by Bethany Shaw
“Stop! Please. I’ll tell you what you need to know. Just leave her alone, please!” Marcus pleaded, his voice sounding miles away even though she was sure he was still in the room with her.
“No,” she said, forcing her gaze to focus. She wobbled as she tried to sit up. The ground around her seemed to be vibrating. Everything was spinning. How hard had he hit her? She needed to focus and fast.
The alien turned, trudging away from her.
“Marcus, no,” she said her voice coming out weaker than she’d intended. Her arms trembled as she tried to get to her hands and knees to crawl across the floor toward him.
Marcus met her apprehensive eyes with his and shook his head at her. “I’m sorry, Addison. I can’t let them hurt you.”
“No...you...don’t understand,” she said, fighting for a breath and to stay conscious. Yet the more she moved, the worse her head hurt and the more her vision waned.
“Tell me. How many of you are there?” the alien asked Marcus.
“Twelve adults and sixty-two children,” his monotone voice echoed throughout the room.
“Very good.” The alien nodded at his men.
All the other aliens darted out the door while the lead creature glanced back at her, a wide smile on his face, his black teeth projecting his complacency. As he turned back to Marcus, he raised his hand and placed it on Marcus’ brow. Addison scrambled across the floor to help, but he seemed to be miles away even though she was sure it was just a few feet.
Marcus howled as a white light encompassed him. As the light permeated his body, it began to flake away, like leaves blowing in the wind.
“No! Stop!” she cried out. Her heart pounded as she pushed herself to stand. It was too late though; Marcus’ body was nothing more than a pile of white ash on the floor. She covered her mouth as tears welled in her eyes. The alien turned back to her, the wide smile still plastered on his face. He took a step toward her knowing his ensuing move.
Oh my God. I’m next.
Chapter Two
“Sir! I’m picking up life signs.”
Captain Zephyr Cree turned to his science officer, Orion. The shuttle was flying low to pick up life signs, and it appeared Orion had found some. “Where?”
“If we transport a team down now, we might be able to save them...well, wait a second. We just lost one.”
Zephyr’s face fell as he looked up to meet Orion’s eyes.
“The Imangi are already there. I have one life sign with an Imanji and there’s a cluster of them running away with the Imanji in pursuit. They’re all bunched together. It’s hard to tell how many humans there are. At their speed though, they won’t get far. The Imanji will catch them in less than two minutes.”
Zephyr turned to his team as they sat along one of the benches across the back of the shuttle. “Alpha Team, collect the group and bring them on board. Orion, send me to the single life sign,” he said nodding at the solitary flashing blue blip on the radar.
“Sir? It’s unlikely—”
“Now!” He knew the odds weren’t good, but he had to try. It was their fault this planet was in trouble.
Orion nodded once and typed something in on his pad. Zephyr closed his eyes as his body dissipated, thanks to their teleportation tech, and rematerialized outside a building.
An Imanji’s high-pitched voice squealed as it yelled at its victim. The overwhelming urge to save the human, drove him forward. Zephyr called upon his inner beast; the phoenix inside him bristled as it took control. His body heated until fire erupted over his skin and his bones shifted, turning his arms to wings as he transformed into the large burning bird. His wings stretched as he flapped them about before taking flight. The Imanji were no match for him now.
He flew toward the door, spewing fire from his mouth at the building. The wall incinerated, revealing a young woman. Red trickled from her nose, forehead, and cheek; Zephyr assumed it was blood.
Her amber eyes met his and widened, locking gazes with him and blinking as she ignored the Imanji’s compulsion. He’d never met another species that could defy the Imanji. Fascinating. He knew he had to save her.
The Imanji leader lifted its palm to the woman’s forehead as he held her in place with his other hand. It seemed to be unaware of the phoenix, and Zephyr planned to use that to us advantage, he had to save this woman. She struggled in his grasp, but she was no match for its superior strength.
