Heart of the Beast

by Sonia Nova

  Limping slowly between two destroyed columns that used to make up part of the docking bay, was Zorq. Even though half his fur was missing and raw pink burns covered most of his body, his loping gate and height were unmistakable. And in his arms, he held a body.

  Xeegan couldn’t hold back. He pushed through the crowd that had gathered between him and the destroyed building and met Zorq as he stepped over the last rubble.

  “Buddy,” he said, his voice faltering as he choked on his tears. “You’re alive.”

  Zorq didn’t say anything in response at first. He just lifted the body in his arms toward Xeegan.

  “Kee… rah…” he said finally, with difficulty.

  Xeegan took her body from his friend, cradling her in his arms, and let out a long breath of relief. She wasn’t harmed except for a burn on one arm and what looked like a broken ankle, judging from the angle of the way her foot hung down. But all that mattered was the way her chest moved up and down, and how her eyes fluttered open.

  “Zorq,” she whispered. “Is he okay? I was trapped in the cell, and he… He tore the door open and picked me up… And then… I don’t remember…”

  Xeegan leaned down to kiss her on her dry lips, quieting her. He looked up at his friend, half-burned but one-hundred-percent alive.

  “He’s fine,” Xeegan answered Kira. “Or he will be.”

  A group of Alliance medics surrounded them.

  “I need you to lay her on the stretcher and step away,” one of them said to Xeegan. He was about to tell off the annoying medic for ruining his moment, but decided this wasn’t the time.

  He just stroked Kira’s cheek, sharing another smile with her, and gently laid her on the stretcher two of the medics had rolled over.

  The rest of the medics stood a couple of feet away from Zorq, their hands full of medical supplies and equipment, but they didn’t move. They just looked at him nervously, as if they had never seen an Ezak-T before – which was probably the case. Still, they were being cowards.

  “Help him already,” Xeegan growled. “He’s not dangerous. He won’t hurt you.”

  The medics glanced at each other and one of them nodded. They approached Zorq and started to assess his burns, applying ointment and bandages. The Ezak-T winced and whimpered as they tended to some of the worst burns.

  Xeegan had to look away – his first instinct was to take out any threat to Zorq that would make him cry out like that, and he had to remind himself that they were doing their best to help him. Another medic came up to Xeegan, and this time, he allowed the male to help him.

  He still couldn’t believe that Zorq and Kira had made it out of the building. Of course, he had known that Zorq was strong, but it appeared he was even stronger than Xeegan had thought. Even if the Krezlians had continued to change the genetics of their creations after the Ezak-T, something had to have gone right with his generation. Something that had made him nearly indestructible.

  Xeegan wiped the gathering tears from his eyes, looking away from the group that was now chatting excitedly about what had just happened. He wasn’t about to have an entire Alliance operation watch him cry – and especially not the rescued Ezak-X who had probably never cried a day in their lives. Xeegan definitely hadn’t. Not until now.

  The rollercoaster of emotions he had just experienced started to fade to a mix of shock and relief.

  It was true.

  Kira and Zorq were alive.

  CHAPTER 24

  KIRA

  “Are you sure you should be here?”

  Xeegan wouldn’t stop hovering around her as if she was about to collapse at any moment.

  Kira groaned. “I already told you the first five times you asked. They gave me crutches,” she said, brandishing one toward Xeegan. “And some painkillers, and told me I was free to go.”

  “But…”

  “They’re some of the best doctors in the universe,” she said, cutting him off. “I trust that they can tell if I just have a fractured ankle and a couple of burns. I know you think I’m just a fragile human, but they already tested me for a concussion, smoke inhalation, everything else I could ever think of and more. I’m fine.”

  She gave Xeegan a serious look, even though inside she really did appreciate his attention, no matter how annoying it could be. She had spent the last two nights at the hospital and it had hardly been pleasant. But since her injuries weren’t serious, the doctors had finally let her go.

  “Besides, you should be more worried about Zorq,” Kira added, turning to the ten-foot tall Ezak-T currently limping a step behind them – all without the help of crutches although he was clearly injured a lot worse than her.

