by C. R Corbin
“Goddamnit why am I so special? Huh? Why the hell am I the one that’s needed?” I asked, knowing that I would get the same answer of classified.
I sit there for a while, ruminating on what she had told me and the fate that I was headed towards. It didn’t seem all that nice the more I thought about it. If he wasn’t telling me something then it was likely a fate that I wouldn’t be enjoying very much. They needed my cooperation for some reason or another, I would be loath to grant it to them.
“Janar means you no harm. By the end of this journey you shall be back home with your people.” Fi said to me, that ever glowing green smile falling onto the floor in front of me, the light of her screen shining into the glass.
“My people.......What happened to my base? What happened to Arasin?” I asked her and she made an electronic clicking noise before starting:
“They have been captured.” she said.
I shook my head, that meant Rebecca, James, everyone I knew was likely dead or captured. I felt ill, sick, nothing like this happened on any of the other colonies so why this one? Why would they attack us when we were only there to do research? What kind of depraved monster attacks a colony without provocation if it wasn’t one of the large interstellar nations?
“Who did it?” I asked. My hands were shaking and my face was turning pale, the shock was gripping me, I couldn’t react in any meaningful way and only sat there twitching while the clicking noise of Fi’s machinery filled the room.
“A warlord by the name of Khor.” she said. I hadn’t recognized the name, perhaps he belonged to a different portion of the galaxy or perhaps I really had forgotten everything that had we had been briefed on when we took the job on Arasin.
“Is he.....is he a conqueror? What kind of man is he? Will he spare survivors?” I asked her, holding out hope that my friends might make it out of this alive.
“Usually not.” the robot said, her voice a bit more dour this time, a bit lower instead of that joyful tune that I had become accustomed to.
“Then what does he do?” I asked.
“Torture, murder, rape, mutilia-“ she began to list off all the atrocities and I shook my head. “Stop!” I yelled and cried as I grabbed the bucket nearby the bed and vomited into it, shaking with shock and anguish. The thought of my coworkers, people that I had known for years being tortured by some sort of marauder was too much for me to bear.
She leaves me to grieve for a little while, my eyes shut and my body convulses as I cried out. I shake my head, wondering why I was still alive and unharmed when everyone else was suffering. Visions of my friends being tortured in the most gruesome manner filled my line of sight, I must have been bemoaning my fate for hours when all was said and done. At the end of it all she was still there in front of me, the pixel face was a frown at this point, the cube hovering in place while I merely shook my head. She turns off her thrusters and softly lands on the metal floor in front of me.
“I’m sorry Lauren.” she spoke and I hugged my knees, sniffling into my lab coat while shivering.
“For all the good it does.....Why am I still alive then? Why did you even save-?” I asked before realizing that the answer would be classified once again.
She doesn’t answer, likely detecting that I knew why when I suddenly grew silent. I shake my head, trying to rid myself of this bad dream but it doesn’t fade, no matter how hard I try it doesn’t fade in the slightest and I am left in this hell. Rebecca was so happy that day, we were going to get lunch and I was going to see James. Now they were all gone or worse.....how was I going to get home? How would we ever manage to achieve any semblance of justice against this man?
“Janar doesn’t work for Khor. I gathered that. Does he have something against Khor then?” I asked, trying to word my question a bit differently so I could eke out an answer.
“He does....a personal tragedy has motivated my master to oppose the warlord Khor. You are part of the plot but that is all the detail that I may disclose.” she spoke. My only company in the world was basically a talking TV sitting outside of my cell, whoopie.
“What tragedy?” I asked.
“Janar is a Jorathian and....well Khor recently commited a similar tragedy to his people and now he wants revenge. Many of the Jorathian people do after news reached home so that’s why he was sent.” Fi drawled in her electronic voice and I nodded. Perhaps this wasn’t a bad man that was opposing me then, perhaps he really did save me from a horrible fate.
“Who is Janar then? A soldier?” I asked.
“A formidable warrior and mercenary. If you have doubts about his character, do not fret, he is a good man that is here to free you, he is here to take you to safety. That much I can inform you of.” said Fi.
From what I could gather thus far we had a common enemy in this “Khor”. Janar was a man sent to rescue me in some sense but there weren’t any more details that could be disclosed to me. Arasin was likely conquered and pillaged and I was enroute to...somewhere. That was all that I knew, all that I could understand.
“Why should I believe you?” I asked. I needed to have the last remnants of my doubts purged from me before I could allow even a piece of myself to relax. There was no way to really prove any of this, that much I am sure of, but if the reason was solid enough I didn’t really care, I was just so exhausted by this wave of news.
“Allow me to show you something.” said Fi as the screen on her cubic frame turned off and flickers on again. This time some sort of footage was being displayed to me, footage that I immediately recognized as my capture.
The camera was situated somewhere on his armor and first displayed him slipping a needle into my back before pulling it out. I had been hiding under the desk and he sedated me before dragging me out of there. Now he was carrying me throughout the lower 5th floor, he was searching for something. He then runs towards one of the elevator shafts that had been shut down during the emergency and climbs the shaft inside, crawling his way up to the top of it with one arm while holding me in the other. Whoever this man was he must have been extremely strong to accomplish such a feat, not to mention well trained. Fi wasn’t kidding when she said that he was a formidable warrior.
