by T. J. Quinn
“If you wish to take me, I cannot stop you.” Her voice sounded like a strange mixture of fearful, needy, hopeful and anxious.
“Sweetness, when I take you it will be because you asked nicely, not because I forced myself on you.” Making himself step back, he spun on his heel to face Jax.
The other man was standing across the room, leaning one shoulder on the far wall. Nick wasn’t sure exactly what his facial expression was communicating, but if Jax’s response was any indication, it must have been something close to furious.
“Hey, I didn’t touch her like that. I was gonna try to get her interested, but you interrupted us. There’s no need to turn all super soldier on my ass.”
Stalking up to the man, Nick slammed him right back into the wall with one powerful slap to the chest. Jax’s shocked expression told him that was the last thing he had expected.
“We don’t call dibs on women like they’re fucking cherry popsicles sitting in a cardboard box waiting to be selected. You got that?”
“Yeah, I got it, big guy. Want to ease up off my ass for a second?”
Slamming his hand into the wall beside the snarky man’s head, he gritted out. “If you even think about touching her or any other woman without their express verbal consent, I’ll drop you on the spot, stamp mission accomplished across your ass, and toss you in the alien equivalent of a trash compactor. Sound off if you understand what the hell I’m communicating to you.”
Shoving him back with two hands, Jax stared him down. “I’m hearing what you’re laying down, you stupid fucker. Now let me tell you something. If you keep rolling up on every damned situation spitting God and glory, you’re not going to last long. Dial it down a fucking notch or two, brother.”
“Brother? We are definitely not brothers. I call men in uniform brothers. You know, the ones who have sworn themselves to a greater cause; men who care about something besides making a fast buck. You’re just a two-bit gun runner in flashy sneakers with delusions of grandeur.”
Sneering at him, Jax shot back. “You think your shitty little insults are gonna cut me to the quick or put me in my place? Boy, you have no fuckin’ idea who you’re dealing with. I was raised in a crack house by a woman who thought skittles was a good breakfast food for four-year-old. I’ve survived police raids, gang wars, and being knifed by a junkie lookin’ for a fix. And that was all before my tenth birthday. I’ve got survival skills they don’t teach you in boy scouts or whatever shitty little military academy your rich parents sent you to when you were little.”
“I’m a United States Navy Seal, and that’s the last time I’m telling you.”
“Well, you’re also a pompous, arrogant asshole who needs to work on his people skills. That hero complex is gonna get you killed, and then you won’t be saving nobody.”
Shaking his head, Nick stared at the man standing defiantly in front of him. “I’ve been told we’ll probably end up being best friends or some such shit like that. I have to say, I’m not seeing that right now.”
Snorting a laugh, the other man stated flatly. “You listen to me; you live longer, Doctor Jones.”
Turning back to Acacia, Nick muttered. “Crazy fucker’s quoting vintage movies during an alien abduction. Why am I not surprised?”
The door open and shut several more times that day and before it was all over Nick was balled up in the corner, sweating as his body tried to process the several shots of their translation cocktail. The injections were causing him to go into hypovolemic shock. Nick became aware that Acacia was holding him in her arms, trying to get him to drink some kind of drink that tasted salty. She removed part of her barely there clothing to mop the sweat from his forehead.
Chapter 4
Stark Reality
~ Jax ~
Music Mix
Huddled in the darkness, Jax watched Nick moving restlessly on Acacia’s lap. Wrapping his arms around his stomach, Jax tried to forget all the horrible things he’d seen since being brought aboard this ship. Unfortunately, every single time he closed his eyes, the images of wholescale death and destruction reigned supreme.
Growing up in a crack house had come with its own set of challenges. Humans thirsting for a fix could be some of the most despicable creatures imaginable. He could get his head around addiction. People physically needed a drug, and they would do absolutely anything to get their next fix. What he couldn’t understand was the Taron. The big-headed fuckers would kill a person just for looking them in the eyes, or getting in their way while walking. Hell, he’d even seen a man get killed for absolutely no reason anyone could figure out. Life meant nothing to these people.
