Zern

by Stella Sky

  "I did not hurt her at all. As I said before we only had a talk. I have leverage and she is not willing to put that leverage in danger. That is all,” he said to me.

  "And what leverage is that?” I said to him.

  "I said that I would kill her sister if she did not give us the code, easy as that. She is ready to give you the code now, why don't you ask her?” He said as we both turned back towards the exam table. It was empty. The doctor had his back turned to the room as he prepared medication.

  "Where is she?” Yiri said.

  "Shit!” I said as I ran toward the open door, near the table where she had been. I ran into the hallway. She was nowhere in sight. It was a large ship and she could be anywhere. But she was a smart woman, she did not become the director of the Earth counsel without being smart. Where would she go? Then I remembered what Yiri had said. I moved back into the medic room.

  "Where did you take her?” I asked him.

  "What do you mean? I was standing here with you when she was lying there on the table. I did not take her anywhere."

  "No, earlier. Where did you take her earlier when you spoke to her about her sister?”

  "I took her to the communication floor. I showed her on the screen her sister’s home and information,” he said.

  Before he was done saying his sentence I ran out of the room and toward the elevator. She was going for the communication device. She was going to contact Earth! I had to get to her before she figured out how to use it. The elevator door opened on the communication level and I ran down the hallway kicking open every single door. Bam! Bam! She was not in any of the rooms. Finally, I got to the sixth door and kicked it open. She was frightened as she turned around towards the door, quickly turning back to the communication device and pushing buttons desperately in a frantic frenzy.

  "Stop Lily! It is no use! You will never figure out how to use it anyway,” I said as a move toward her and put my arm around her waist and pulled her away from the console.

  She grabbed onto the edge, defying me. But she was too weak to fight me. I pulled her away with one swift yank and then threw her on the couch.

  "What the hell do you think you are doing? I thought you were really sick! You are a manipulative bitch!”

  Tears flowed down her cheeks and she began to hysterically sob, “My sister! I have to warn her! I have to tell her to leave!”

  I was filled with rage. This was Yiri’s fault. He had made my key informative hysterical and focused on the life of her sister. But he was right, if she was this concerned about her sister then she was going to tell me. I moved away from her and grabbed another pad of paper and pen and threw it at her.

  "You wish to speak to your sister? Give me the code and I will pull her up on the communication device and you can speak with her,” I said to her. She wiped her eyes and said, “Is that a negotiation? How do I know that you will hold up your end?”

  "You have my word as a Corillion. We take our word and our loyalty seriously. Not like you humans,” I said to her.

  She grabbed the pen in her hand and held the paper. She stared at it for a long time. She was hesitating. She was thinking about whether she should do it or not or allow her sister to die. I could see it all over her face. Then she began to write. Finally she threw the pad of paper at me and I looked at it. I walked over to the communication panel.

  "Hyix, I have a code for the archive. I want you to test it to see if it opens, to see if you can get access to what I need,” I said to my engineer.

  "Copy that. Ready for the code sir,” he said.

  "It is 13, 1, 0, 0.5, W, P, .6.7," I said and then waited.

  I stared at Lily as I waited for Hyix to give me the confirmation. She was sobbing uncontrollably and I could tell that she had given me the correct information simply by her reaction.

  "Got it,” I said as I ended the communication. “It worked. The code worked we are in,” I said as I walked over to Lily.

  "You got what you wanted, now give me what I want. Give me what you promised,” she said through tears.

  I went to the communication console and pulled up her information file which automatically pulled up her sister. We knew everything about Lily and that included her family. I pulled up her sister’s data and then dialed the communication.

  "Here,” I said as I pointed at the camera and then stepped out of the way. Lily got up and moved in front of it. Soon her sister was facing the screen from the other end.

  "Hello? Lily… Lily is that you? Is that really you?”

  "Yes, it is really me,” she said with a smile.

  "Lily! I thought you were dead! Everyone thinks you are dead! I am so happy to see you and hear from you,” her sister cried on the other end of the line.

  "Listen to me, I don't have a lot of time. I need you to pay attention and to do exactly what I say,” Lily said to her sister.

  "What do you mean? Where are you? When can I see you? I will come to you right now,” she said.

  "Adelaine don't! Just listen. I am not on Earth. I do not know when I will be back, I have been taken."

  "Oh, my God! What? Are you in danger? Are you all right?” She rambled on.

  "Just listen. I need you to leave your place and go somewhere. I do not want you to tell me where it is. I do not want you to try to get in touch with me. I do not want you to go somewhere that you have been before, even when we were children. I want you to go somewhere that you have never been before and away from any major city, hundreds of miles away from any major city. Go to the country or to an island on any continent on Earth as long as you go far away from home. I want you to make several stops before you get to that destination.”