Zephyr pushed himself faster, darting in through the opening and lunging for the Imanji who was ready to suck the woman’s life force away. Catching the creature with his talons and jabbing the sharpened points into his enemy, Zephyr let the fire course through his body and out through his claws as he shoved the alien away from the woman. The Imanji wailed, flailing about as flames engulfed its body, but still it slithered back toward the woman.
Zephyr spread his wings and flapped them vigorously, thrusting the Imanji away. As it slid across the room, it collided with the wall and lay motionless.
The woman screamed and Zephyr cast a glance back at her, watching as her auburn hair blew across her face and her balance waivered from the current his wings projected. He stopped flapping his wings, but it was too late. She fell face first, but managed to twist at the last second, landing with a sickening crunch on her shoulder.
He fluttered over toward her. The only problem with his phoenix form was he lost the ability to communicate with other species. He drew in a breath, double-checking to ensure the Imanji was indeed gone before he transformed back into his humanoid form. Straightening his black jumpsuit, he watched as the woman scuttled away from him by sliding across the floor. Orion had invented the suits to allow them to shift back and forth without ruining the material. After all, the first contact with a human usually went better with clothes. From what he’d learned about the human race, most of them preferred to keep covered. Other than his peoples’ ability to shift forms, there weren’t many differences between them and the humans. Now he just needed to convince her of that.
He waited until the last flames died before taking a step toward her; by then, she had stood up, trying to find her footing as she stumbled away from him.
He held up his hands, hoping it was a universal gesture of good will, and then pressed his finger down on his built-in language translator on his jumpsuit. “I’m here to help.”
Her eyes veered from the dead Imanji and back to him. “Stay back.”
“Sir?” Orion’s voice belted into his ear.
He pressed the COM on his jumpsuit. Another of Orion’s inventions, though it only worked in human form. “Yes?”
“We’ve got them,” Orion said. “They are all on board and we’ve taken care of the Imanji on the ground. However, I’m picking up some enemy ships heading in our direction.”
“Prepare to transport me.” He took a step forward, then another. Before the woman could protest, he clasped her by the wrist and hauled her to him. “Now. I’ve got a plus one,” he said.
The woman screamed as bright lights surrounded them. Weightlessness clawed at his belly as they rematerialized on the shuttle.
“Get off of me,” she cried out as she shoved him away.
Zephyr released her, watching as her eyes widened while taking in the shuttle they’d appeared in.
The woman took a step back, wrapping an arm around her middle. She wavered on her feet as her knees gave out and her eyes flitted shut. Zephyr rushed forward, sweeping her into his arms before she hit the floor. He stared down at her mesmerizing face as he pushed strands of her auburn hair away. Her eyes were shut and her face was relaxed. A deep laceration ran a long her hairline, no doubt from one of the Imanjis. Dark red rivulets rolled onto his fingers, making them sticky. She needed medical help—fast.
***
Addison groaned as she blinked her eyes open. Blaring white lights loomed overhead and she shut her eyes against the offensive brightness, counting to ten before reopening them. White surrounded her—the walls, the bedding, the monitors
, even her outfit was white. A steady hiss sounded to her left and she watched as a dot rose and fell in perfect intervals. Wires protruded from the machine leading to the cuff secured around her bicep.
She was in some sort of medical facility. But where? Her muddled brain fought to remember what happened.
“You’re awake?” a male voice said. Footsteps shuffled toward her and she turned in the direction of the sound.
Her eyes widened as she met a vivid blue gaze. His eyes were unlike anything she’d ever seen before; they were like tiny swirls of electricity churning around his irises. The man’s hair was as black as a raven’s and she swallowed, realizing there was something familiar about him, but she was ambiguous as to who he was.
“Can she hear me?” the man asked, turning to someone behind him.
Addison forced herself up, straining to see whom else was in the room, but she came up short and lay back down.
He turned back to her. “Do you remember what happened?” He cocked his head to the side as he studied her.
