really interested in you. You know, if you had an affair with Viglar, you could have it better than Sandra.”
Rachel said it jokingly, but the conversation bothered Madison afterward, though she couldn’t put her finger on why it bothered her. With a sigh, she showered and fell into bed, too tired to eat. She didn’t want to know what Sandra would say if she knew about the whole breeding claiming thing. She fell asleep wondering what a child of her and Viglar would look like.
When she reported for duty the next day, everyone talked about the bombing. Somehow Viglar had managed to ensure that any damage done by the bomb was repaired almost instantly. None of the work was interrupted, and the patients were not affected at all.
“Let’s go and have pizza,” she said to Rachel. “I heard the pizza parlor planted their own vegetables and now have pizza with fresh ingredients.”
Rachel shook her head. “We only have time to get to our building before the curfew goes into effect.”
Madison balled her fists. “Who the hell do these green freaks they are?”
“Madison.”
“We’re not allowed to walk around after work. Allowed.”
Sometimes Viglar could be so endearing and sweet and then at times like this, she realized all over again that he was one of the hated invaders.
“You shouldn’t say these things.”
“Or what? One of these round things will vaporise us.”
With the advent of the aliens, they suddenly had these round ball like things hovering in the air. Everywhere. All over the world. And Madison had a strong suspicion that there were even more that were somehow invisible.
“Probes, they call them probes,” Rachel said.
“Who the hell cares? They don’t belong here.”
They were taking a break in the staff room. Madison had to start work again at four but she wanted to enjoy the short break. Lately, it felt as if all she did was work and sleep.
Khani gestured and Madison frowned at her. “Don’t try to shush me, Khani, these things need to be said.”
The air around her electrified and she was too angry to care that he stood behind her.
She knew he did. She always knew when he was around and she thought that was seriously creepy. It was a good thing he was such an excellent kisser.
She planted her feet like his and crossed her arms as well. Again, this was the kind of pose that could really work with ample breasts. Her mother used it with great success. Except Madison lost out on the ample. After her cousins got endowed, there simply wasn’t any endowing left for her. Grief tore through her. She was the only runt in the family, and that was one of the reasons Rory had been so protective, even though he was younger than her. If Ana had lived, would he have been so protective?
She stalked up to Viglar. “I’m going for pizza after work with my friend Rachel. And if you green freaks want to arrest me, you go right ahead, but I’m having pizza.”
Chapter 13
A hush fell over the staff room and then humans scattered in all directions, trying to look as if they were about to leave, but Viglar stood in the doorway so they sort of tried to meander casually.
He cocked his head, and she almost had the feeling he was trying to recall what a pizza was. “I will accompany you, and you and your friend will not be arrested.”
“Nice little double standard you’ve got going there.” She became aware of everyone’s avid stares.
Rachel audibly moaned before she cut it off. Several of the interns who had tried to meander out would have to brush against Viglar to exit and now tried to find a reason to be walking around the cafeteria.
“I will meet you and your friend outside the building after your shift.” He walked to the door and then stopped. “Do not be late.”
I’m not going anywhere with him,” Rachel hissed.
“You’re not leaving me alone with him,” Madison told her. “So don’t even try to chicken out.” He’d claimed her, who knew what he’d want to do if they were alone?
“Kwak, kwak, kwak.”
“You’re not funny and that’s not what a chicken sounds like.”
“Have you ever seen a chicken?” Rachel teased.
“No, but I know that’s not what they sound like.” Most chickens in their area had died of avian flu before her birth.
They went to finish their shifts and then Madison went in search of Rachel. She wasn’t about to give her the opportunity to sneak away and leave her alone with Viglar. “We’d better go, that alien is rabid about being on time.”
He stood outside the building, arms crossed over his chest, surveying the newly tiled pavement as if looking for flaws. The security guards stood as if turned to stone, trying to be invisible. Most of them had been replaced, and they now wore smart uniforms and never ever made smarmy remarks to the female staff. It was one of the reasons some of the nurses wouldn’t allow anyone to speak out against Viglar or the aliens.
“We normally just walk to the pizza place and get the pizzas to take home,” Madison told him.
“Great, now he’s going to come home with us,” Rachel mumbled and Madison could’ve kicked herself. She couldn’t imagine him in her tiny apartment. When he’d come to give her the Eduki pelt he’d made her flat seem the size of a TC before it was activated. They walked in silence to the pizza shop.
“I’d like a New York Elvis,” Madison told the man behind the counter. Of Chinese descent, he was only half a head taller than her. Frozen, he stood staring at Viglar.
