Nanny to the Shifter

by Leela Ash

  “So how did it go?" Kane asked Kylie once she was resting comfortably on her own bed.

  “You tell me," Kylie said sleepily. "I don't really understand what it is that you're looking for."

  “I think that we will know when we find it," Kane said with a small smile.

  They gazed at each other, Kane brushing her hair away from her forehead reassuringly. It felt soothing, and Kylie just wanted to close her eyes and bask in the feeling forever. It seemed almost more normal to be here with this man from another planet than it did to be on a blind date. The thought made her start to giggle, until Kane was also laughing because he didn't understand what she had been set off by. The sound of her laughter was beautiful, but not as radiant as the way her face brightened up. He couldn't take his eyes off of her, and soon gave up asking what she was laughing about and just shook his head bemused. There was still a lot he had left to learn about earthlings, he decided, and stood carefully to take his leave.

  Chapter 6

  When Kylie woke up, she gasped, startled, and looked around the room for Kane. She could have sworn that he was just there with her, and she felt an aching void when she realized that she was alone. Maybe it was just because she was missing the contact with people of her own species, but she was desperate for him to come back and fill her little bland apartment with the same comfort that he had given to her as she fell asleep. A lot of what happened was foggy in her mind, but she knew that from the way she could feel Kane beside her, there was nothing malicious in his heart. In fact, she had determined as she drifted off into a dreamless sleep that Kane might just be more attractive than anybody on her planet. The thought had struck her so funny that she had drifted off to sleep in a fit of giggles. There was no way to explain what she was thinking without embarrassing herself, and so she was glad for the chance to escape explanation.

  She turned to the table, where a meal was laid out for her. It was reminiscent of the type of meal that she would have found on earth, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't been sure if she would ever be able to eat normal foods again. Somebody on the ship was looking out for her, and she had a feeling that it was Kane. She ate slowly, contemplating whether or not she would prefer to stay on the ship or go home. It seemed as if there wouldn't be much of a home to get back to if the Codans had their way.

  She tried to imagine what it would be like if Earth never existed again. The thought made her stomach drop. She would never be able to go back to her favorite places, such as the summer home where she spent her youth and the lake were sometimes she would go out for a late night swim with nobody watching her. Everybody that she knew and loved would be gone, and the feeling of isolation she felt would turn into a stronger feeling of devastation. The thought was very disturbing, and she tried to shake it away. If there is anything that she could do to save the planet that she was from, she figured that she should cooperate. If Kane was really doing what he claimed, she might be able to prevent a worse fate from befalling the planet.

  She grumbled to herself as she remembered the unfair conditions that had gotten her fired from her job. But the words didn't hold the same weight that they did just a week ago. In fact, once they were out of her mouth, they seemed to hang thinly in the air before dropping away. It was as if they meant nothing anymore. The idea of actually saving the planet versus the silly job that she lost that she could barely stand didn't seem to compare at all. Of course she would prefer to save the planet. Even if nobody ever knew about it, it would be nice to be able to say to herself that she had done something that important in her life.

  Of course that was only if it turned out that she did hold the special gene that could fight the virus that the Codans were using against the rest of the races in the galaxy. She wandered over to the window of the apartment, the idea of Kane's muscular body floating around in her head as she stared out into the darkness of space around her. She'd never seen anything more beautiful in her life, and although she had been afraid of flying in an airplane, for some reason Kane's ship made her feel completely safe. He genuinely seemed to want to do things right for her, and so she decided to sit back and relax, and try to enjoy herself as much as she could without having to worry about the stress of life on earth.

  Chapter 7

  Korda hummed absently to himself as he made the final addition to an elixir that he was testing out on an isolated strain of the virus. He stopped mid-hum and had to do a double take. He had finally done it. He held the most valuable serum in the galaxy in his hands. He quickly scanned over the code to memorize it before running off excitedly in pursuit of his assistant Gina. Normally, she was hovering right over his shoulder, but for some reason today he was not able to find her anywhere. He decided to check her chambers, which is something he normally never did. He believed in giving his assistants, particularly those of the opposite sex, a lot of breathing room.

  However, this was too exciting to keep to himself. He burst into her door, and suddenly felt as if he were being hit by a ton of bricks. Gina was on a radio communicating their location to the leader of the Codans, Marxus. She stopped abruptly and turned to look at him, her face falling in horror. She hadn't expected him to come in and discover her communication with their enemy. The worst part about it was that there was really nothing that he could do. He could have apprehended her if he had his weapon, but they weren't allowed in the laboratory and there was no time to retrieve it. He ran urgently from Gina to try to find Kane.

  “Kane!" Korda exclaimed as he turned the corner and nearly collided with him. “Gina is a mole! She's been sending messages about my work to the Codan Empire!”

  “What!? How could you let this happen?"

  “Me? I'm not the one who said I should have an assistant, and I'm not even the one who chose Gina. You felt sorry for her and picked her up off of that planet because you said she has high potential. But she's probably been working with the Codans this entire time!”