Addison licked her dry lips and narrowed her eyes. What was it about this guy that was so familiar? Blood red eyes flashed in her mind, followed by a large fiery bird. She gasped. “You!”
He blinked, unfazed by her outburst. “I’m Captain Zephyr Cree, and I rescued you from the Imanji attack on your person. You’re aboard my warship, The Retribution.”
Her brows creased, rising up into her hairline. “You...you...turned into a...burning bird,” she said as she fisted the sheets in her hand, not sure of what he was exactly. The accusation sounded absurd given what he’d just told her. First aliens and now flaming human birds? What’s next? Little green men from Mars? Wait! Maybe I don’t want to know if there are men from Mars.
Zephyr nodded. “That is one of my peoples’ abilities. It is how we defend ourselves against the Imanji.”
“Imanji?”
“Yes, the creatures that attacked you and your planet,” he told her.
Addison swallowed hard against the bile creeping up her throat. She had no reason to believe the handsome stranger, but for some reason, she did. The past three days had been chaotic and at this point anything was possible. Aliens were real; she’d seen them up close and a little too personal. Who was she to question anything at this point?
“Where am I? I mean, where are we?” she shook her head trying to form her questions so they would make sense.
Zephyr took a step forward. “My ship is still in Earth’s orbit. We will continue to look for more survivors as long as we can.”
Addison gulped. “I wasn’t alone. There were kids. What happened to them?” Tears pricked her eyes as she recalled Marcus’ fate. I hope they didn’t die, too.
“My team rescued the rest of your group. They are safely aboard.”
Addison let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “Have you found many other survivors?”
“A few hundred.”
Her heart sank. “That’s it?” There were billions of people on the planet. What happened to them all? Her stomach churned. Did they die like Marcus? She gagged at the memory.
“My apologies. We’ve done everything we could, but we didn’t find out about the Imanji’s attack on your planet until it was too late.”
“You’re an alien, too?” Duh, I already knew that. Earth doesn’t have warships or people that can change into birds of fire. He looked so human, unlike the men who had attacked her. This was all so surreal.
“My people are Phoenixes. We live in the Acubans Star System on a planet called Delphi,” he said as he drew closer to her bed still.
Until a few days ago, humans hadn’t even realized there were sentient beings capable of reaching their planet. “I see.”
“The doctor says you are going to be fine.” Zephyr stopped at her bed and glanced at the monitors.
Addison lifted her hand to her head, feeling for the monstrous gash she was sure was there, but it only met smooth skin and silky hair. “I was injured, wasn’t I?” She distinctly remembered blood dribbling down her face.
“Our medicine is more advanced than yours, or so I’ve been told. All your injuries have been healed by our technicians,” he said. “I wanted to speak with you about the attack.”
Addison closed her eyes and sighed. “They killed my friend...I watched him die.” Tears pricked behind her closed eyes and she swallowed. She was never going to get the image of Marcus’ death out of her mind. It was permanently burned in her brain.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “The Imanji, their voices were in your head?”
Her eyes popped open and she trailed her fingers through her hair. “Yeah.” She frowned and met his gaze. “I had this compulsion to do exactly what they said, even though I didn’t want to.”
“But you didn’t do it?” Zephyr asked.
She shook her head. “I refused to tell them what they wanted, but Marcus did. Then they killed him.” Her voice dropped as her stomach turned. What had they done to him? It had been quick at least. She prayed it hadn’t been painful.
“Not many people possess the ability to block their psychic domination. It is very rare, even amongst my people when in this form.”
“I see.” What did any of this have to do with her?
“As the Imanji grow more and more ruthless, my people find it harder to rescue the remaining human survivors on your planet. Our people have a great deal in common with yours, but there are some differences.” His finger pointed to his eyes.
