by Ella Long
Judged
A Dark Science Fiction Romance
Ella Long
Contents
Ashley
Ghislan
Ashley
Sadhbah
Ashley
Ghislan
Sadhbah
Ashley
Ghislan
Sadhbah
Ashley
Ghislan
Sadhbah
Ashley
Ghislan
Sadhbah
Ashley
Ghislan
Sadhbah
Ashley
Ghislan
Sadhbah
Ashley
Ghislan
Sadhbah
Ashley
Ashley
Ghislan
Sadhbah
Ghislan
Sadhbah
Ashley
Ghislan
Epilogue: Ashley
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Ashley
I stood on the wooden porch of the old farmhouse, looking into the south. Far to my right the sun was setting. In that direction there was deeper wilderness over Golden Gate Canyon State Park, just a few miles away.
To the south, three miles or so of fast walking, lay the small town of Golden. To the west, what was left of Denver.
Isolation and loneliness rolled towards me on the back of the night. I was helpless, sliding towards frantic.
A few days ago, I was angry and frustrated, ready to fight the world.
But tonight it was as if something had died in me.
I just had no hope.
Behind me, in the farmhouse I heard terrible coughing. It was Ben.
He just couldn’t catch his breath.
He was drowning in his own lungs from the lung infection turning into pneumonia.
I knew I had to go back in.
I looked down at the floor, seeing the faded edge of my dress stirring in the breeze. It was threadbare and stained, but I had nothing to change into.
A month ago, there were almost twenty in our party. We had banded together pick our way across the open terrain, out of Denver, towards something, anything.
Myself and seven kids from my elementary school, plus two teenagers I picked up along the way. Six adults joined us as we started moving west.
Everyone was agreeable at first. Eager to help. Banding together, and all that.
When you’re running for your life from two different kinds of aliens that have invaded earth, you don’t get too picky about your companions.
We stopped here to rest a week ago.
My kids needed more time and I could see Ben getting worse. I begged the other adults to stay and help us but they wouldn’t.
Shuttles flying low towards Denver scared them too much.
They left. Mostly unapologetically, too.
A dark figure moved on the tree line and I jumped up, waving. It was Giselle, one of the older kids, back from raiding the last of the neighboring houses.
She waved back and hurried across the field.
“Did you get anything?” My voice was far too sharp, but I couldn’t help it.
“A few apples, past being ripe. There was nothing in my trap. A few handfuls of nuts.”
I held back my tears with effort.
“That’s great! Head inside now and share it out with the others.”
“But what about you?”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m not hungry.” I smiled warmly for her until she went inside.
In a few minutes, I’d have to go inside, too.
I took a deep breath, made my plans. Plans and lists. That’s what had gotten us this far.
That’s what had made it so I could put one foot in front of the other.
Just figure out the plan, and do the next thing.
And then the next.
I’d draw some water from the old well to take in.
I’d make sure everyone gets something to drink and I’d wash Ben’s face and try to get him to eat and drink.
As long as I knew what the next thing was, I could make it.
I could save us all.
Except, maybe, Ben.
I knew he was too far gone. He stopped eating two days ago.
With antibiotics and an IV drip, he could be better in days. I don’t think I’d ever been so frustrated. All of our modern luxuries were gone. Not even basic medical services had survived the attacks.
First the Najiik, then the Xael.
Our planet became a warzone, both factions of aliens seemed determined to destroy the earth and each other.
When the attack had come, when the skies tore open and the world as I knew it ended, I’d been teaching about synonyms and homonyms.
Ball and ball.
Rose and rose.
Not much use for an elementary school language arts teacher when the world ended.
I’d only managed to save seven of my kids, seven out of twenty-five.
Had I saved them?
Or had I condemned them to a slower, more horrible death?
I could hear Ben coughing again and I knew I had to do something soon.
Could I stand to lose another child?
No.
It’d break me. And then the rest of the children, what would they do?
In a flash the solution came to me.
St. Anthony’s Hospital.
Surely neither the Xael nor the Najiik had any use for human drugs, right?
Even if other humans had raided it, there’d be something, just enough antibiotics to save one little boy?
Except it was inside the perimeter.
The Xael occupied the town, alien guards patrolling the area by air and by foot.
With a great, deep sigh I turned and went inside. There were holes in the roof and the night wind, turning cold, whistled through the gaps.
All the kids were piled into one room on a heap of aging mattresses, sharing the nuts and apples.
All except Ben. He was unconscious. His chest heaved and his eyes were screwed shut. Soon he started to cough.
“Guys, a word?”