As soon as he gets done pulling himself up to the first floor with one arm while clutching me in the other he leans against the door and waits. There were some men behind the elevator door, they weren’t speaking English and the language that was being spoken wasn’t being picked up by my translator so I knew that it wasn’t Jorathian that they were speaking either. He pries open the door and tosses something that looks like a grenade through the gap, smoke clouds flow out and he then makes a run for it. A flash of hallways comes across the screen before the red sunlight of Arasin shines onto the lens and he runs towards a ship while various men yell at him in that strange language. Soon shots begin to fire at his feet and he runs onto the ship with me. He sets me on a seat next to his and lifts off before the footage cuts.
“We are your allies.” said Fi as her face appeared on screen once more and I nodded to myself.
It would seem that way.
“Alright then........I suppose I should trust what you’re saying. I don’t really have a choice I the matter anyways.” I muttered, rolling back onto the bed and laying while gazing up at the ceiling, my hands clenching the fabric, the tears begin to roll out once I think about the fates that had befallen my friends.
“I should leave you for now then....Are you hungry?” asked Fi and I shake my head, I wanted to be left alone and she likely got the message.
She hovers away and the door shuts behind her, I am left in the cold white light of the cell, laying there with my hands fluttering over the sheets. Even if that colony was a backwater with a horrible boss we could have achieved great things. Between Rebecca’s enthusiasm and my stubbornness we could have made something of ourselves, there was a slight sliver of hope waiting for us there. Now there was nothing, they were all dead and with it their dreams, all be
cause of this one man, this monster. I tried to picture him in my mind, a tall, powerful humanoid with eyes as black as night, a body covered in scars and a jagged smile. His shadow looming over my sleeping form before he closed in and absolve me of the light of life.
Then just as it was about to consume me fully something helps me, a counterbalance, a light that shot out. In it I saw this man, Janar, his black plate armor gripping me as he pulled me back to the light. His eyes flickering as his blue skin shone and I feel his warmth clash with mine. I turned to gaze at that handsome face of his, his green eyes locking with mine before he leaned in and kissed me. It helped me get to sleep at least, helped me shut my eyes and feel safe before I fell into the realm of dreams.
#
Janar
I awoke a long while after. There were no clocks here due to the nature of interstellar travel, so I merely extrapolated it to the nearest measure of Jorathian time. About half a Jorathian day of rest. Wonder why I had to sleep so long?
I rolled off the bed and onto my feet sitting at the bed and shaking my head as all the memories of yesterday rushed back up into my consciousness. I had saved her, she was here with me and now....I had to explain everything to her.
Well except for the last bit of my plan.
She was likely awake at this point, Fi had probably gone to her room and explained what I allowed. I rubbed my hands together, staring at the cold wall and frowning as the thought of her crying in solitude in that cage filled my mind. I felt even more sorry for her now than yesterday, the thought of her suffering I could not bear for some strange reason. She could...I suppose I could free her couldn’t I? That all depended on how she reacted to the news that I was about to relay to her after all.
I press my hands into the soft fabric of the bed and get to my feet, stretching out and gazing at the mirror in front of me that reflected my scarred and damaged body. All of these tatters and markings across my chest and my legs, long cuts and bullet holes that have long since closed up. I hear the intercom to this room clear up and a voice pops through.
“Hey. You’re awake.” observed Fi.
“How is she?” I asked, still looking at my rather scarred reflection.
“I briefed her on what I could. She’s still sleeping but readings indicate that she’s almost ready to wake up. I’ll notify you when she does.” said Fi and I nodded. “Alright.” I said and grabbed my black boots, my four toes pursing against the cold steel floor before I slipped socks over them and rolled my shoulders.
I get to my feet and look into the mirror, my eyes clashing with their reflections as I stared at myself for a brief moment. I ruminate all that I had done, all that has been done in Khor’s name, all the atrocities that have been committed. I frown as I see the regret flicker over my eyes, they are reflected back onto me and I shake my head to expel them but nothing works. None of it works. I turn away from the mirror and take a left as soon as I get out of the room, taking a direct path to the cockpit.
As soon as I got in I checked our course, still headed to Jasa, no readings of any other ships in the area so that was good. There had been the chance that some remnant of his forces had stuck around in various pockets around the flight path but that was mostly unfounded I suppose. Even if they were it only mean a few moments of lost sleep.
My blue fingers dash over the orange holograms as I moved various elements of the galactic map out of my way. Not only did I have to worry about getting to Jasa, I would have to structure our path in a way that would align us closely with some habitable planets should I need to refuel or collect more resources. There were some Jorathian outposts on the way but I shook that thought away before it ever found a home in the back of my mind. If I stopped there then it would only attract some unwanted attention to the colonies and likely lead to Khor arriving and pummeling them into dust in search of me, there weren’t that many either, only two and they weren’t sizeable in any sense of the word.
“So we can pass by Izani....alright.” I muttered, adjusting the course of flight slightly.
