Zenik: Warriors of Etlon Book 4

by Abigail Myst

  Zenik nodded. No female could make such a declaration and be deceitful.

  “And you?” Bright asked.

  “Me?”

  “I can only assume that you are the Mahdfel that lived.”

  “I failed to kill him the first time. I will not fail again,” Zenik spat in disgust.

  “Show me your chest. Show me your credentials.”

  Baring his chest, naked, without a tattoo to be seen, was usually his last resort. It was not shame, exactly, but it was a reminder that he had failed. Athen had offered to restore his tattoos. He had earned them, after all, but Zenik had refused. He did not deserve to be restored until he had completed his mission. But he would show her the truth.

  Zenik stripped off his top and stood there for her inspection. It only took her a moment and then she nodded and went back to supervising the trip out of orbit.

  “You have a plan,” Zenik said as he buttoned his uniform up again.

  “Yes. As your mate found out, the Wine Merchant is a wily fellow. He lives somewhere on an estate, on some faraway planet. Nobody knows where. The thing you saw, the one your mate must have tried to kill, was an android. The best and most expensive in the known systems. He can afford it but they are only made in one location, by one select company. The Bistra only allow for one copy to be run at a time. And any attempt to modify, harm, or open an android for study generally results in self-termination with extreme prejudice.”

  “They explode.”

  “Boom. That is why your mate is extremely lucky that she’s still alive. Something must have malfunctioned with the android, giving her time to get far enough away from the blast to survive. That is why I told you to run. It was far too dangerous to try and explode the android on your own.”

  “You could have just blown it up yourself from a distance.”

  “Well, yes, but I had an itty bitty problem with that. I didn’t have a ship. I had hitched a ride with an amenable, yet disreputable citizen who, when I didn’t want to leave just yet, dumped here.”

  “What is your plan now that the android has been destroyed?”

  “The Wine Merchant must go in person to pick up his new toy.”

  “To Bistra.”

  “Yes. So we can watch him, wait for him and follow him back to whatever hole he crawled out of.”

  “Won’t he be looking for this ship?”

  “I made a few friends on Uprorion. I think they managed to bury the paperwork if someone decides to go looking. It will appear as if this ship never landed. Unless he had specific eyes on the ground, he’ll never connect your mate with this ship, and he’ll probably think that she died in the explosion anyway.”

  Zenik pondered the possibilities. It seemed like a sound plan, though it would take much more research to determine the best place to strike. If they could find his hideout, they could dismantle his whole network, not just take down the head.

  “Go. Reassure your mate. It will be at least six cycles before we are near enough to Bistra to get a good read of their defense perimeter. I will take the first shift in the cockpit,” Bright said, waving him off.

  Bright was right. One of them should be in the cockpit to monitor things. He turned and saw Jane leaning against the doorway with her hands crossed over her chest. Right now, his mate needed him.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jane

  “Seriously, Zenik, I don’t need to be carried everywhere,” Jane complained as he deposited her in the captain’s bed. At least she had convinced him that she didn’t need to go back to the medical table. She always found that thing, with all its probes and funny lights, to be unsettling. Everything also had the stench of the auto disinfectant found commonly in hospitals. And who liked hospitals?

  “You will sleep now,” Zenik instructed.

  “Okay, but first you will tell me what’s going on?”

  “We have six days for that.”

  “I heard something about Bistra and a security grid to get past.”

  “Yes. In six days.”

  “And then there’s the woman you haven’t really explained. Can you trust her?”

  “She is Etlonian.”

  He said that like it was naturally assumed that everyone from Etlon could be trusted. “She is also a mate and mother.”

  “Does someone have an Oedipus Complex?”

  “I do not know what this means.”

  “It was a guy who accidentally killed his father and married his mother. Then he poked his eyes out to punish himself.”

  “She is not my mother and I am mated to you. I have no physical attraction to Bright.”

  “Bright? Her name is Bright?”