“It--it--it’s not curfew yet.”
Viglar ignored him and studied the menu. “Why do you name your food?”
The man behi
nd the counter still stood frozen, and Madison tried to think of a way to explain the names on the menu.
“It’s just fashionable right now. It draws customers,” she said. “Why don’t we eat here tonight?” she suggested in a falsely happy voice.
Viglar looked down at the spindly chairs and dainty tables. “We will go to your living quarters.”
Carrying their pizzas, shoulders slumped, Madison and Rachel led the way to the building where they both had flats. Viglar stopped and looked at the building for a long time, and Madison and Rachel exchanged glances. “Bet you by the end of the week this building looks brand new,” Madison mumbled.
“I never take bets I’ll lose,” Rachel mumbled back. “The owners of this building will become intimately acquainted with brush and paint soon.”
Madison bit her lip, to keep the hysterical laughter contained, and pushed open the glass door that led to the lobby of their building. The door was cracked and, while it might have been a security feature at one time, now it was just an irritation while she found her keys and unlocked the iron gate.
Viglar was silent but Madison could feel his gaze following her every move. “We’ll have to use the stairs, the lifts haven’t worked since year zero,” she told him.
Still silent, he climbed behind her to her floor. Madison was aware of him behind her and looking at her every step of the way. No matter how fast she climbed, he kept up and she could’ve cried in relief when they reached the last step. She was sure he looked at her butt the whole time. She almost ran to her door, unlocked the iron gate in front of it, and then the three locks on her door. The door resisted and creaked when she tried to open it. Viglar reached over her and pushed it open. Compared to the way his office door opened and closed without him ever touching it or giving a command, this must seem very primitive to him.
“Come in, excuse the mess, I didn’t expect al--any company,” she said and got plates and glasses from her miniscule kitchen. She and Rachel sat down on the floor around her small coffee table her brother had made her. After a short hesitation, Viglar joined them, sitting too close to her, making her apartment appear even smaller. The way he moved, effortlessly sinking down on the floor was so fluid, the play of muscles so beautiful, she forgot to hand out the pizza and just looked at him.
He caught her gaze and, blushing, she put the slices of pizza on a plate and handed one to Rachel and then Viglar. She widened her eyes and Rachel crossed hers in silent communication. This was the only time they had to relax and unwind. Having their slave driver alien boss around sort of spoiled that.
Madison took a bite of her pizza and enjoyed the cheese strings. She liked to see how far they’d stretch and then she wound it around the end of her pizza for a large satisfying bite. Ever since Rachel saw Madison do it, she’d started the habit as well.
Viglar mimicked their movements, but could not hide his dislike of the pizza and the cheese that made strings.
Madison lowered her eyes and went after another slice, afraid she’d laugh at Viglar and come to a bad end.
“Is this what you do at home? Eat unhealthy food,” Viglar asked.
“Well, we normally watch the space ranger episodes and mock everything he does and uh--never mind,” Rachel said. She’d been quiet the whole time.
“I will observe it with you,” Viglar said.
“You know, I forgot I had a really important meeting. Bye.” Rachel jumped up and was gone before Madison could stop her.
“Traitor,” she muttered after her and reluctantly turned back to the alien who claimed she was his breeder.
“Are we now on a human date?” he asked her seriously.
“I suppose this pretty much is a date. What do Zyrgins do on a date?”
“We kill an Eduki and present it to the woman of our choice. Then we take her to our dwelling and do the first knowing.”
Jeez that sounded bad. Life on that planet had to be hard on their women if they didn’t even get to choose who they hooked up with. “The first knowing?”
“When a warrior learns his breeders body.”
All kinds of pictures sprang to mind, images that sent delicious tremors all over her body.
He sat on her couch, not seeming to notice how it sagged, and drew her up on it with him. “This is a human date. We will now watch a movie that scares frail human women.”
“Excuse me?”
“I researched dating and it is the custom to watch a movie classified as horror on the first date.”
Madison bit her lip and pretended to look at the menu of movies available that hovered in the air. He probably didn’t realize the idea was for her to be scared and jump into his arms. Since she probably would jump into his arms if she watched a horror movie, she chose an episode of Space Ranger Walker instead. She could’ve sworn she heard the alien next to her sigh.
She settled back and watched as the space ranger jumped out of his ship, his shirt open and off one shoulder. “That is your California desert, not another planet.”
“Shhh, its make belief and this is a good part.”