“There’s something you should know. She’s quite emotionally distraught over the invasion so do be gentle when speaking to her if you could. I was able to gain a small amount of her trust but I have no clue as to the degree of her comfort around us......” said Fi.
“Did you tell her about Khor? I’m assuming you did.” I asked.
“I did, she did not take the information about his reputation that well.” said Fi and I grunted.
“The victims usually don’t.” I muttered, my voice turning dark and the voices starting back up again.
The thought of what Khor was doing to that colony runs through my mind. The thought of him killing each and every one of the denizens while subjecting some to even worse fates rooted itself in my consciousness. The sight of the children’s bodies flashed over my eyes once more and I shake it off.
“Are you going to be kind to her?” asked Fi.
I ruminate on the thought and turned it away. She was a tool and nothing more, if I showed her kindness then she might grow attached and gain access to some of the details that I was trying to hide. It would be even worse if I let her grow close to me, then my own personal care might complicate things. I pitied the girl, I felt bad, but I didn’t want to be her friend, that was something that I did not want at any level at the moment.
“She’s awake.” said Fi and I grimaced, time to go meet the devil.
CHAPTER FOUR
Lauren
I waited for a few moments after opening my eyes, knowing that they likely had me under surveillance at this point. I pursed my lips and glanced at the doorway in front of me, I could hear talking, some distinct chatter that sounded off while I looked around for any sign of Fi or this Janar. I clenched my hands and settled in my bed as a heavy set of footsteps approaches. I have a feeling I know who it is.
This pair of black boots reveals itself and I look upwards at the man who had suddenly appeared. He had blue skin and an incredibly athletic physique. He stands there in front of me, a tussle of black hair cropped neatly above his head, various scars littering the surface of his torso. His long fingers rubbed the sides of his thighs, he had the build of a swimmer, muscular and athletic, yet he didn’t give off that aura of intimidation that I would have thought a man of his stature would have.
He stands tall like a soldier, his green eyes unmoving as he stared at me in a stoic fashion before pulling out the chair that was in front of my cell and sitting on it. He clears his throat and I find myself blushing as I admire more and more of his body. That thick muscle, those broad shoulders, those strange tattoos along every inch of his body. I could see that he had claws on both of his hands, these sharp talons that barely stretched out of his fingers that could be retracted at any time.
He stood at about 7 feet tall if I had to guess, not a slim fellow but not overly bulky either. He was an athlete, a soldier, a man that was built for war. On his chest were a variety of scars, he wore only some cloth pants and his boots, his entire upper body was revealed to me and I savored every inch of it. He was as broad as he was tall, he looked as if he could snap a human man in half but what was the most strange was his nature. He didn’t seem to be an aggressive man....if anything he seemed colder and...sorrowful.
I admired that body, those muscles that tensed us as he glanced at me. Those rippling pecs and abs would tense as he grasped me with those strong arms and pinned me down. I would accept every inch that lurked in that bulge of his, my god it looked so big. I could feel him sinking in as he growled into my ear, those strong hands pressing into my curves as he used his strong body to pin and fill me...I really was dazed. How could such lustful thoughts consume me at this point? There were more important matters at hand!
"Lauren Redcliff." he said, forcing me out of my dazed lust. I find myself hanging onto every inch, every curve of his incredible body before remembering the situation that I was in. Have some shame woman! This man could be
dangerous! You're a scientist for god's sake!
“Yes, that’s my name......Are you Janar?” I asked him and he nodded.
“I am. I suppose I should welcome you to my ship. I was sent to retrieve you at the behest of a governmental agency interested in the apprehension and/or elimination of the warlord, Khor, who I am sure you are acquainted with.” he relayed, I nodded slowly.
“An agency? Like with the Jorathians?” I asked him and he paused for a bit before nodding.
“Yes...I can’t really give you that many details on who I am due to the nature of the business but rest assured. I will be returning you to humanity soon enough. Our plan is to lure him into a rather fortified ambush instead of attacking him outright. That’s the place we are moving towards currently, the rendezvous point with the rest of my team. Once there you shall be in no danger, we have more than enough firepower to eliminate his fleet and you shall be set free by the end of it all.” he said and I scowled. If all this was true, then why didn’t he help Arasin.
“Is there a reason you didn’t help my home base?” I asked him and he nods.
“There is. We couldn’t risk a frontal assault, not with how dangerous his armies actually are and the fact that he could have made an escape with you at any turn. It’s also the reason a great deal of the interstellar community won’t hunt him. He’s deemed to be too costly an investment and everytime we get close he simply slips away. So we’re using you as bait.” he explained and I raised an eyebrow. Why was I so important to this warlord?
“And why am I so precious to him?” I asked and he hesitated for a moment before explaining.
“Because he has identified you as a candidate for mating.” he explained and I nearly faint once more. Mating? Like sexual mating?
“How is that possible? He’s not human is he?” I asked and he shakes his head.
“No, he’s from a distant moon colony called Oso. A warlord that built up his name by making small skirmishes on colonies and camps established along the galactic frontier. Where he’s from mates are rare so.......i’m sorry.” he muttered and I grimaced, shaking my head. I was the reason that he raided the base?