  “What is wrong with Bright?”

  “I’m not sure I can trust a woman whose name is an adjective.”

  Zenik huffed and slid into bed beside her. It was comforting to have him next to her again and Jane was indeed tired.

  “You can trust me. And I trust her. Besides, do you wish to tell Scrubs that you do not like his mother because she is the wrong part of speech?”

  “You make it sound ridiculous.”

  Zenik was wisely silent, and Jane, exhausted from the healing her body desperately needed, fell into a deep comfortable sleep.

  ***

  When Jane awoke, her only companion was Clover’s cat. Data was purring and did not look like he wanted to be disturbed. He complained when Jane set him down beside the bed but a can of food shoveled onto his plate made everything right with his world. Jane wished her life could be that simple.

  She stretched. Her muscles were a little achy, as if tiny little nanobots had been crawling around inside them, fixing all the tears and bruises in her skin. Oh right, tiny nanobots had indeed been making themselves at home inside her body. The thought alone made her skin itch.

  She climbed into the shower for a quick rinse and felt much better after she pulled on a tank top and pair of low slung shorts. She’d taken to wearing very little aboard the ship but considering they were no longer the only ones aboard, clothing was no longer optional.

  Jane smiled. She knew exactly what she needed to get the kinks out of her newly repaired body. She was pretty sure she could get Zenik to deliver, too.

  “Sweetie,” she called. She made her way to the galley but found Bright there instead. Jane took the opportunity to sit across from the woman that her husband trusted so implicitly.

  She currently had the same mint skin as most of the Etlonian Mahdfel that Jane knew but unlike the men, she had hair and lots of it. Jane remembered her hair being pink from the flashes of the night before but now, it was a blue white with streaks of purple.

  “Zenik isn’t much of a talker, is he?” Bright asked.

  “I’m not much of one either.”

  “Then I can talk enough for all three of us. How is my son? Please, tell me more about why Orth has changed his proud name.”

  Jane tried not to smile. Only a mother would ask why a guy had changed his name from ‘He Who Ripped Out Suhlik Throats with his Teeth’ to ‘Scrubs’.

  “Most of the females he deals with get a little squeamish at the sound of his fine, fine name. His mate convinced him it would be better if he had something a little less threatening sounding while dealing with females.”

  “So he has chosen to specialize in obstetrics. That is a good field. He is the best, I’m sure,” she said without a hint of doubt.

  Jane just nodded, not wanting to tell the proud mother that he was the only one, the only alien doctor, that she’d met.

  “And his mate,” Bright continued. “What is she like?”

  “To be honest, I only met her for a brief moment but it is clear that he dotes on her. I did hear that they were a love match, not a DNA match.”

  “I hope he does not kill her then.”

  Jane blinked at Bright, not understanding.

  “In my day, warriors relied on the sense of smell to choose a mate. The compatibility wasn’t always guaranteed, and when women went to be
ar children, they often died. Etlonians at least had the luxury of being a high match with many of the Etlonian Mahdfel, but when other species are involved... What color is she? Does she change colors?”

  “She’s from Earth, like me. We don’t really change colors. We just sort of go red a bit in the cheeks from time to time.”

  Bright nodded. “They tried to breed it out of them, the Suhlik. They didn’t like the idea of a species that could change color at will.” To illustrate, Bright faded into the background like a chameleon. “Some of the Mahdfel still have the ability, but they must concentrate and practice. I, on the other hand, can sneak up and slide my knife right between their scales.” Bright grinned and returned to her mint color.

  “I must admit that’s pretty cool,” Jane said. She was beginning to understand why her husband trusted Bright. She was a Mahdfel mom down to her core. She wanted to ask how old Bright was, but didn’t know if there was some sort of alien taboo about women’s ages.

  Zenik entered the galley and Bright took that as her cue to stand. “I will take the next shift.” She sauntered past Zenik and whispered loudly in his ear, “I think your mate is in the mood for a good long bedding.”

