Ice

by Michelle M. Pillow

  Galaxy Brides had said a lot of things.

  Galaxy Brides clearly could not be trusted.

  Did these humans have his brothers? Were Snow and Frost safe? That fear was the most unbearable. He could handle a threat to himself, but his family? He wasn’t sure what to do, so he kept himself very still to lull them into thinking he was docile. He watched them, counted them, looked for any sign of escape. Yet, they merely kept him in this room like an animal. Occasionally, they plunged devices into him to pull out his fluids. Blood, they called it here. And they gave him a strange, pasty substance for food that did not have much taste. The guard had called it oatmeal, and each time he ate they watched him as if waiting for something strange to happen.

  Rage had filled him as the woman tried to arouse him. He’d been unable to contain himself as he struck the glass wall. He knew it was a mistake each time he struck, and yet…

  The sound of the door crashing open interrupted his fast stream of thoughts. He turned, ready for battle. Better to go down fighting than remain trapped in this tiny room with only a bed and toilet.

  Ice didn’t think. He hated being afraid and alone and knew the only thing left was to fight his way out. The first man who charged him had murder in his eyes, all that hate directed at Ice. The feeling was mutual. Ice returned the hateful sentiment as he absorbed the man’s punch to the face. He instantly swept his arm to the side, forcing the man upward so that he struck the glass. The broken rings Ice created had weakened the structure, and the force of the man’s body finished the job.

  The Earthling almost hit the seductress and the little man holding on to her. They both scrambled out of the way. Neither of them extended an arm to their fallen comrade as they turned back to watch.

  The woman’s lips moved, but no sound came out. He wondered what it was she was doing. Did Earthlings have magic and spells? He knew the words, so they had to be actual things here, but the information was unclear.

  He didn’t have time to contemplate as he fought the Earth words flooding his brain. They were like a virus trying to take over his thoughts. There were times he had to force himself to think with the Sintazian language instead. Each time, he clung to a tiny piece of home.

  Frustration and fear drove his actions. Even as he knew there were too many of them that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try. He punched, kick, threw, even headbutted those who entered the cell. Their warm bodies were merely targets, and their shouts were drowned by the smack of fists and feet.

  Though it didn’t surprise him, the end of the battle came too fast for his liking. He felt the familiar bite into his flesh, pumping the electrical current into him. Maybe this was magic, the way the device made him lose all function in his limbs. He tried to resist, but the current forced him to his knees and then onto his back. With that, his small victories came to an end.

  His eyes met the woman’s through the broken glass. Those taunting brown eyes didn’t appear happy, and yet she did nothing to aide him. The last thing to go was his eyesight, but the current took that from him too as his world went dark.

  Chapter Five

  Elle held in her mind the image of the scientists ordering the mercenaries to haul the alien from the damaged cell to another holding facility. They acted as if he were no more than a tranquilized rhinoceros to be carted on a floor dolly from one place to another. Their laughter echoed in her head. They thought it was funny—the alien fighting for his life. They posed with the unmoving body—pretending to hold the alien down, grasping his hands in the air like they were buddies, shooting thumbs-up as they snapped photos on their phones—despite knowing those phones would be confiscated before they left the facility.

  This was a game to them. In the eyes of the facility, this alien man was no more than livestock to be hauled from one pen to another.

  And Elle had helped put him there.

  How was she to know aliens were real? This was supposed to be a cushy job that sent her on fruitless chases around the world for an insane amount of pay. Hell, she’d even daydreamed through the “training” videos they’d shown her, and only recently had she read the full protocol manual—and that was only out of boredom.

  Though he didn’t communicate, she instinctively knew there was something more behind his eyes. He was not an animal. This was an intelligent being—and he needed her help.

  Elle clutched Hanklen’s keycard in her hand. This might be the biggest mistake of her life, one that would not only get her fired but would piss off some very powerful people. It’s not like you could tell your millionaire boss to shove it where the sun doesn’t shine without a little retaliation in return. Franky “The Heart Attack” Milano wasn’t exactly the forgive-and-forget type.

  Then there was the fact she was working off her impressions of this alien man, not actual facts. She could be projecting herself and ignoring evidence. Facts were: he was an alien, he’d shown great strength and the ability to fight, she knew nothing about him or his people, and—most importantly—he was a freaking alien.