He watched Nick wake to their dimly lit alcove. He’d been stripped down to his boxers while the fever burned itself out. Acadia had taken really good care of them both. Her small bowl of water still sat nearby with a dingy scrap of cloth floating in it. Nick’s expression became confused as he pushed up off the cool metal flooring.
Though he was a little unsteady on his feet, Nick began to stretch out his muscles.
“Thank God, you’re awake, Hero.”
Seeming to notice him sitting in a shadow in one corner of the room, Nick retorted sarcastically. “I thought you didn’t need a Hero?”
When he moved forward into the dim lighting, Nick froze.
Dropping to his knee in front of Jax the shocked man mumbled. “Jesus, what happened to you? You look like a fucking scarecrow.”
Scrubbing both hands down his face, Jax sank back against the wall. “We ain’t gonna make it, dude.”
Quickly sitting beside him, the man stared at him. “I need a Sitrep. Tell me everything you know.”
Rubbing his temple with one dirty hand, Jax couldn’t find it in him to laugh. “It’s really goddamn cute how you’re still being a good little soldier and all.” Feeling a tear slid down his face, he wiped it away with the back of one hand. “We ain’t never getting’ home, soldier boy. You said they’re gonna attack Earth, but they got some crazy system where they go rank planets according to how rich in natural resources they are. We ain’t even in the top ten.”
“They are going to attack, in fifteen years. When they approach Earth, we have to…”
“We ain’t gonna last fifteen months, much less fifteen years. They’ve killed millions while you slept.”
“How the hell long was I out?”
“It’s hard to tell time here. I’m guessing a little over a month.”
“It’s not logistically possible to kill…”
“It is. I watched it happen. The mother ships surround the planet, they have some type of particle beam weapon that destroys whole cities.” Jax knew his voice sounded flat and wooden. He could hear the hopelessness loud and clear.
A warm hand landed on his arm. “Don’t they feed you? You’ve lost weight, and you look like hell. Talk to me, brother.”
Taking a deep breath, Jax spoke, trying to keep to the major issues. “They fabricated some type of language program from your blood, imprinted on bacteria or something. Naturally, they gave it to me. It didn’t’ knock me out like it did you, but it’s been pretty hard on my system. They feed us, but nothing you would recognize as food. There are thousands of us slaves in the lowest level of the ship. They take us out when they need cheap expendable labor.”
“Are they working you to death? Acacia looks fine.”
Shaking his head, he responded. “They work us hard, food is tight, so I do extra chores for other slaves in return for extra things we need.”
“Shit, I’ve been down for a while. The two of you have been doing extra to get me well again, haven’t you?”
Jax swallowed thickly, refusing to look at the man who seemed to be everything he wasn’t. “There are only a few ways for a man like me to earn.” His mouth went dry before he could get the words out.
“Whoring is nothing to be ashamed of if it keeps you alive.”
Jax found his humor. Snorting a weak laugh, he pushed the words out. “Women are
few and far between on these ships. The few there are, will not be interested in weak ass human men.”
Grinning, Nick flung back. “Speak for yourself.”
“Anyways, the men are pretty desperate for company.”
“Male whoring is a tough road for a man to hoe. If you got yourself a boyfriend, well that’s just fine by…”
Laughing, Jax shoved the ignorant man, “Shut the fuck up and let me get through this.”
“Yea, yea, there are lots of men and no women. Naturally, men are interested in getting some. Get on with the story before I fall asleep.”
“You know how we always wondered if there was intelligent life in space. Come to find out, there are lots of different species. So far, I’ve met about twelve different kinds of people, and two of them are single sex.” Holding up his hand when Nick opened his mouth, Jax explained. “They seriously don’t have males or females. They’re literally all one gender. There are several races where the men prefer other men and most of the other ones just swing all ways. The bottom line is none of the males are going without, so they ain’t gonna be interested in trading scarce resources for what they’re already getting for free.”
