by Gemma Voss
“Oh, this is terrible, just terrible,” Kiva cries out, breaking our quietude. “Great Ka, we should have all been scanned. What if I’m next? What if this polluted Earth atmosphere has tampered with all of our chips?”
Vala slaps him on the back. “Kiva, be still. Panic does not solve problems. We will discuss it when Pakka is here.”
We return to sitting in silence until Pakka returns. Kiva is fidgeting, Mori stares at the ceiling in misery, and Vala is his usual self— completely at ease.
“Tomorrow, we will all be tested,” our leader announces upon entering. “Kila, you must stay here and relax. It would be best if you meditate and try to stay in control of your emotions. Jen said she will make arrangements for us to contact the planet base as soon as possible.”
“There,” Vala says to Kiva. “You see, there is a plan.”
“Stay here?” I demand. “And do what? No, I must be there when you contact home. Won’t they want to speak with me?”
“They will understand why we have decided to take precautions,” Pakka says.
I clench my fist, knowing it isn’t wise to mention how I still wish to see Ella, even just for a moment. “I am of no use to anyone here. At least lock me in the lab so I might make some contribution—”
“Kila, that is enough. This decision is final. I do not trust your actions in this state, I hardly know who I speak with. You are on lockdown until further notice.” Once he has delivered these orders, he sucks in a deep breath and retreats to his own room.
The rest of the evening is tense. We do not speak very much, but I fear none of them trust me anymore. I may as well be an Azza spy to them. Sadly, I cannot even trust myself. My mind is filled with Ella— the feel of her body against mine, her kind way of speaking, the soft dark waves of her hair. Once I have eaten, I head to my own room and lay flat back on the bed.
Meditation is the best course of action, so I reach for my tap-pad and set it up on the bedside table with a white noise loop. The breathing exercises come to me easily, from passings and passings of practice. When I complete one exercise, I start up again, slowing my mind and clearing my thoughts until they are nothing. My body finally gives up and allows me sleep.
And then I dream of her.
She is naked. Since I have never seen her without clothes, her nakedness is rather blurry but the feeling is there. The excitement of having her against me, skin on skin, is palpable. Her face is flushed, and she lets out one of those ringing little laughs of hers. She says my name— “Kila,” she sighs. “Yes, oh yes, Kila…”
Then I am seeing the video we showed her, of the human couple fucking like wild animals. Except it is me there, stripped down to nothing and humping the female. And it is Ella that has her face pressed against the floor, while I slam my cock into her from behind. She cries out, saying my name over and over again.
When I wake up, my cock is hard and I am on my stomach, grinding my hips into the blanket beneath me. As soon as I am aware of what I am doing, I jolt upright and roll right off the bed frame. I reach down to touch between my legs, utterly alarmed. Sure enough, my cock is engorged and aching with a sweet pain I have never felt before. I stare at the clock. It is almost noon and the rest of the team has left me here as promised.
I rub against my pants, trying to relieve the pressure, but that pressure only seems to build. Do I ignore it? Or must I do something about it? My imagined version of Ella dances in the back of my mind, still fresh from my recent dreams.
I am already being treated like Deviant, am I not? I push down my pants and grip my cock as I think of her face. What would she look like if I had her undressed before me? I rest my head back on the ground and recall the shape of her in that black dress she wore. Then I mentally push the fabric up slowly. Perhaps she would laugh a little bit? That seems right… She likes to smile and laugh…
I begin working my hand over my cock, pressing harder until it feels right, bucking my hips into my own grip and imagining I am between her thighs. I groan as a rewarding feeling starts up. A feeling like I am get closer to something very good. My motions become more furious and my mind becomes even more depraved. What must it feel like to be inside her? This causes me to shudder and fist my cock even harder until my pleasure peaks for an indescribable, extended moment of sheer ecstasy. Seed shoots from the tip of my cock and coats both myself and the floor.
Panting, I just lay there for a little while. Great Ka, I feel I’ve crossed a strange barrier from which there is no return.
When I eventually come to some sense, I curse aloud and search for something to clean myself off. All the while, my sick mind is ticking away, plotting. I must see her. I must talk with her. I must make a plan to get to her.
When I pull myself together and dress, my own reflection is a startling sight. My skin has taken on a rosy undertone. I stumble to my small box of toiletries and retrieve a sewing needle. I stab my arm and sure enough, I bleed red rather than blue. I want to laugh or cry, or maybe just lay down and rub my cock again like a lunatic. It seems the Kali’Ka has chosen a mate for me like a Great House warrior from Archaic Kar’Kal. Ella Sacco will be mine, or I will surely lose what little sense I have left. I must see her, and all other factors are of little consequence to me.
Chapter 9
Ella
On Friday, the atmosphere in the lab is tense. Kila is gone, and the others wear grim expressions. Thankfully, they don’t seem to blame me at all, but rather speak of Kila as though he has lost his mind completely or even as if he’s dead. Their first order of the day is to test themselves in their weird giant microwave box.
“We would like to test you as well, if that’s alright,” Kiva says politely. “I am so very sorry that this has happened to you Ella-vi. I can’t imagine what you think of us.”