I nodded to Giselle and Andy, the other teenager, and they followed me into the kitchen.
“I need to get into town, look for medicine,” I said softly, hoping the kids wouldn’t hear.
“Are you out of your mind?” Andy blurted, but Giselle elbowed him.
“Do you think she has a choice?” Giselle tilted her head towards Ben’s pallet, and Andy’s shoulders slumped.
“I guess not,” he muttered.
“I’m trusting you two to take care of them until I’m back.” I tried to sound confident, like this was just some sort of casual errand run.
Babysitting. It was just like babysitting.
Except we all knew the consequences if I didn’t return.
Giselle gave me a brave nod. She knew I had to try, it was the only thing left.
I waited a few hours for the deepest night to fall then I headed south.
A few miles would normally take me just under an hour, but in my current weakened state it was closer to two.
I avoided the roads, even though they were abandoned, and stuck to the brush, tracking the stars and moon over my head and paid attention to the land to make sure I was going the right way.
At least one part of my college experience had been useful. Worried that too many hours of studying and snacking would be disastrous to my hips, I’d signed up for the campus orienteering club.
If I’d known what was coming, I’d have let myself pack on a few more pounds. But still, it was u
seful.
Finally, I saw the lights of the town up ahead.
The Xael had set up operations here because Denver itself was still heavily populated by humans.
There were Najiik there too, trying to get ahold of the city. The Xael flew over and engaged quite often. Life had been hell.
Lucky for me, this small town had lots of old historic buildings and the Xael setting up so many tents and temporary buildings for their own uses gave me even more cover.
Guarding a perimeter around a town, even a small one, is a major effort even for the scientifically advanced Xael.
I managed to sneak in, holding my breath as I flitted from the shadow of one building to the next.
The sky begin to faintly lighten, indicating dawn was only a couple of hours away. I needed to move quickly.
I kept moving, gripping the corners of buildings and looking around furtively before I jumped to the next pool of cover.
There. The old hospital.
I put my head down, bolting through the broken glass doors.
Pharmacy, pharmacy… there!
Running through the corridor, I ransacked the shelves, stuffing my rucksack with anything with a label I recognized.
And then a voice behind me made me jump like I’d been stung.
“What do you think you’re doing in here?”
I spun around and a big burly alien grabbed my wrist.
“Thief,” he growled, bright eyes glaring at me. “We know what to do with the likes of you.”
My blood pounded up into my throat. My eyes swam with tears.
I opened my mouth to protest, to explain, but all that came out of me was a soft moan.
I hadn’t eaten in days. I’ve been on the run.
To my horror, black waves flowed into my vision as my heartbeat pounded in my throat. I was slipping away and there was nothing I could do about it.
I heard a cry part my lips as I fell, lamenting my surrender.
Then it was darkness, and nothing more.
Ghislan
The human male who stood before me looked thin and unkempt.
Pretty much, like all humans did, really.
He twisted his cap between his hands and looked at the sandy floor.
I struggled not to drag a palm down my face, trying hard to look like I cared.
“My lord, you said you would protect us!” he wailed.
The guard lashed out with his long spear, smacking the man behind the knees. He fell with a cry, his legs making a knocking sound even on the soft sand. He used his hands to catch himself, bowing over in the pose of the penitent.
“I sincerely doubt that,” I snapped.
Oh, maybe I’d said something like that. It was better to have the humans convinced that we were their friends, than have them fling themselves and their crude weapons at us as well as the Najiik.
“What happened?”
He snuffled. “The Najiik came, attacked my herd, so I drove what was left of the goats further into the forest. But your soldiers found us, said we were running, stealing food.”
I wondered how many more of these fucking ridiculous petty squabbles I’d have to deal with today.
Thank the void I’d only agreed to one of these farces every five days.
Human and Xael relations.
Why did I ever think we should do anything other than pen them all up?
It’s like asking Gods to talk to monkeys.
We’d bothered to learn their language, but were constantly misunderstood even if we tried to be gentle.
The settlements nearby had witnessed enough battles to know that our focus was the Najiik.
We had done our best to convince them the Najiik were after the planet itself and their only chance of surviving with their home intact was to deal with us.
But few believed it.
“How do I know you weren’t? You know what your tithe is, how do I know you weren’t shorting it?”
He wept. Oh, stars in the sky. How pathetic.
“Please, lord commander.” He looked up, eyes swimming with tears. “Please. My daughter is pregnant. I just want some proper food for her. I can make use of the goats milk, I can bring you cheese and wool. Just let me keep an animal or two.”