  “I’ve lost it. I’m a mental case. If I do this, there is no turning back. I’ll lose my job. I could be sued for breach of contract. Maybe not since they’d be looking for Ellen Sharp. The alien could suck my face off and eat my insides.”

  Even as she whispered the words to herself, Elle kept her fast pace. She tried to stay low as she moved down the hall passed laboratory doors with small windows. Her feet barely made a sound. She paused to listen before glancing around a corner and continuing.

  The way she saw it, there wasn’t a choice. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t try to help. Rounding up innocent people who hadn’t done anything wrong was not something she wanted on her life resume.

  Or maybe she really was having a mental breakdown.

  Good money would bet on the breakdown.

  Elle slipped the keycard into her back pocket before turning the corner to the guarded cell. She pursed her lips, feigning annoyance. Jim Berry guarded the cell door. He was an amiable man though a little slow on the uptake and only a mediocre fighter. But he was dependable. He always showed up on time and always brought the supplies he was told to. He was a man meant for taking orders.

  Unlike last time, the alien was kept in a metal room with no windows. Even though it was supposed to be a temporary holding cell, they jokingly called it solitary confinement, and the term wasn’t all that far off from the truth.

  “Hey, Berry,” Elle greeted, her tone flat. “How’s he doing today? Any trouble?”

  “Quiet as a church mouse,” Berry answered. “Sorry I missed out on all the action. Figures the one time something interesting happens around here, I’m off duty and sleep through it.”

  “It was something,” Elle agreed with a nod. “I’m betting in a few weeks you’ll get your chance.”

  The man actually looked hopeful.

  “But for now, I’ve been sent to relieve you of your post.”

  Berry’s expression fell. “But I’m on duty for another,” he glanced at the watch on his wrist, “three hours.”

  “And I’m on shift for the next twenty.” Elle smirked and gave a humorless laugh. “Apparently, they don’t like it when you incite a prisoner, and he causes damage to company property. I just spent the last hour getting my ass handed to me by Hanklen. If I want to keep my job, I have to pay for the window out of my checks, and I’m on permanent guard duty until otherwise instructed.”

  “Whoa, that’s rough,” Berry swore.

  Elle shrugged. “What can you do? Orders are orders.”

  “Did they say where they wanted me to report?” Berry looked hesitant to leave.

  “Sounds like they’re going to be making another run out tonight. If I were you, I’d go to the mess hall and grab something to eat while you have the chance.” Elle leaned her back against the wall by the metal door and sighed. “Rumor has it they’re doing a Southern theme today—biscuits and gravy, chicken, fried green tomatoes, fried okra, fried everything.�
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  Berry nodded. “Want me to sneak you something?”

  “Nah, I’m good, thanks. I’m going to take my punishment like a champ.” Elle didn’t move away from the wall as she yawned and looked up at the ceiling.

  Berry left, walking much slower than she would have liked. Any other person would have run the second she’d said she was relieving them of boring guard duty. Berry would probably get to the mess hall and have his first bite of biscuits and gravy before getting worried and coming back to check that it was honestly all right for him to leave.

  She needed to have the alien gone by then.

  She waited a few seconds after he disappeared around the corner and prayed that she’d timed this right, when no one would be manning the security feed.

  Elle grabbed the keycard from her pocket and pressed it to the door pad. The unit beeped, and she heard the metal door unlatching.

  Elle took a deep breath and told herself, “This is the right thing to do.”

  She pushed the long handle down and pulled the heavy door. Her hands shook, and she held her breath. She didn’t know what she would find.

  Inside, the room was dim and had a musty smell, like the stale air in a chest closed up for too long. She stepped in slowly. A tiny voice whispered in the back of her mind to slam the door and retreat. She ignored the fear. Yet, when she opened her mouth, no sound would come out.

  It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light. The room was worse than she remembered. The bare stone walls and floor were cold and unwelcoming. There was no place to sit down. But there was a place to be chained up—and that’s where she found him.

  The alien was locked against the wall, held in place by rusted manacles. He hung limp, the metal biting into his skin as it held him up. Dark spots had formed on his face and naked chest as if he had been beaten while held in place. There were no cameras in this room, so she’d not been able to see what happened.

  She shut the door, closing them in. Keys hung on the wall, and she grabbed them. “Are you awake?”

  Ice blue eyes opened to look at her. They froze her in mid-action.