“Yes, that’s fine, I don’t mind,” I tell him. Mori is currently in the box, lying down while Pakka processes the computer’s readings. “And it’s not anything to apologize for. In fact, I don’t see what all the fuss is about. Kila was very kind to me when he expressed his attraction. I’ve had human men scream at me from the other side of the street, so I’m not sure why Kila has to be locked up.”
“Scream at you?” he repeats, bewildered. “In an attempt to mate with you? And you still feel safe walking down the street?”
“I can’t very well stay in my house forever,” I joke.
He shakes his head. “Do these males ever have success with this tactic? Screaming at unknown females in a public space?”
“Probably not.”
He’s perplexed to say the least and turns to scribble this as a note on his tap-pad. “Then why do they do it, I wonder…”
“Look, Kiva,” I say, lowering my voice. “You guys weren’t hard on him, were you?”
“I am not sure what this means. Hard on him?”
“You weren’t mean, right?” I ask, running my fingers through my hair. “Did you make him feel bad about it? It seems like he was really beating himself up over this, and I just think his feelings might be hurt if his friends didn’t give him support, you know?”
“There are no hurting of feelings on Kar’Kal, Ella-vi. Kila is not well, and we are going to fix him,” he states as though this were the simplest fact in the world.
“And Kila, he accepted the fact that he has to stay inside until he can get fixed?”
Kiva looks uncomfortable as he attempts to process what I’m getting at. “No,” he admits. “He was angry, but that is because he unwell. He is not in his right mind.”
I purse my lips and let it go before I make the guy sweat. I sit back and watch as the rest of the Kar’Kali take their turns in the box. By the end of the day, they’ve analyzed the read-outs twenty times over and have come to the conclusion that none of their suppressors are working. While Kila’s levels are the only wild ones in the bunch, none of their hormones are being suppressed at the low level that their home system expects. They all act as though they’ve received a death threat f
rom the mafia.
“Ella, you must now be the only woman we encounter,” Pakka says once they’ve come to terms with the facts. “Considering the Kali’Ka has clearly marked you as Kila’s mate, I can assume the four of us are safe in your presence. Please notify Jen that we cannot communicate with her in person until further notice. I propose we wait until the building has emptied before we head to the comm line this evening.”
His teammates are nodding their heads. “Woah woah woah,” I say. “What do you mean? Marked? As mate?”
“I’m sorry, but the damage has been done. Kila is obviously experiencing the ancient mating call. And you are his mate. In fact, Mori, get your tap-pad now and message him an update assuring him that we will be running late and that Ella is safe. If he thinks for a moment that something is wrong, he will seek to ensure Ella is physically protected, like a barbarian.” Pakka paces the room, eyes roaming the walls as if searching all the possible outcomes.
I breathe in through my nose to make sure oxygen is still getting to my brain. “What? WHAT?!”
“In fact,” he adds, ignoring my sudden panic. “Call the security center and ask if they can have a guard posted at our building. He might even now be planning how to get to her.”
Mori chuckles. “One guard? Do you forget that Kila was once left behind by forces in an Azza mining city and managed to return to Kar’Kal by crossing their desert, stealing a shipping freighter on the opposite side of the planet, and then bombing their base to down their mission control?”
Pakka pauses. “As many guards as they will spare.”
“Hold it!” I shout. “You are really skipping the part where you just accept the fact that I’m Kila’s mate?”
“What did you think was happening?” Mori asks, like I’m an idiot. “Did you think that we lied about our planet’s history? This is why we are who we are. Without the suppressor, Kila will stop at nothing to be with you. If you had a human mate, they may as well find another. That is what we are telling you. He is a Deviant now, and you’re his breeding mate.”
“Mori!” Kiva hisses. “You are scaring her.”
“Just send her home now,” Vala suggests. He tilts his head at me. “Go ahead, go home, and hope we have solved this by Monday.”
“That is a fine idea,” Pakka agrees. “Go and rest, Ella.”
“Right,” I manage to say. “I’ll see you on Monday. Just… tell Kila I hope he feels better.”
They react to this statement as though I’ve grown five heads, and simply mumble their goodbyes as I pack up my bag and leave.
Leaving before the commuter rush means I have to face the crowd of protesters in the parking lot alone. On the bright side, they are pretty low energy in the face of one person exiting the building. As I pass their signs, one particular message jumps out at me like its written in flashing neon letters. It says, “ALIEN FUCKERS”. I bow my head and walk as quickly as I can across the parking lot to the transport wait station. I am about to make it when I hear someone calling to me: “Ella! Ella, is that you?”
I whip around and squint at the eager face in the crowd. “Vic?”
There among the crazy conspiracy theorists and desperate alien-haters is Vic Williams, a guy who went to my high school and used to be friends with my brother. It’s strange to see him with a mustache and beard. He’s holding a sign that says, “Government Subsidized Dissection.”
“Hey Ella, how’s it going? You work at this dump?”
Well, that’s aggressive. I anxiously glance over my shoulder to make sure the next bus hasn’t arrived. “It’s not a dump,” I say. “And yeah, I do.”