  Oh yes, that woman was a Mahdfel mom down to her sex drive. Jane allowed the thought of Bright, feet up on a dash, masturbating, to cross her mind. Would she flash different colors then, Jane wondered.

  “Is this true, mate? You are in need?”

  Jane rolled her eyes but stood and approached Zenik. She drew close enough to feel him pressing out the front of his shorts.

  “What do you think?”

  “I think I should like to take you back to the cabin and plow you.”

  He’d found that word somewhere and had taken a liking to it. Jane smirked.

  “Trying to plant some seed?”

  “I do not want to leave this universe without siring a warrior child of my own.” There was such sadness in his voice that Jane wrapped her arms around him. Honestly, she’d tried her best since they’d been together to get pregnant. Lord knows, she wasn’t looking forward to having an alien creature fill out her body and swell her boobs but it was a concession she was willing to make for him, as long as he realized that mothers could still be kick ass too.

  Jane took his hand and guided him back to their cabin. When she got him there, she turned and began to pull off his uniform. He was faster at removing hers and she giggled as they raced in a limb entangled mass to get naked. Zenik scooped her up and tossed her gently onto the bed.

  Before she had any time to object, his tongue was parting her folds and playing with her clit. Jane was quickly shouting out all her best sailor obscenities and begging for his cock. Zenik was merciless for a good long while before he gave her what she demanded. He got to his knees and hauled her wet pussy up to his waiting cock.

  Jane loved to be impaled on his cock, loved the way his hands gripped her hips and pushed her against him again and again. Zenik was seemingly tireless in his thrusts, watching her and sending her exploding with just a few touches of his thumb on her clit. She clenched around him and yelled out her pleasure. Zenik, however, was not ready for his own climax yet. He released her, setting her gently on the bed and sliding in behind her. He lifted her leg and guided himself back inside her.

  “I shall never tire of this,” Zenik said as he plowed her slowly from behind. “And when you are large and fat with my child, this is how I shall take you.” He fingered her nipples giving each hard peak a tweak. His thrusts became more insistent and Jane could tell he was near his own peak.

  “Yes, that’s it. Give it to me. Plow me and give me your seed.” She continued her dirty talk, begging him for only a few more strokes until he pulled her tight against him and released himself deep inside her. Jane fell asleep like that and when she woke, once again her husband was nowhere to be seen.

  This time she at least felt decently put back together. After a quick shower, she threw on some clothes and headed into the galley where she once again found Zenik and Bright leaning over a tablet in a conspiratorial manner. The moment she entered, the tablet disappeared and the two went back to eating. Jane decided to play along and made herself a quick meal. She was starving after all.

  “So, what’s the plan?” Jane said, sitting down at the galley table. Bright turned a bit brighter and swiveled away in her chair. “There is a plan, yes?”

  Zenik looked at Bright with a color of male panic in his face. He wanted help from her, that much was obvious.

  “Oh, he wants to leave me out of this plan, is that it?” Jane asked Bright.

  “You will have to discuss this with your mate,” Bright replied.

  “Did he tell you that I have single handedly slaughtered four Suhlik bastards?” It was only three and she had a little help from Odette but there wasn’t much inflation in the brag.

  “You will have to discuss this with-”

  “He’s not the boss of me, you know.”

  Bright scooped up her plate.

  “He is, actually. And it is your duty to obey.” She ran so fast from the room that it was clear she thought Zenik was being a fool, even though she didn’t have the guts to admit it.

  “Zenik,” Jane turned to her husband.

  He sat frozen at the table. Perhaps he thought he could forgo any undue influence if he was seated behind a table. Jane knew better. He’d have to get up sometime.

  “Do we need to go through the logic of this one more time?” she asked, exasperated.

  “There is no logic. I will not risk blowing you up again.”