  Xeegan’s gaze shifted to Zorq as well, and he grimaced at the sight of his friend. Zorq was covered in medicinal bandages from head to toe to treat his burns and he looked like a mummy. Another time, Kira might have laughed if it wasn’t so serious. Just like her though, Zorq was tough. He was still his own happy self, even if a bit overwhelmed by the attention his injuries had brought him.

  Zorq tilted his head at the two of them when he realized the topic of the conversation had shifted to him. He let out a questioning noise.

  “It’s fine, buddy,” Xeegan said, patting a spot on Zorq’s shoulder that wasn’t covered in bandages. He turned back to Kira with a serious expression. “Okay, fine,” he said. “But you don’t have Zorq’s strength. You should still rest. It’s getting late.”

  Kira rolled her eyes. “Now you sound like my parents. Half the reason I joined the Alliance was to get away from them. Cut it out.” She poked him teasingly with the end of her crutch.

  Xeegan frowned. He seemed confused for a moment, not understanding the humor of the gesture. But after a moment, a toothy grin broke out on his face.

  “Okay, okay.” He raised his hands up in surrender. “Do your thing.”

  Kira laughed and Zorq nudged Xeegan with his head, picking up on the relaxed mood. They continued forward, walking through the main hallway of the largest Alliance Transit Center on Riala, toward the area where the human women and Ezak-X were hosted.

  The rescued people had been moved here after basic medical and psychological evaluation. The Alliance was currently in the process of prepping an emergency passenger ship to make the journey to Earth for the humans and trips to wherever the Ezak-X had been going.

  As Kira approached the lobby where the newly rescued humans were, she saw a couple of Alliance ambassadors and councilors talking to the Ezak-X. She heard them explain the amount of military backpay they could expect after their rescue and offer Alliance resources. No one was talking to the women, at least at that moment.

  “Hi, everyone,” Kira said, settling into a seat among the women.

  Xeegan and Zorq hung back by the entrance, clearly not wanting to disturb her or the rescued humans. The women turned toward her, their faces all still looking haunted by their experience at the hands of the Krezlians, and Kira’s heart sank.

  If only she could have found them sooner.

  No, she shook herself mentally. She had done her best. And her best had resulted in all of these women being saved.

  “I just wanted to say goodbye to you all, and to check if there’s anything you need.”

  Many of the women shook their heads. “Now? Just to go home,” muttered one of the women nearest her.

  “The ship should be ready soon,” Kira said. “You will all be sent back to Earth, and the Alliance will help you with whatever you may need.”

  “Thank you,” a woman across from her said. Kira recognized her – it was the woman who had been afraid the rescue was all a Krezlian trick. She looked almost like a different person now. There was color in her cheeks and even the hint of a smile on her lips.

  “Yeah, thank you,” another woman chimed in. Murmurs of agreement passed through the group and the women all looked at her with gratitude in their eyes.

  “Don’t just thank me,” Kira said quickly, but she could feel her cheeks warming a
nd her chest bursting with satisfaction at a job well done. “It took a whole team. I’m just glad to see that you’re all safe.”

  She took out her tablet and opened up the case files she was so intimately familiar after being on this case for so long. It took a second for her to pull up the list of human women who had been reported missing on Riala. She scanned the list, checking off the women that she saw before her.

  Except…

  One human woman she had been looking for wasn’t in the room. Gianna Neri. Kira looked at the group of women again. Nope, no one with the long brown hair and the same strong nose and high forehead as the woman in the file. She glanced at the notes. Gianna had been reported missing at the same time as all of the other women, and in the capital city as well.

  “Hey, do you recognize this woman?” Kira asked the women nearest her. They leaned in and looked at the tablet.

  “No,” they answered, shaking their heads.

  Kira propped herself up on her crutches and moved around the room, asking the women if they had ever seen the missing woman. They all said they didn’t recognize her.

