Korzak's Mate: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Tarnen Warrior Mates Book 1)

by Vixa Moon

There’s a strange sound behind me. It’s Olivia. She’s followed me to the cockpit chair.

  She utters a strange string of sounds. It must be her Earth language. She doesn’t yet have a translator. She sounds worried. That’s to be expected. She probably has no idea what’s going on.

  “Activating translation,” says the computer.

  “We don’t need that now,” I say. “Divert all power to critical systems.”

  “Translation activated,” chirps the computer.

  Suddenly, Olivia’s strange string of sounds becomes completely comprehensible to me. It’s an instantaneous translation.

  “What the hell’s going on?” she says.

  “I’m saving you,” I say.

  “You can understand me?” she says, sounding shocked.

  “Of course I can. Now go sit down until I get us out of here.”

  “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what in the world is going on. One moment I’m on my couch. The next thing I know, I’ve been abducted…”

  “I didn’t abduct you,” I say. “Now can you please be quiet? I need to concentrate here.”

  “A third and fourth ship have been detected,” says the computer.

  Shit, there’s no chance of fighting four CAT ships. Even with my superior piloting ability. The Verdant Falcon simply isn’t up to it.

  “If you didn’t abduct me, then what’s going on?”

  I realize I’m not going to get anywhere with her unless I at least give her some kind of explanation.

  But wow, right in the middle of a serious battle. Can’t she just learn to quiet down for a minute? I never realize that my fated mate might end up being so difficult. It just never crossed my mind.

  “OK,” I say, doing my best to keep piloting the Verdant Falcon. “They kidnapped you because you’re my fated mate, and they’re doing everything they can to interfere with that process. I’m saving you. You got that?”

  “I’m you’re what?” she says, as if she’s never heard of anything like that before.

  I sigh loudly. “This is going to be harder than I thought. Let’s just stick with this version: I’m rescuing you. You got that. Now I have to concentrate if we don’t want to both die right here and now.”

  “Well I’m not just going to sit back and watch us die,” she says. “You don’t really seem to know what you’re doing.”

  “I don’t know what I’m doing?” I can hear the anger creeping into my voice. I’ve been flying practically as long as I can remember. I definitely do know what I’m doing.

  Olivia sits down in the co-pilot chair next to me. She looks over the controls, obviously not knowing what any of them do.

  This isn’t exactly going how I imagined it. For one thing, it’s a lot more difficult than I thought. And I don’t mean with the CATs, but with just relating to Olivia. She doesn’t even know what fated mates are? I guess she really has been living in the stone age on a distant rock, after all.

  A blast hits our ship. Everything shakes and the emergency lights start flashing. The emergency alarm starts sounding, an annoying siren.

  “What was that?” cries Olivia.

  “Direct blast to engines,” says the computer voice, impassive and incredibly irritating.

  “We’ve been hit,” I say. “I don’t understand how it got through the shields. Computer, how did the blast penetrate the shields? Weren’t they up?”

  “No information currently available.”

  “Damnit,” I say. “Fucking computer.”

  “Is this bad?” says Olivia, sounding frantic.

  “Very bad,” I say.

  The CAT ships have changed position fast, faster than they should be able to. Now they’re coming right towards us. We can see them through the front of the ship.

  “Do something!” cries Olivia, sounding terrified.

  “I’m trying,” I say. “We can’t face them in a direct fight. Their weapons systems… they outnumber us… Our only option is to outrun them.”

  “How do you do that?”

  “Let me concentrate!” I say, probably sounding exacerbated, completely stressed. I’ve just rescued my fated mate and now we’re about to both get blown up. It shouldn’t be this hard.

  But I take a deep breath.

  I need to control myself.

  After all, I’m known among the Tarnens as someone who can handle nearly anything.

  “Computer,” I say. “What’s the status on us reaching hyper drive.”

  “Impossible with the damages to the engine,” says the computer, its tone impassive and uncaring.

  “Fuck,” I say.

  “We’re going to die?” says Olivia, her voice frantic. “This is all your fault!”

  “My fault? You’d be dead by now if it wasn’t for me.”

  The ominous-looking CAT ships are speeding towards us. They aren’t firing their blasters yet. But they’re probably just waiting until they can get really close and destroy us with a single shot.

  So we can’t get going fast enough to hyperdrive. We probably won’t win in a fight.

  I’m going to have to do what I’ve always dreaded doing—abandon the Verdant Falcon.

  “Computer,” I say. “Prepare the escape pods. Both of them. Prepare launch sequences. I’m taking number one, and I’ll set the route manually. Set the route for number two directly into the oncoming ships.”

  “Understood,” says the computer.

  “Come on,” I say, grabbing Olivia’s hand and trying to tug her to follow me.

  “Where are we going? We’re abandoning ship? Won’t they just shoot us down?”

  “Come on,” I say. “I don’t have time to explain it all to you. Just trust me.”

  “I’m not going anywhere until I know I’m not going to be blown up,” she says, stubbornly still sitting in the co-pilot’s seat.

  “You’re going to get blown up if you stay there. You don’t have to trust me yet. But this is your only option.”