  “First of all, there’s just as much risk if you make me stay on the ship, especially if you aren’t willing to tell me the plan. Who’s to say if you don’t go and get yourself killed on this planet, or wherever we’re going, that I’m going to get away without a tail or Suhlik ship blowing me clean out of the space time continuum?”

  “I do not think the space time continuum works in the way you think it does.”

  “It works by you letting me on on whatever stupid fool idea you have got going with Little Missus Sunshine over there.”

  “I do not have a plan.”

  “Zenik,” Jane said. He wouldn’t even look at her and his skin was turning an ugly puce. “Do not lie to me. I can see it all over your face. How the hell were you ever a spy?”

  “I am a good liar, for an Etlonian. But not to my mate,” he said with a sigh of defeat.

  “And what good will it do if I don’t even know the plan?”

  “You won’t need to know it, because I will find a safe place for you before we make an attempt.”

  Jane sighed and moved her food around on her plate. “You know I’m resourceful. I’ll find a way off whatever planet, station, or space rock that you stick me on, and then I’ll have to go after that son of a bitch myself. I mean, he did try to blow me up.”

  “That was probably accidental. He probably just wanted information.”

  “And then he would have murdered me some other way, if I hadn’t brained him over the head with the hard lemonade.”

  “Is that what you did? The connection dropped before you even got to the bar.”

  “Oh yes, I hopped over the bar, grabbed the biggest, heaviest bottle I could find and wham. Imagine my surprise when he was all gears and sprockets and little flashing lights instead of bone and blood.”

  “I would not like to imagine what would have happened if you’d hit him in the wrong spot.”

  “Honestly, I was planning on beaning him and then perhaps dragging him back to the ship for interrogation but that didn’t go so well. At least I have a good idea of what he looks like now.”

  He turned over the tablet and set it to a picture. It was a pretty good hand drawn likeness of the Wine Merchant, or at least his android self. She nodded.

  “That’s him.”

  “Bright drew this. She’s seen glances. Watched his coming and goings enough to identify him by sight as well.”

  “Then why do
n’t you turn this over to the Mahdfel and call in the cavalry?”

  “Mounted units?”

  “The heavy muscle. You know, warships and loads of Mahdfel all waiting to tear this guy a new one.”

  “Ah. Soon but he takes so many precautions. First, despite our own security measures, news regarding capture attempts always spreads like fire among the channels. It is impossible to find every person on his payroll who might have access to this information.”

  “Keep the circle small to reduce the leaks. I got you. You want to follow him and then bring down hellfire once you are absolutely sure you’ve painted your target.”

  “Correct. There is also a problem with a Bistra-Mahdfel pact. They remain neutral. We do not interfere and they do not interfere with us. They do not trust the Suhlik any more than we do but they are not willing to devote resources to their elimination.”

  “Oh, we had a country like that on Earth. It was called Switzerland. The Suhlik decided the mountains would make a great resource and mining site, so they bombed the shit out of it. Too bad, I heard their chocolate was excellent.”

  “Why are Terrans so concerned about this thing called chocolate?”

  “You’re a guy. You just wouldn’t get it. Don’t try.”

  Zenik just sat there for a moment and stared at her. He was trying to figure it out but she didn’t plan to help. She had other fish to fry.

  “So Bistra. They have security, neutrality, and exploding androids.”

  “Yes.”

  “So we have to be sneaky.”

  “I,” he reiterated “I have to be sneaky.”

  “I’m way sneakier than a green giant could ever be.”

  “We already covered this. I do not want you to take part in this mission.”

  Jane ignored him. She pulled the tablet over to her side of the table. “So how specific of specs do you have?”

  “Jane.”

  She scrolled through a few pages and found very little. “Oh. That much, huh? You know, I got a buddy in alien recon. Earth isn’t Mahdfel so we might have some different rules. I mean, this super secret android shit sounds exactly like what the higher ups on my planet would be interested in. How far are we from Earth?”