And this was why I put up with this nonsense.
“Keep your herd, old man.” I raised my voice over his babble. “But don’t ever try to hide from us again.”
If I just sent him away with nothing, he would quickly report to his friends that we were monsters, taking from innocent men to fuel our war.
This could cause retaliation. Having small bands of humans attacking us was annoying.
Right now, in this stage of the war with the Najiik, it would be best to avoid further distractions.
But I didn’t want this guy thinking I was his best friend, either.
“Thank you sir! Thank you! I promise I—”
“Get him the fuck out of here. This isn’t a charity. We’ll be checking out your camp regularly, old man. You can’t hoard resources. Go before I change my mind.”
The guards grabbed hold of him and dragged him out
By sending this man away with a few animals I hoped he would tell his friends we were reasonable and fair.
We needed that kind of publicity to stop them randomly attacking us.
Even if some saw us as protectors, not destroyers, we had taken over all their cities and technology.
Left them in the dark.
It’d be a long time before humans trusted us, if ever.
Even the ones who chose to live in the camp didn’t exactly trust us.
Whores and mercenaries.
The mercenaries were at least useful.
Good dogs, useful dogs.
They obeyed my every command in exchange for comfortable dwellings, ample rations and whores. They seemed to go mental for cigarettes and alcohol.
They were fierce and strong willed but easy enough to manipulate.
Good, loyal dogs are always easy to control and quick to obey.
One of them stood by my side in the leather fatigues of our elite force. He handled the alien weapon with ease and kept his eyes and attention on the walls of the tent. They were fierce creatures, but infantile like their entire race.
I gestured to one of the bureaucrats who seemed to multiply everywhere I looked. “Make arrangements with the human.” He hurried out, eager to do his job.
A lot of my men thought that humans should be locked up in camps out of the way.
It would make sense. We could protect them better.
But the human mercenaries had explained it wouldn’t work. They said the harder we tried to keep humans in control, the harder they would rebel.
An interesting facet of human nature, apparently.
Suddenly I felt a strange sensation.
The room seemed to have too much space in it, as if it had become larger somehow. No wind stirred the edges of the tent, no atmospheric changes had occurred.
I looked around curiously and no other Xael or human in the room had reacted.
“Stop it! No! Let me go!”
I recognized the high voice of a female approaching the tent.
Suddenly my brain and my nose connected all at once.
There was a scent on the air. Only thin for now but getting stronger. It was haunting and intoxicating. I tilted my head to the side curiously, drawing it into me.
I honestly didn’t know how humans survived as long as they did when their evolutionary path took them out of contact from their basic instincts and senses.
It was like some kind of species wide self-genocide.
The tent flap folded back and two of my guards came in, holding a struggling woman between them.
My nose was working overtime.
All I could make out so far was that she was tall and slender, wrapped in a baggy, faded dress.
As the guards stopped before my high seat, she looked up and fixed her hazel eyes on me. Her hair was dirty and hung
in lank strands. Her face was smudged. She was so thin and weak she looked like she was about to drop where she stood.
She was the most arousing thing I had ever seen.
I felt my tongue creep to the edge of my mouth. A warm pulse spread through my body, down my core and into my cock. My balls ached.
My vision sharpened as I looked at her. I could pick out even more detail the longer I stared. My mind reeled, trying to deny this obvious truth.
Another breath, filled with her scent, and my blood burned. I imagined shoving her over the arm of the chair, plundering her as her sweet wails filled the room, her pussy spasming as I impaled her on my cock, over and over again.
I imagined myself bathing her, getting all that grime off to see the glow of her skin. Mentally I used a soapy hand to rub her breasts and shoulders.
My lips parted as my breathing escalated.
I saw myself feeding her, the soft mouth brushing my hand as I slipped fresh fruit between her lips.
If she did not agree to be a good pet, I saw myself punishing her.
Training her.
“You can’t keep me here! I have to get back!” Her chin was stuck out defiantly as she struggled weakly against the guard’s heavy hands.
“She was caught in the human hospital, stealing medicine, Lord Commander.”
He shook her, and she fell to her knees.
Rage filled me as I stood up suddenly. Every guard in the room looked over at me curiously. It was unheard of for me to move around during judgement time.
No one else should have touched her.
But the sweet scent of her fear was intoxicating.
“Bring me Sadhbah.” I let my voice ring around the tent.
Sadhbah, my second in command, my blood brother.
If she was my mate, she was his too.
I kept walking down the few steps from my high seat to the floor. She stayed crouched on her knees, glaring at me with burning eyes.