The rest of the crowd runs back to the entrance when three more workers emerge, but Vic stays to subject me to more awkward small talk. “What do you do in there?” he asks. “You wouldn’t be willing to be interviewed, would you? Anything freaky going on?”
I want to say, Why, yes! In fact, I’ve just been selected by a mysterious planet spirit as bride-to-be for a virgin Spock from a warrior race who’s about to Hulk out from his spiking hormone levels! Instead I just shrug and say, “Not really, Vic… I just help some alien species navigate Earth situations. You know, grocery stores and ordering equipment on the Internet. Real eyebrow-raising shit.”
He doesn’t hide his disappointment. “If you ever encounter something suspicious, you should contact me. You need to keep your eyes open in there, Ella. You might think it’s innocent but you have no idea the stories I’ve heard. There are women working there that have started sexual relationships with these freaks. And there’s the disappearances. They claim they left for another planet… but where did they really go?”
“I’m sure it’s not like that—”
“Ah, you’ve always been too nice. But I know these guys, they called themselves the Exile Squad, and they’ve been collecting loads of information on the secret goings on around here. They’d be real interested to talk with you. They do exposé interviews.”
“Exile Squad? Sounds like a bad 80’s action film,” I mutter.
He shrugs. “You know, you look really great. Did I say that before? I still see your brother around but how come he’s never mentioned you? Because he’s hiding you from me?”
I don’t say anything because I know where he’s going with this and I don’t want to encourage it.
“Why don’t we, uh, get together sometime?”
“Sorry, Vic, I gotta catch a bus,” I say when I hear the hissing sounds of the transport. I’ve never been so thankful for the smell of a waste-powered metal box full of un-washed bodies. I rush on and grab a seat. I peer at the security center and the guards that pace up and down the perimeter of the research facility. They all look calm, chatting in pairs like normal. At least Kila is safely contained in the complex. If what they told me about him is true, I hope to God he won’t hurt himself doing something crazy.
With the bus only a quarter of the way full, I find that I’m the only one to exit at my stop. By the time I get off and make it a couple blocks towards my apartment building, I realize just how exhausting this week has been. An entirely new team, a wild situation, and a handsome alien that thinks I’m his hormonal soul mate. I sigh, knowing there’s no easy way to explain this one to the girls over drinks tomorrow. I am so deep in my thoughts that when a dark figure emerges from the bushes, I don’t even think to grab my pepper spray— I just freeze and scream.
One large gray hand claps over my mouth, and suddenly Kila’s warmth is pressed against me. “Calm yourself, Ella. It is Kila.”
I punch his arm without hesitation, but find it’s like punching a brick wall. I cringe. “Jesus Christ! Kila, you scared the fucking shit out of me.”
He laughs, actually laughs, at me. I’m so dumbfounded by the sight of his amused face that I lose all sense of the anger I felt a second ago.
“Scared shit out of you? What an absurd phrase,” he comments.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I hiss, looking around me as though the research facility guards will descend from the trees and tackle him. “How did you get out of there? This is stalking, you know. Your friends think you’ve gone crazy and now I’m wondering if they were right.”
“I had to see you, Ella. Will you give me the chance to speak with you?”
“Answer my questions,” I say.
He waves his hand dismissively. “That building is like a child’s first play-fort. I simply exited through the window, crawled the roof to the opposite end where they did not expect me to emerge, and then scaled the wall. They are not staffed to pen a warrior. From there it was made easy by the vehicles in the lot, which provide cover. I waited beneath one such vehicle, and watched you get on the bus. Before it departed, I was able to slide underneath and ride on the undercarriage.”
“Okay, Mission: Impossible,” I mutter, picturing him belly-crawling through the parking lot.
He lets out another laugh. Have I ever seen him smile before this moment? God, it’s sexy when he does. The happy
crinkling of his eyes transforms his face. “Impossible mission? No, no, this was likely the easiest mission I have encountered. If only Azza bases were so poorly manned.”
“What exactly are you trying to accomplish?” I ask. “How long do you think you are going to be out here on the run? Because Pakka knows you’re coming to find me.”
“Pakka will be afraid to send any of the Kar’Kali out into the human world now that he knows our chips are compromised. You see, I have clarity now. Clarity that I did not have when I last spoke with you. I want to win your attentions, Ella. Grant me your time and I will do whatever it takes to convince you to be mine. They do not have your personal address, and the facility is closing. Once they close the comm line with Kar’Kal, they will be forced to wait until Monday to take action.”
Here he goes again with the seductive romance talk. His fellow Kar’Kali were very serious about how dangerous this new Kila would be, but I was not expecting him to be so damn persuasive. Well, or I’m just easy. Yeah, that’s probably it.
“Sounds like you’ve got it all figured out,” I sigh.
“Yes,” he says with relish. “Strategy has always been a strong skill of mine. When we arrived I thought the idea of a two-day Week’s End without work would be torturous, and now I am thankful this tradition is in place. Otherwise, I am sure they would take me from you within the hour.”
I have not seen him so animated until now, and I can’t help but smile. I’m supposed to respect the ways of these other alien species, but this so-called disaster of a tech malfunction has Kila looking so happy, so flushed with joy—