  Kane considered this and looked down at the floor thoughtfully.

  “How much does she know?" Kane asked him finally, looking up with his eyes flashing in anger.

  “She knows that Kylie is a match, but she doesn't know that I have unlocked the formula for the antivirus. We are now officially the most powerful group in the universe.”

  The news filled Kane with a feeling of ecstatic relief. If all went well from here on out, he would be able to save the universe. But first things were first, they would have to find a way to get rid of Gina and protect themselves from the onslaught that she had probably doomed them all to. She had truly believed that she was just an innocent prisoner on one of the planets where they had gassed up the ship. Fortunately, she hadn't been on board very long, but now it was certain that the Codans had their location, and worse, they would have knowledge about Kylie as well.

  Suddenly, the alarms started to blare in their ears and Kane's face fell. A Codan ship was close, and some security had been breached. The sudden thought of Kylie filled his mind, and dread gripped his heart.

  “Kylie," he murmured quietly. “Go after Gina! Show no mercy.”

  Kane ran from the room as quickly as he could, pulling his weapon out of the holster at his side. Korda ran in the opposite direction, back toward the laboratory. He looked around for Gina, but it was too late. She had already vanished.

  Chapter 8

  Kylie had been surprised when somebody burst into her apartment. She could tell by the light sound of the footsteps that it wasn't Kane, and when Gina appeared to her, she quirked her head and concern. She had recognized her as the bitchy woman from the testing room, but now the expression on her face was hardened and serious. Before she had a chance to ask what was going on, Gina pulled out a large needle and stuck it painfully into Kylie's arm. Kylie opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, she collapsed onto the floor.

  She remained semi-conscious as Gina lifted her easily onto her back, carrying Kylie as if she were a lamb, and ran to the corner of the room where an om
inous red light was blinking. It looked a lot like the same kind of light that had pulled her away from her summerhouse by the lake, and yet it looked much more sinister. She tried to squirm away from Gina's grip, but whatever she had been injected with left her weak and unable to struggle. She cursed out loudly, but the sound was muted by a whirring noise. The blood rushed into Kylie's ears as they were transported into another ship.

  Terrifying beings glowered down at her. Gina had dropped her onto the floor unceremoniously, and they were all craning their long necks down to study her. Their faces were wilted, almost as if they were melting. The color of their skin was a wood-like brown, and at the back of their heads they had crowns that reminded her of a triceratops. She studied them in disgust, shivering despite herself on the cold floor of the ship. The ship wasn't well lit like the Legacy was. Instead, it was dark and somber, and she felt immediately afraid.

  “I did as you asked," Gina said, pacing around the room anxiously. “Now I want my payment. You promised that I would get another dose. Something to ease the pain, you know. You said that the medicine would be able to help right?”

  The beings surrounding Kylie made no indication that they had heard Gina, and simply continued to study Kylie. One of them, clearly the leader, extended a long, bony hand and opened his palm toward Gina.

  “Where are the notes?" he asked, without looking away from Kylie.

  Gina's face suddenly fell as she realized that she forgot to grab the notebook from the ship as she ran toward Kylie's room. She thought that it would be the main priority to get rid of the girl. But somehow, it had slipped her mind to bring her notes.

  She didn't have to speak for all of them to realize her mistake. One by one, the Codans turned away from Kylie and fixed their steely gazes upon Gina.

  “What? I delivered the girl just like you asked me to. That was the most important thing. They were right on the brink of figuring out how to fix this virus. But since you have her, you can find out first. You can be the ones to fix me like you promised. That was the deal."

  “The deal was that you keep an eye on Capt. Kane and his absurd crew, get us all of the information possible, take meticulous notes, to be delivered to us on time when we arrived. You did a great job giving us the location and delivering the girl, but that was only part of your job. For the rest of it you have failed and therefore there is no deal between us any longer. Take her away."

  Gina's face fell, and she began shaking her head and begging for them to reconsider.

  “I brought the girl," she cried out loudly. “What more would you want?"

  “I want what they have. The research they have done. Without it, she is almost useless. Show no mercy. Execute her at once. She knows too much already."

  “No, please!" Gina cried, as they began to drag her away.

  Finally, Kylie summoned up enough energy to be able to speak. Everybody paused and turned to her as the words began to escape her mouth.

  “You stupid girl," Kylie said, her eyes closed. “They would have fixed you if you were just honest. And they would have done it for free.”

  Gina stared at Kylie, her eyes widened and her face filled with fear. Kylie found it difficult to pity her for. Gina was going to be executed by the people that she thought would save her, and she had turned her back on her one chance of liberation. She had a strong feeling that Gina was addicted to the rush of the pharmaceutical medicine. Probably, the strength of the painkillers that they were offering her were too alluring to resist. She didn't want a cure – she wanted the rush of their drugs. And now she would get neither.