“That’s all fucking fascinating as shit, but can you cut to the damn chase. What do they value enough to trade?”
“You aren’t going to believe me, but I’m gonna tell you anyways.”
“Spit it out or so help me…”
“Blood. I’ve been trading blood, maybe a little too much.”
“You…say what? Repeat that please.”
“The most resilient and adaptable creatures on this vessel live off the blood of others.”
Nick immediately held his hand up to Jax’s forehead. “You don’t feel like you have a fever. How many fingers am I holding up?”
Staring at the man holding up three fingers like a moron, Jax shook his head. “I didn’t believe it either until I saw them feed. They bite you on the neck, just like we think of vampires.”
“And the bobble heads just let them wander around turning everyone else into creatures of the night? That does not make rational sense.”
“It’s not like that. They’re just a species of people who get their primary nutrition from drinking blood, like a tick or a mosquito. Only the Vampiere are really nice people. Hell, I’d describe them as shy even.”
“They call themselves the Vampiere?”
“Vampires are real, dude. I think we got the stories because some of them crash landed on Earth a really long time ago. How else would we know the name for them?”
Nick’s face scrunched up into a disapproving scowl. “Be honest, are you shitting me?”
Pulling up his sleeve, Jax showed him delicate bite marks from a recent session of feeding. “I have arrangements with a family to feed their little one. Kids drink from your wrist. Adults drink from your neck. Don’t ask why, because I honestly don’t know.”
Nick muttered thoughtfully. “I guess that isn’t so fantastical. You look anemic.”
“I don’t know how much longer I can do this.”
“Twice as long as you thought you could, cause I’m on the job with you now.”
“Like you’re gonna let a vamp drink from your body. That’s seen as a sign of weakness here.”
“Think I give two hoots in hell what they think? For me, this about us sucking it up and saving Earth. If I have to save our goddamn planet with a little vampire attached to my wrist, then that’s what I’m goddamned doing.”
“I can’t see us being able to save Earth. You don’t know what their weapons can do. That last planet they took was a hundred times more advanced than Earth. They had a defensive shield around the entire planet and thousands of space fighters. Taron just blasted right through all of it. These fuckers don’t invent anything themselves. They steal technology from every world they conquer, growing stronger and more unstoppable with each attack. How can anyone compete with that?”
“Oh, we’re going to kick their asses alright, ‘cause Earth has something no other planet did. They’ve got us. You and I are going to make all the difference.”
“Yeah hero, whatever you say.”
“I can’t do this alone, Jax. We have to do it together.”
“I thought, I was just some slimy good for nothing gun runner.”
Mimicking Jax’s former outrage at being called a gun runner, Nick spat his own words back at him. “You were an arms dealer. There’s a damn difference, you know.”
“Whatever, man. I’m gonna get some sleep.”
Grabbing Jax’s arm, Nick jerked him back down. “I wasn’t gonna say anything, but we need to be on the same page. Back on the boat…”
“It was a goddamn yacht, not a boat.”
“Whatever. Look, when I stunned you and tried to call for a pickup, they told me your yacht had jumped into the future because of some malfunction with the alien ship.”
Jax sank back down into his former position, as shock ripped through his chest. “Shit, that actually makes more sense than you know. I heard each ship has a crazy pilot and they use some type of mutagenic substance to move the ship through time and space. They were complaining about some unauthorized jump when we came on board. The big heads were the most freaked out that I’ve ever seen them.”
“Well, I spoke to a guy from over a thousand years in the future, and he said you and I are in their history books. They called us legends, ‘cause we pulled together, stayed strong, and gathered up enough intel on the big blue bastards to turn the tide of war. I know we can do this because we’ve already done it.”