  “Fine,” she says, getting up and following me.

  We head to the back of the ship. I point to escape pod number one.

  “Get in,” I say.

  She looks terrified, but she gets inside. I follow her.

  It’s cramped in here. These were really only meant for one person. And while Olivia doesn’t take up much space, I’m huge compared to her.

  Her body is pressed up right against mine. My cock starts growing, despite the circumstances.

  Come on, I tell myself, this isn’t the time for romance or sex. I’ve got to keep my head in the game.

  But despite the seriousness of the situation we’re in, it’s hard to concentrate. Hard, just like my massive, rapidly-growing cock.

  I set to work on the manual computer inside the escape pod. I plot the course directly for Olivia’s home planet, Earth. Yup, we’ll be making a pit stop on the remote rock with practically prehistoric technology.

  “Computer,” I say. “Release the other escape pod. Then divert all power to blasters. Fire at the incoming ships as long as you can.”

  “Hold on tight,” I say to Olivia. “This is going to be rough.”

  “What’s happening?”

  I don’t answer.

  I hear the other escape pod suddenly whishing away from the Verdant Falcon.

  On my computer screen, I follow the path of the empty escape pod as it flies through space. As I expected, the CATs start firing on it. They concentrate all their fire power on it and the escape pod explodes almost immediately.

  The computer engaged the blasters, and the Verdant Falcon starts unleashing all of its firepower on the CAT ships.

  Olivia falls silent as the two of us watch the violent battle on the computer screen.

  I have the course programmed on the manual computer in the escape pod. It’ll be the perfect time to set the escape pod free any minute now.

  The important thing is to wait until it’s just the right moment.

  If I time it right, the CAT ships will be
too worried about fighting the Verdant Falcon that they won’t be on the lookout for an escape pod. They are not known for their refinement. They don’t have refined scanners, and they could easily miss an escape pod.

  That’s what I’m hoping for at least.

  It’s time.

  It’s now or never.

  I throw down the huge lever, and the escape pod makes a chunky whirring noise as it falls free from the Falcon.

  Time to say goodbye to my old ship. In a few minutes, it’ll be blasted to bits by the CAT ships, exploding violently in space.

  “I hope this works,” I mutter under my breath.

  “You hope it works?” says Olivia. “Are you going to get me killed?”

  It’s amazing how she doesn’t lose that tongue of hers even in the direst of circumstances.

  6

  Olivia

  We’re tumbling through space in this tiny little escape pod. From what I can tell, we don’t have any weapons.

  There’s a windshield type thing, through which I can see the vast blackness of space yawning before us.

  We’ve floated away from the main ship. It’s somehow firing automatically at a bunch of other ships. Apparently those “other” ships are the ones that kidnapped me in the first place.

  I’m beginning to trust this crazy alien a little more. After all, it does seem like he saved me. Even if I didn’t believe it at first. And his plan seems to be working. For now, at least.

  “They didn’t notice us leaving,” says my captor. Or my savior. Or whoever he is.

  I nod.

  It’s really cramped in here.

  He’s huge, and muscular.

  A lot of his chest and arms are exposed, in whatever type of strange alien clothing he’s wearing.

  He looks a lot like a human. He has human features, and I don’t see any weird antenna or anything like that.

  But who knows, maybe he’s got some alien parts somewhere else.

  Too early to tell… I guess I’m getting ahead of myself. I blush at the thought of it.

  But he’s huge. And I find myself, despite the insane circumstances, thinking about how huge his cock must be.

  I mean, it must simply be massive. Intensely massive. Mouth-wateringly massive.

  I’m pressed right up against him. Or he’s pressed right up against me. Who knows who’s pressing into who.

  There’s really no space to move around. I guess this escape pod, or whatever it is, was meant for just one person.

  I watch through the windshield as we float farther and farther away from the flashing lights of the battle.

  The alien doesn’t speak the whole time. He’s watching through the windshield intently. And he keeps looking at some kind of advanced-looking computer, studying all sorts of numbers and charts that I can’t even begin to make sense of.

  The lights in the distance are just little dots now. We’ve floated far away. Maybe half an hour has gone by.

  The alien mutters something. To my surprise, it sounds like alien gibberish again. I can’t understand a word of it.

  He says something else, and looks at me with a perplexed expression.

  I suddenly notice how handsome his face is. If he weren’t an alien, he could be some kind of male super model. Except that he’s built more like some super athlete than a model. But his face has those classic lines. His jaw is so sharp you could shave with it.

  I get lost in his eyes, as he looks at me. They look mostly like human eyes. But there’s something different, something that I can’t put my finger on. When I look into them, it feels like I’m looking into a whole universe, a universe that I could lose myself completely in.

  He pulls out something from a panel on the wall of the cramped escape pod.

  It’s a little pill that glistens in the artificial light.

  He mimes for me to swallow it.

  He hands it to me and I take it cautiously in my hand.

  Do I trust him enough to swallow some unknown pill?

  I think I do. Which is a weird feeling.

  I have a hunch that this pill is somehow going to aid in our communication. Although I don’t know how.

  “What the hell,” I say, which the alien doesn’t seem to understand.

  I swallow the pill.