  "I don't understand. Lily, just please tell me what's going on, you are really scaring me. I thought you were dead and now you are alive and you're telling me that I can't see you. Do you know what kind of pain I have been in? Especially after Dad! I need to see you!”

  "No! You are not listening. Please listen and follow the directions I told you. I want you to pack up. Just pack up some clothes. Do not pack up anything else. Do not pack up anything that could conceal a GPS device tracker. You are being tracked. You are being hunted. The Corillion that have captured me are using your life against me. If they cannot find you then they cannot use this leverage and you will be safe!”

  "Shit! Shut up!” I said as I stomped toward the console.

  "Who is that! Lily?!”

  I pressed the end communication button as Lily pounded her tiny fist against my arm. “Why did you do that? I was not finished! I didn't get to say goodbye! I didn’t get to say I love you,” Lily cried.

  I pulled her away from the console grabbing her by her arms. I suddenly felt deep regret that I had ended her communication before she could say goodbye, but I had no choice.

  "You revealed too much,” I said to her.

  "Well you did not give me any rules of what I could and could not say,” she said as she looked up with me with tearful eyes.

  "True. But I assumed that I would not have to. You know how these things go. You are the director of the Earth counsel, this is not your first situation like this. I am sure that you have dealt with the Corillion that have been captured on Earth as well. I am sure that you did not let them reveal information that they were not supposed to.”

  Her breathing slowed down a bit. She began to calm. “No, I suppose you are right. It is just that I am worried about my sister’s well-being.” She said.

  "Yes, you would be after that stunt that Yiri pulled. He did not have my permission to do so," I said to her.

  "Yes, I guessed as much when I heard you arguing about it in the medical room,” she said as she moved to the couch and sat down.

  "Yes, the medic room. That was very sneaky of you. Don't do that again. Don't pull a stunt like that again,” I said as I stomped toward her feeling angry as I remembered her little trick. I was angry that she would pull such a thing, but I was angrier at myself for the feelings that I had exper
ienced when I thought that she could die. It wasn't my proudest moment. I did not want to care for this human. It was very important that I did not.

  "You gave me no choice,” she said looking up at me.

  Then she continued,” So now what? You have your code. Are you going to kill me now? Do it. I am ready.” She said as she stood up and opened up her body to meet you with her arms spread out in the air. She was surrendering to me.

  "No. There is no use in killing you. We still need you. There is a lot of work ahead and you are the only human that we have with your credentials and information. You are priceless, Lily Retron," I said to her as I grabbed her arm and let her out of the room.

  "Then maybe I will eliminate your priceless human myself,” she said. I stopped in my tracks. I turned to her and looked down at her with her quivering mouth and watery eyes. I knew exactly what she meant by that.

  "You would do that? You would take your own life simply so that I could not have access to the information you have in your mind?” I whispered in disbelief.

  She put her chin out proudly in the air and said, “If that is what it takes. Then that is what it will take.”

  In that moment, my view of her changed. She was no longer just the director of the Earth counsel, sad about her capture and her sister. Now I saw her as a brave warrior. She was just as brave as any Corillion warrior that I had ever trained. She stood there with fear in her eyes and yet defiance on her chin, a combination that let me know that she was intelligent to know that what she was proposing was frightening, but also necessary. She was willing to sacrifice her life for the battle for Earth. In that moment, something came over me and I could not control myself.

  My large arm and hand moved to her lower back and in an instant I pulled her to me. I caught her off guard as she slammed against my chest, against my blue scales. She said nothing and I did not give her a time to speak as I placed my mouth on her quivering lips. To my surprise, she let out a soft moan and her mouth opened for me, allowing me to explore the garden of warmth inside with my tongue. I kissed her deeply and with passion. I kissed her like I had never kissed any human female before. I wanted to ravage every inch of her in that moment. I wanted to pick her up by placing my hands underneath her bottom and spreading her thighs open to wrap her legs around my waist. I wanted to push her against the wall and into her quickly and fiercely. I wanted to claim her as my own, my true own. I felt myself growing hard. My firm staff pressed against her stomach and I knew that I had to stop or I would not be able to control the desire and urge that was filling me. I pulled my mouth away from hers reluctantly. She swallowed a large breath of air and the look on her face was complete confusion. I gave her a grin but no explanation. Her breathing was hard and she said nothing as I turned toward the elevator.

  I yanked on her arm and pulled her into the elevator. I pushed a couple of buttons and a combination. The elevator had its own key. She looked at my button combination confused and said, “Am I not going back to my locked room?”

  "No, of course not. You have just admitted to me that you were going to take your own life. I cannot let that happen. There is only one place where you can constantly be watched and that is where I am taking you."