  “Okay, thanks for looking,” she said to the last group of women before moving toward a final person she hadn’t spoken to yet. A blonde woman sat alone at a coffee table, sipping a drink.

  “Iris, was it?”

  The woman turned to Kira, her blue eyes wide and glazed over. Her gaze cleared as she noticed Kira and she smiled slightly at her in recognition, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

  “Yeah,” she said. “I don’t know if I ever got your name though.”

  “Kira,” she answered with a smile, taking a seat across from the woman.

  “Thank you for saving us, Kira.”

  “Just doing my job.” She felt the heat rise in her cheeks again. “Thank you for helping me. You’re the one who led me to everyone else.”

  The woman blushed and smiled again, this time a bit warmer.

  “Hey, I’m sorry to ask you this,” Kira started. “But you don’t happen to recognize this woman, do you?” She showed her the photo of Gianna on her tablet.

  Iris looked at the picture but just like the others, she shook her head.

  “No. I’ve never seen her.”

  Dammit. Where the hell was this woman?

  “Okay, thank you anyway,” Kira said. “If you need anything, just let one of the Alliance personnel know, okay?” When Iris nodded, she continued, “Stay strong. Have a safe trip home.”

  “Thank you.”

  Kira nodded at her and stood up from the table. She started to walk toward Xeegan and Zorq on the other side of the room, mulling over this new bit of information.

  She knew the missing woman hadn’t been in that last corridor. She had checked it thoroughly – too thoroughly, her smarting ankle and burns reminded her. She had taken extra time to check and double check every cell in that cellblock. She had even rushed to the lab on her way there.

  So where was this woman?

  Could it be that she hadn’t been kidnapped by the Krezlians like the others? Of course, the lizards weren’t the only reason human women went missing on Riala, although they had recently accounted for ninety percent of the disappearances in the area.

  But Gianna Neri hasn’t been among the rescued and no one seemed to have seen her either… She must have gone missing for a different reason, but where was she then?

  There were a million possibilities – a different pirate group had kidnapped and trafficked her, she had gone hiking alone and was attacked by a wild animal, she had joined some kind of a Rialan cult and gone underground…

  “Ready to go get some sleep?” Xeegan asked as she approached.

  Kira shrugged. “I guess so,” she said, but she knew she wasn’t about to get a good night’s sleep after the realization she had just had. Plus, the ankle in a cast wouldn’t help.

  “You should go,” Xeegan said. “I just have a few questions for the Ezak-X.”

  That made sense. Xeegan had said he was looking for an Ezak-X that he knew – Zeon – but so far, none of the rescued Ezak-X had made any indication that they knew him, or vice versa. It was possible that more than one person was still missing – not just Gianna Neri.

  “I’ll wait for you here,” Kira said, smiling.

  After what she had just been through, almost losing him and Zorq, there was no way she could just leave and go to sleep and let them out of her sight. Just looking at Xeegan made her feel safe: she knew that no matter what, he (and Zorq) would always do his best to protect her.

  Not that she needed the protection.

  But just knowing that even a building in flames couldn’t stop him from running to her side was something pretty amazing, she had to admit. Though, if all went well, they wouldn’t experience anything near that level of excitement for a long time.

  A realization hit her. Her mission was over. That meant nothing was tying her to Riala – or the Rialan pirates. She could be given a different assignment, or…

  Kira shook her head. She could think about that later. Instead, she just watched Xeegan walk toward the Ezak-X who had just stopped talking with the Alliance personnel, a bittersweet smile on her lips.

  CHAPTER 25

  XEEGAN

  Where was Zeon?

  Xeegan was still reeling from nearly losing the two most important people to him. It was difficult to keep his emotions in check. All he wanted was to keep his eyes on Kira and Zorq and not let them leave his sight.

  Seeing Kira’s foot and ankle in the cast and Zorq’s bandages broke his heart. Why had he gotten out of that situation with only a few burns? Why hadn’t he been the one to jump into the fire?

  He took a steadying breath, trying to bring his racing thoughts back into the present. There was no way to change what had happened. He had to be thankful that they had all made it out alive, and that was it.