The space ranger drew his lightning sword and made short work of the massive antlike creature that attacked him.
“He would never be able to kill an Eduki for you,” Viglar said. He was quiet for a while, but she knew he wouldn’t be able to help himself. “The space rangers space ship won’t work, the planet he’s supposedly on is not believable, and his weapons are toys,” he told her. He stared at the space ranger in a clinch with a scantily dressed woman he’d saved, who happened to be wandering around the desolate planet.
“Do you find him handsome, should I battle him for your favor?”
Madison had horrible visions of him finding that poor actor, that was rumoured now to be overweight and unfit, and challenging him to a fight to the death. “No, actually I watch Space Ranger Walker episodes for the entertainment value. It makes me laugh. See hah, hah, hah.” She sounded like an idiot with her false laugh, but she’d learned a healthy respect for his literal thinking.
“He would not be a worthy opponent, he is only fit to battle human women. If you wish, I can kill more Edukis for you. Or I can challenge a thousand human men for you.”
“That won’t be necessary. I’m extremely happy with my Eduki pelt. And really, really impressed that you killed him for me.”
“With my bare hands.”
“Your bare hands? Wow, I never thought a man would do that for me.” She was laying it on too thick, but she had visions of him decimating a thousand men with his sword while she had to stand on and cheer.
The space ranger gave the heartbroken scantily clad woman one last kiss before he flew away in his space ship, and Madison had to acknowledge that his kisses didn’t look as potent as Viglar’s. If Viglar had kissed that woman, she wouldn’t be able to stay standing. She pushed away the idea of Viglar with another woman, disliking that thought intensely.
“You have a real warrior, not a pretend one,” he told Madison. “I had a similar experience on a planet on the edge of our galaxy. Their insects grew to impressive heights and their bones were much stronger than we expected.”
“Really, did you have to fight them?”
“Yes, but there were no undressed women walking around to rescue.”
Madison peered at him, did he just make a joke or was he serious. One moment, she decided he had a dry sense of humor, and the next he did or said something that convinced her he took things too literally to have a sense of humor.
He told her of more battles, of strange creatures, and defiant civilizations they conquered. “We sent them a message giving them the opportunity to send tribute, and they sent us one animal that smelled terrible and insulted The Zyrgin with words it was taught to say.”
“What did you do?” she asked, fascinated by this look into their culture.
It was also kind of sad. All he did was exercise, battle, and work. As far as she could see, he didn’t have any form of relaxation or down time.
&
nbsp; “We conquered them.” He didn’t look at her. “We did not have mercy.”
She shivered, but instead of being afraid she was sad for him. Imagine having to grow up in such a savage culture. “Viglar.”
“Yes, my breeder?”
She wouldn’t react to the ridiculous way he addressed her. “What do Zyrgins do for fun?” Too late she realized the gap she gave him and braced for a crude suggestion on how to end the evening.
“Zyrgins have duty, not fun.”
Her heart broke a little. “Don’t you ever resent not doing anything else but work and battle? Don’t you want to go on holiday, spend time just lying around reading. You know, relaxing.”
“No. We are aware that breeders need to relax, and we install couches and a TC and synthesizers that make odd food in all the new dwellings.”
She assumed the reference to odd food was because of the way the cheese on the pizza had made long strings. He’d not even tried to eat it.
She smiled brightly. “Well, I have to call an end to this delightful evening. I’ve got to get up early and my boss is an absolute nightmare if I’m late.”
“I will kill him for you.”
Again she couldn’t figure out if he was serious, but she leaned toward dead serious. “Well, he’s a really tough warrior, sort of green and muscled and sometimes he wears a white doctor’s coat.”
He stared at her, absolutely emotionless and apparently figured out she’d made a joke. “We will now do the human mating ritual.”
Her heart missed a beat. “What ritual?”
“We go to the door, and we kiss good bye.”
She nearly fainted with relief. “Oh, that mating ritual. Where did you learn about it?”
“Zurian obtained a manual.”
She’d love to be a fly on the wall when the Zyrgins talked about the dating manual.
She walked him to the door and, when they reached it, he leaned down and kissed her, and it was as good as she remembered. Even better than the kiss with Johnny handsome behind her daddy’s shed. That had been the kiss against which she measured kisses, but now her warrior doctor has raised the bar. Sky high. This kiss, this hot open-mouthed passionate kiss from an alien set her body on fire. She drew him closer and kissed him back with everything she had, pouring all the tenderness she’d learned to feel for him into it.