  "And where is that?” she said, annoyed.

  "My living quarters.”

  She gasped in shock. I smiled at her response. I wasn't going to admit to myself that the kiss that I had just planted on her persuaded me to change where she would be staying. But I found it fun to distract her from her sadness about her sister and her willingness to take her own life to protect Earth. If she only knew what we were really up to she would do so much more. It was important that I keep the mission information away from her. She could not know what we were up to. She could not learn that what we were going to do with alter her entire planet and her entire race of people forever.

  Chapter 5

  LILY RETRON – DIRECTOR EARTH COUNCIL EMBASSY

  I was confused. Why did that kiss with Zian leave me breathless? I was not supposed to enjoy a kiss from the very alien race that I hated so much. Yet I had enjoyed it and was feeling completely in awe by it. When he called me to him and placed his mouth on mine I felt my entire body melt. I felt every single one of my senses overwhelmed with everything Zian. It was as if he had taken complete control over me mind, body, heart. How could this be? I hated him so much. I hated him so much that I wanted him dead. He was the reason that I was taken from Earth. He was the reason that my sister’s life was in danger and she could be killed at any second. I hated him and yet, that hate turned to lust and desire when his tongue touched mine. His hard body, his hard scales, and his hard staff had all pressed against me, making me feel very aroused. I had lost myself in that moment. But I wouldn't let it happen again. He had caught me off guard and I was already feeling emotionally vulnerable after seeing my sister and not being able to say goodbye. I had just admitted to him that I would take my own life just to stop their plan to use me further. I was very much in a state that left me open to his advances.

  It was not my fault, or so I told myself, as I stood next to him in the elevator. His manly scent filled the small space and I felt as though he was going to push me against the wall at any second and take me. It was a feeling that left me feeling very terrified and yet desirous. What the hell was wrong with me? I should not be feeling this. I hated him. I hated his kind. I had spent my entire life and career working toward defeating the lot and annihilating them. I was not supposed to find their company enjoyable, but then again, I had not spent very much time with any Corillion except to interrogate them. This was very different. I had seen a different side to this Corillion leader. He had fought with his second in command, Yiri, regarding his treatment of me. That was astonishing. Why should he care how his paid torturer treated me? It did not make sense. It must be strategic.

  "Right this way,” Zian said as the doors opened. I stepped out in front of him into the hallway. He led me to the very end of a dead-end hall where he pressed a combination of numbers and the doors opened.

  "Home sweet home,” he said with a grin that would almost to be dashing if I did not hate him so much. I stepped inside and was surprised at the luxury and comfort of his living quarters on a massive ship.

  "This way. Do not get used to this area. You will be locked away in a room and not allowed to roam these rooms. You have lost that kind of privilege,” he said as I followed him toward the back of the living quarters. He opened the door to an office.

  "Come here, I want to show you something,” he said as he walked over to a desk. He opened a screen that showed me a bedroom.

  "What is that?” I asked.

  "That is your new room. I just want to show you that I have cameras in there. I can see everything that you do. This is where you are going to live,” he said as I looked at the various angles on the screen from the room. My mouth fell open wide.

  "You cannot be serious! There is no privacy!” I shouted at him.

  "Yes, that is the whole point. I cannot leave you alone without watching you since you have already told me you plan to take your own life.”

  "What if I need to use the facilities? Where am I to take a shower?" I said annoyed by this new fresh hell.

  "Knock on the door and I will take you there myself where I will stand outside the door until you are finished.” He said arrogantly.

  "Give me a fucking break,” I said annoyed.

  "Yes. As you wish you can take a break in that room. You can rest for as long as you want you will be locked in there for a very long time,” he said as he grabbed my arm and led me to a door in his office. He opened it and it led directly to the bedroom. He pushed me inside.

  "I will be sitting here at my desk. I am very close as you can see. Try to get some rest, we have a long mission ahead of us,” he said as he closed the door and locked it.

  I could not believe it. I was practically inside of his office with just a door separating us. He would sit there and do his work
while I was a helpless prisoner. I am the one that should be working, since I am the director of the Earth counsel, and instead I was supposed to just sleep like a damsel in distress? No, there was no way that I was going to allow that to happen. I had to come up with something. I sat on the bed and looked at all the cameras on the walls. How can I do anything with him watching me? I felt so vulnerable and exposed. Was he watching me right now? I got up from the bed and walked back and forth. Then I stopped as I heard something. I moved toward the door. I could hear Zian talking over communication to one of his warriors. He was giving orders. I stepped away from the door and sat in a chair next to it pretending not to listen. If I put my ear against the door he would know that I could hear him and it was to my advantage that he did not know. This might work out for me after all. I listened.