Sitting up straighter, Jax felt a surge of pure adrenaline spike thought his system. “Fuck yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.”
Giving him a swift jerk of his chin, Nick stated smugly. “Glad to have you on board. Think about it for a minute. I’m a goddamn Navy Seal, and you’re the most notorious arms dealer in the entire world. Though we come from very different backgrounds, you and I were created for mission impossible.”
“I’m in one hundred fucking percent, man. Now, where do we start?”
“No idea.”
“Didn’t they tell you what to do?”
“No, the message was actually one I left behind for myself. It was one of those get your head out of your own ass and save the world speeches.”
“Yeah dude, Iv’ve noticed you’re real good at those. However, motivational speeches ain’t gonna be particularly helpful in terms of figuring out the nuts and bolts of overthrowing an invincible enemy.”
“No enemy is invincible. You just have to find their weaknesses. Everybody has them.”
Rubbing his chin, Jax responded thoughtfully. “I’m supposed to feed Dracon’s little one in an hour. Maybe if we get there early, we can bend his ear. He’ll help us if he can.”
Pulling on his clothing, Nick asked, “What about Acacia?”
“Life in the underworld is unpredictable. Let her sleep.”
“What’s the underworld?”
“It’s where we are, nimrod. The Taron ships are huge, and the most vulnerable part is the lowest level.”
“So naturally, that would be the very place they select to house their slaves.”
Snorting a laugh, Jax answered sarcastically. “Well they sure as hell ain’t gonna house their elite soldiers down here.”
Nick shook his head, responding harshly. “I feel like that dude who fell asleep for thousand years and just woke up.” A sly smile slid onto his face. “It would really suck, only I have bestie, a beautiful blue babe, and the mission of lifetime on my hands. It’s enough to make a guy like me just real damn happy.”
Gesturing towards the slumbering woman, Jax quipped. “Well, the beautiful blue babe’s real nice. And she already told everyone that she’s yours, so there’s that to look forward to.”
Jax thought it was funny just how quickly that bit of information put a smile on the battle-hardened soldier’s face. The difference between having Nick at his side and strugg
ling through the situation alone was profound.
Before, he’d forced himself to carry on only because he’d worried about what would happen to Acacia without his help. Jax was ashamed to admit it, but he had dreamed about all the ways he could put an abrupt end to his miserable existence. There were times over the last month when it would have taken so very little for him to have crossed that final line, times when the darkness of death beckoned to him like a long lost lover.
In the blink of an eye, his world had righted itself. Now, he had hope and purpose, and it was because of one man, who challenged him to be better than he was before. Holding his head up, Jax felt genuine pride growing in his chest for the possibly the first time in his entire life. It was something his soul badly needed, and he knew in an instant that he would fight like hell to keep it.
Chapter 5
A Warrior For Me
~ Acacia ~
Music Mix
Drifting in an aimless slumber, Acacia dreamed of dark times. On a planet, deep in the Hellion system, she was at her mother’s side harvesting food. Though the work was difficult and the hours long, they enjoyed the brief reprieve from being on the mother ship. Her mother’s pale white form moved noisily among the bushes as her hands flew, picking fresh berries. It was at a time in her life when her father could still protect her. Stooped on a nearby cliff, his job was to monitor the slaves. Even at a young age, she could see the large warrior’s eyes only ever rested on her and her mother. Basking in the warm glow of his approval had meant everything to her.
Her tiny hands drifted over the bushes, and she greedily popped one plump berry after another into her small mouth. The slight curve of her father’s lips told her that this once it was okay. It was her one perfect memory, the one right before everything in her world turned upside down. The storm clouds rolled in incredibly fast on that world. Before her father could even make it to them, the skies had opened and dumped a deluge upon them. Her mother’s long, white hair clung to her slight form. Her eyes turned worried when they saw the lightning in the sky. The thunder was even more terrifying, for it shook the ground with each deafening clap.