  “Can you understand me now?” says the alien.

  It happens instantly.

  “Yup,” I say, testing it out.

  “Good,” he says, nodding seriously, as if now we can conduct business as usual.

  “What was that?” I say.

  “A translator pill,” he says. “The computer on the ship was translating for us. But that obviously doesn’t work in the escape pod when we’re away from the ship. I would have given you the pill earlier, because it works for a full year… A Tarnan year. I don’t know what that would be where you come from.”

  I’m instantly overwhelmed.

  “Can you tell me what’s happening?” I say. I’m speaking more calmly now than I was back on the ship. After all, I’m a little surer that he’s not trying to do something horrible to me. And it seems like we’re not exactly about to be blown up.

  “Just watch,” says the alien, pointing out the windshield. “The Verdant Falcon isn’t going to be able to take much more.”

  Sure enough, less than a minute later, there’s a huge explosion. Well, it doesn’t look huge. It looks tiny, since we’re so far away from it.

  “That was the ship we were on,” says the alien. “There’s no chance we would have made it out of there. This was the only option.”

  “Aren’t they going to follow us?” I say.

  He shakes his head. “I don’t think so. I had a subroutine program on my ship that would simulate the signals of two life forms onboard. So as far at the CATs are concerned, they just blew us up.”

  “Oh,” I say. “Good, I guess…”

  For some reason, now I don’t want to admit that I barely understand anything he’s saying.

  He seems to catch on, though.

  “So they think they killed us,” he says.

  “What are CATs?” I say. “I’m not sure the translator is getting it right. Where I come from, cats are cute little furry animals.”

  The alien chuckles.

  “No,” he says. “Not cats. We have cats where I come from too.”

  “Really?”

  He nods.

  “CATs stands for Consortium of Armed Terrans. They’re basically the rival to the Ternans. Those are my people.”

  “Sound like a violent group, if they put ‘armed’ into their name.” I say. “So what happens now?”

  “Well,” says the alien. “We’re headed towards your planet.”

  “Back to Earth?” My heart takes a leap of joy. That would be the best end to this terrifying ordeal, to end up back on Earth.

  “Yeah, there weren’t any hospitable planets within range. I’ll send an SOS signal back to Tarnen when we arrive. But it’ll take weeks for it to get there, since it travels on subspace waves, which are very slow.”

  “Uh huh,” I say, nodding my head, but understanding very little.

  “And then I can bring you back to Tarnen, my planet.”

  “Wait, what? You want to bring me to Earth, and then just take me away again? So you are trying to kidnap me.”

  “No, not kidnap you. You’re my fated mate. I’m supposed to be with you forever.”

  “Oh yeah?” I say sarcastically. “And do I get a say in this?”

  I raise my eyebrow at him.

  “Oh, of course,” he says, appearing embarrassed. “I guess you don’t have mates on your planet.”

  “We do,” I say. “But people choose amongst themselves. What you’re talking about sounds like some kind of arranged marriage.”

  “Oh,” he says. “No, not an arranged marriage. It’s just that we Tarnens believe that everyone has a perfect mate out there, a sort of twin soul. And once they meet, they know that they’ll never want to be without the other.
”

  “Sounds kind of spiritual,” I say.

  The alien shrugs and doesn’t say anything.

  He’s definitely delusional if he thinks I’m his twin soul… I really don’t like the idea of having my “mate” or my husband chosen for me. I’m a free woman, after all, citizen of the United Sates and all that. I work for my living so that I can be independent and not have to rely on a man… Well, I did, until I got laid off. But that’s besides the point. I’ll get another job soon…

  I think the smartest thing for me to do is simply not mention this whole mate thing again. After all, once I’m back on Earth, I’ll be able to do what I want. I won’t voice any objections while I’m crammed into this crazy little space craft with this alien.

  But… I have to admit that part of me likes the idea of this hulking alien man telling me that I’m his fated mate, that he’s meant to be with me. It’s kind of romantic, I guess. Not to mention incredibly hot.

  OK, I’m finally admitting it to myself. He’s incredibly hot. Incredibly gorgeous.

  I can barely concentrate on making a plan to get away from him once we’re on Earth, simply because his dense muscles won’t stop pressing into me…

  “What’s your name, anyway,” I finally say, trying to get myself to think about something else, something other than his huge muscles and how big his alien cock must be.

  “Korzak,” he says, his voice deep and sexy.

  Damnit, girl, I think to myself, get your mind out of the gutter already.

  “I’m Olivia,” I say.

  He nods. “I know,” he says. “Olivia Masters. I traveled very far to find you.”

  I nod, not knowing what to say.

  “There’s your planet,” he says, pointing out the window.

  Sure enough, there’s Earth. It’s unmistakable, blue and white swirls on a planet… a planet whose beauty I never truly realized.

  There’s nothing like getting kidnapped by aliens and taken to space to make you see how wonderful Earth itself is.

  “Thanks for saving me,” I say, finally uttering the words I didn’t quite believe.

  “Of course,” says Korzak. “I’ll do anything for you.”

  “The more I hear about this mate program of you Ter…”

  “Tarnens,” he says.