  Except that they hadn’t all made it out alive, not for sure.

  Zeon was still missing.

  Xeegan walked up to the nearest Ezak-X, a male maybe an inch shorter than him whose black mane had been shaved short.

  “Hey,” he said, getting the Ezak-X’s attention. He and a couple of the other rescued Ezak-X looked over.

  “I’m looking for one of us. I thought he was imprisoned with all of you, but I haven’t seen him. Did you – any of you – meet a male named Zeon?”

  The Ezak-X looked at each other. One started to shake his head, looking unsure.

  “Maybe you didn’t know his name. He’s shorter than me. Background as an Alliance soldier. Talkative.”

  “Could be the one who we heard fighting in the hall the other day,” one of the Ezak-X said.

  “Fighting?”

  A couple of the Ezak-X nodded.

  “I was next to him in the cellblock,” another spoke up. “I heard the Krezlians come to take him away the other morning, to the lab, like usual. But some kind of fight went down and the guy resisted. They… took him somewhere else.” He shook his head.

  Took him somewhere else? Xeegan frowned. What did that mean?

  It didn’t sound good, whatever had happened. If the Ezak-X they were thinking of even was Zeon.

  The soft sound of a throat clearing caught Xeegan’s attention. He looked down toward the sound and saw a human female with long, blonde hair looking up at him with big eyes. She looked sad, which Xeegan didn’t understand. The females had been rescued. They should be overjoyed.

  “I… Um…” She blinked, glancing around at the Ezak-X uncertainly.

  Xeegan stared at her. He had to remind himself that humans were more affected by traumatic situations than the Ezak-X – they hadn’t been raised in cages, after all – and her demeanor was likely normal after what she had experienced.

  “I heard you asking about Zeon,” she said, finally resting her gaze on Xeegan’s.

  He furrowed his brow. “You know him?”

  She nodded. “We… we met. In the lab. He told me his name.”

/>   “Do you know what happened?”

  “No,” she said, her voice starting to tremble. “I haven’t seen him for a couple of days. I didn’t know he got into a fight… The Krezlians must have taken him somewhere to punish him, and… and…”

  “If he was still there during the rescue, then…” Xeegan said, continuing her train of thought.

  Iris looked ready to cry. Xeegan felt a slight ache in his chest. Maybe not of sadness, necessarily, but guilt and disappointment at not finding the naïve pirate. It seemed as if Zeon hadn’t made it out of the lab.

  Kira walked up behind the teary-eyed female and put a hand on her shoulder.

  “Iris, won’t you come sit down with me? You can tell me about how you met Zeon and where the Krezlians might have brought him. Anything that could help the team continuing the investigation to find him.”

  Iris nodded slowly, sobbing into her hands, and Kira guided her away, back toward a coffee table. Before Kira turned away, she met Xeegan’s eyes.

  “Just a few minutes,” she said.

  He nodded and walked back to the entrance to join Zorq. The Ezak-T’s eyes lit up when he approached.

  “Let’s go outside, buddy,” he said. “I need some air.”

  Zorq made a noise of agreement, and together they walked through the transit center and out of a pair of automatic glass doors that led to a small courtyard between the entrance and the street. The transit center was in a part of the capital city full of embassies and administrative governmental buildings – a place where Xeegan and Zorq had never set foot before.

  The first glow of the sunrise began to light up the edges of the glossy structures. Xeegan walked to a bench in the courtyard and sat down. Zorq followed, curling up to get comfortable on the smooth stone ground at the foot of the bench.

  The aching in Xeegan’s chest had grown into a block in his throat – apparently, he had underestimated his own emotional response to this whole situation. The way his body was reacting to his thoughts so strongly… It was more intense than he could ever remember feeling.

  Thoughts of Zeon’s fate were still bothering him, but even more, he couldn’t bear the thought of losing Kira. She was such a strong, kind female. Her dedication to helping others was staggering: she had always had the missing females’ safety and wellbeing in mind since he had met her.