  She had overheard Kane mumbling to Korda in the laboratory about how sad it was that so much of the population were being turned into zombies and addicted to the serums that the Codans were handing out. He saw it as a way to keep everybody dependent on what the Codans could offer rather than having to find a cure for the virus. He even speculated that they had started the virus themselves, as a form of germ warfare, so that they could begin to colonialize the universe and establish themselves as the ultimate power.

  Listening to Kane talking was easy to dismiss. She didn't feel as if anything that he was saying pertained to her or was real. She had never experienced any of the things that he was talking about, and she found it difficult to believe and understand them. But now that she was looking into the faces of these ugly, terrifying beings known as the Codans, she believed everything that Kane was saying, and felt an urgent desire to see his handsome face, and get off of this terrifying ship where she was no longer safe.

  ***

  Meanwhile, on the Legacy, Kane was barking orders to everybody. As soon as he realized that Kylie was missing, he had set out to do what only the most crazy and foolhardy people had ever tried to do. Find the Codans.

  They were the most powerful race in the universe, between their ability to enslave the masses with their virus and being the only hope of cure for the pain associated with it, and the powerful army that was at the leader's beck and call. They had completely destroyed his planet decades ago, leaving him bound to the ship where he tried to avoid all detection. His race was known for their strength and intelligence, so it was no wonder why they had been pursued and obliterated. He had managed to save the crewmembers, but everybody else had been destroyed. It was why he was so well protected. Everybody was loyal to him because of his strength and bravery. He had kept them together as their worlds fell apart.

  And now, they were being put to the test as he demanded them to put their lives on the line to save a woman they had accidentally abducted just a week ago. Many of them thought he was crazy, but they knew that he had his reasons. Although they were concerned with his personal feelings getting in the way, they followed him blindly and prepared the ship to take on the terrifying Codan army.

  He knew that he was testing their resolve and he was proud of them for stepping up to the challenge even though it seemed impossible. It made him glad to be their captain, and soon they were on their way. He was happy to know that they were probably not prepared for an ambush, and that they wouldn't have had a chance to get very far since Kylie and Gina had just recently been abducted. He rushed around the ship demanding that they keep their sights targeted on the Codans and maintain as much of a cloak as possible to keep them out of the Codan's radar.

  Kane was terrified that they might have already killed Kylie in cold blood just to keep the possibility of an antivirus as limited as possible. That would mean that he would no longer be able to liberate the races from their evil clutches and provide them all with a cure to the problem rather than a temporary and unhealthy solution that made them into zombies perfect for the Codans to control. He was filled with fury as soon as they were able to lock onto the target, and he told everybody to stay put as he leapt alone into the beam, where he was immediately transported into the cargo hold of the Codan's ship.

  Chapter 9

  Kylie tried to squirm away as she was taken to a room that had no windows or furniture. It was completely dark, and she looked around with a squint as they closed the door on her and left her in complete silence. She tried to plead for help, but it didn't work. Whatever Gina had injected her with had left her unable to do much. All she could do was hope that Kane might be somewhere out there and willing to rescue her from the Codans.

  In the meantime, Kane was moving cautiously through the cargo room, avoiding detection by dodging behind boxes. Nobody had noticed that he had been transported, which was all the better for him. He pulled his weapon out of the holster at his side and walked slowly toward the doorway. He had to try it a few times before he was able to crack the code and release himself from the hold.

  Kane walked cautiously down the hallway, ducking behind corners whenever he saw a threat. E had a team following him wherever he went on the ship so that if he were in a bad position, they could just beam him back to the ship and make their escape. They didn't know where Kylie was, and he knew he had to find her quickly before they found him. Korda was on
a small communication device in his ear, giving him coordinates. He had a ray fixed onto the ship so that he could sense the heat of everybody on board. The Codans had very low body temperatures, while Kylie was hot.

  “It looks as if they have more than one human on board,” Korda said into the microphone. I am picking up at least two. They're on opposite ends of the ship. I really hope that you can make the right choice in time.”

  Kane growled to himself in frustration. He felt obligated to save them both, but only one of them was Kylie. Only one of them he cared about. And not just because she could save the universe. There had been a sense of intimacy between them that he couldn't shake off. He wasn't stupid and knew that there were rumors around the ship about the two of them falling for each other, but he had not thought much about it until now. He would never have risked his life for any other person like this. They would have thought of something else to do. But this girl was different. Somehow, she had his heart.

  In a moment of intense deliberation, Kane chose to go left. Korda gave him directions to follow through the ship and he did his best to avoid detection. Finally, he reached the end of the bay and peeked inside a dark room. He had to try for a while at the code to the door, and he knew that after three wrong tries the alarm would be sounded and he would be caught. Fortunately, he got the door open on the second try and pushed his way inside, his eyes wide and searching for Kylie.

  He was crestfallen when he saw a man staring at him. It was an earthling, and his eyes were wide with fear.