“They are really magnificent,” she blurted. Heat engulfed her cheeks and she squeezed her eyes shut. Did I seriously just say that? My wound might be healed, but clearly I still have a brain injury. His eyes were mesmerizing, but she wasn’t the type to babble about that kind of thing to others.
Zephyr cleared his throat. “Your peoples fears are causing them to hide. We have monitors to detect life signs, but they have been attacking us when we try to aid them. As you can imagine it makes rescuing them very difficult, and unfortunately time is not on our side. The Imanji kill and cull as many of the indigenous species as they can before they move on to phase two.”
“Phase two? Are you saying it’s going to worsen?” How could it possibly get any worse? From what she’d seen of LA, the city was already gone.
“Once the Imanji take the resources they desire, they will set a weapon to destroy the planet.”
Addison let out a breath as her hand slapped over her mouth. Her heart thumped in her chest. Earth would be gone? No. No, we have to do something. Anything.
“Because of your unique ability to block out the Imanji’s compulsion, I was hoping you would accompany me and a small extraction team to Earth to try to save any remaining survivors we can,” he said.
“What? No. I mean, yes, I’ll help, but we have to stop them. They can’t obliterate the planet,” she said as she narrowed her gaze at him. This was her home and she wasn’t going to let it be destroyed without putting up one hell of a fight.
Zephyr sighed as something flickered in his eyes. It looked like sadness or, perhaps, regret. His face softened and his voice lowered. “This isn’t the first planet they’ve attacked. They’ve done it to eighteen other worlds; we’ve yet to stop them, though believe me, we’ve tried and with a great loss to my crew. The best you can hope for is to save as many lives as you can.”
Chapter Three
Addison blinked as her escort ran his palm over a long rectangular box on the wall; it beeped and then two doors hissed open. He inclined his head and she took a step in, gasping when she saw a large group of humans.
They must be the survivors that had been rescued. On second glance there really were only a few hundred people. Surely this room couldn’t hold the only survivors of the planet. There had to be more—lots more.
“Thank goodness! I’ve been so worried,” Holly said emerging from the crowd as she raced forward and threw her arms around Addison. “What happened to you? Are you okay?”
Zephyr explaine
d to Addison that Holly was safe, but it was good to see her friend for confirmation.
“I’m okay.” She squeezed her friend back, glad to have someone familiar on board the spaceship. “Is everyone else all right?” she scanned the crowd, but there were so many people, some that weren’t a part of her group.
“Yes. These...men...saved us. Then they brought us here. We’ve been stuck in this room for nearly six hours. No one has told us anything. I don’t think they’re a part of the military, Addison.” She motioned her arms around the room and lowered her voice. “This place is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. And the plane they picked us up in was unreal.”
“They’re aliens, too,” she said with a sigh.
“What?” Holly’s mouth popped open as her eyes widened.
Addison nodded; if she hadn’t seen Zephyr change from a fiery bird to a man, she might not believe it either. Not to mention her miraculous recovery. “I spoke with the captain.”
“You did?” Holly grabbed her by the arm, her grip tightening almost to the point of pain. “What do they want? Are they here to help us or...”
“He was waiting for me when I woke up. They seem to want to help us,” she said as she took in the room more closely. It appeared to be divided into sections: a medical facility, food, sleeping, and recreation. The walls were made of steel, or something similar, the floor was layered in octagonal-shaped tiles, and the windows opened to a black abyss she assumed was outer space. Until the Phoenixes proved to be anything but their friends, she didn’t see any other choice other than to trust them.
“What did he say to you?” Holly asked, wrapping an arm around Addison and guiding her to a metallic table a few feet away.
Addison licked her lips unsure where to start. “They are aliens, too, but they are trying to rescue us from the Imanji, the yellow creatures that have been attacking us.”
Holly shook her head, sending her curly red tendrils over her shoulder with the movement. “I knew this guy’s eyes were too crazy to be human. Have you seen any of them? It’s as if their eyes light up like light bulbs. Do you think we can trust them?”