  “Can you…?” She forced herself to stand before him. “Can you understand me?”

  He continued to stare.

  “Of course not. Why would you speak English?” She gave a derisive laugh.

  The alien opened his mouth and made a gurgling noise as if he were being strangled.

  “Shh, quiet. I’m not here to hurt you.” She dared to touch his arm, and the noise stopped. His skin was cool to the touch. He jerked away from her fingers.

  “You smell like fall,” she whispered in awe. “Like spice cake and pinecones.”

  He didn’t move, didn’t signify he understood.

  “Don’t make me regret this, but…” She lifted the key slowly to the manacle on his arm. “But you don’t understand a damn thing I’m saying, do you? That’s okay. I’m not exactly sure how to start explaining things to you, anyway. I mean, you have no reason to trust me. I wouldn’t if I were you. Though, I am sorry. I wish I could make you understand at least that much.”

  She slipped the key in and paused.

  “Please don’t hurt me.” She turned the key in the lock. The manacle clicked open, releasing him.

  Before she could blink, a hand was on her throat and she was pressed awkwardly against the wall. Cool flesh met her arm where they touched. She resisted the urge to fight.

  “I’m trying to help you,” she whispered. She lifted the hand holding the keys. “Please, let me help.”

  He moved his gaze to where she jingled the keys…and then slowly released her.

  Elle took a shaky breath as she moved to unlatch his ankles, keeping an eye on him for movement. She glanced over her shoulder at the door before reaching to unlatch the last one. Her mouth felt dry, and she licked her lips. She pushed the key inside the lock. The latch opened, and she paused. Seconds ticked by before she lowered her hands.

  “I—”

  The word barely made it out of her mouth before he had her pinned to the stone wall again. His hands gripped her arms as he lifted her off the ground. His body turned, pinning her legs with the side of his thigh. Hard eyes bore into hers.

  “I’m trying to help you,” she said. “We don’t have time for this. Please, this is the only chance I’ll get. When they find out I stole the—”

  The alien shifted his body and leaned his face closer.

  She gasped, tensing, but instead of a headbutt—he kissed her.

  The cold lips pressed to hers, and she stiffened in shock. His eyes didn’t close, and hers stayed open wide. His lips didn’t move, but they didn’t have to. The intimate contact sent a shiver over her. An odd vibrating started along her body, and she jerked her lips away.

  “Earthquake,” she said in shock.

  Only, it wasn’t. The vibration was coming from him.

  He studied her a moment before releasing her. Her legs were weak from the contact and she fell to the ground. The alien ran for the door before she could stop him. He flung it open.

  “Wait!” Elle ordered, she surged to her feet and rushed after him, only to find him going the wrong way down the hall. He’d end up in the mess hall or the dorms where everyone slept. She grabbed his arm, pulling hard to get him to stop. When he looked at her, she gestured that he should follow her.

  The alien hesitated as she backed away from him, continuing to circle her hand, indicating that he was to go with her.

  Finally, he stepped after her, and she quickened her pace as she did her best to lead him to safety.

  “Fuck, I’m an idiot,” she said under her breath. Her heart beat wildly, and adrenaline pumped through her veins. “What am I doing? This is stupid. What am I doing? What am I…?”

  Chapter Six

  What was the Earth woman doing?

  Ice debated on whether he could trust her. This could be a game to see what he’d do. The woman had captured him, brought him here with the others, and now she helped him? It didn’t make sense. Then again, nothing on this weird planet made sense.

  Oh, how he missed the isolation of his frozen home world. To think he’d thought it a good idea to come here. He should never have agreed to this trip.

  What else could he do though? He didn’t know his way around the alien facility, and this woman was the only one who appeared to have any kindness in her. She held up her hand. He kept walking. She stepped in front of his path and pressed her palm hard to his chest before wrapping her hand over his mouth. She wanted him to be quiet. When he did as she indicated, she relaxed, pointed at her ear and then at the turn in the corridor.

  He tilted his head, hearing footsteps. He tensed, lifting his arms to fight. She motioned at him and kept still. The sound grew fainter and was followed by a loud bang as if a door closed.

  She nodded at him and leaned to look around the corner. Soon he found himself following her in a strange rhythm—run, stop, hide in a tiny room with many toilets, run, duck, pause, hide in a shelf-filled room with stacks of material, strange bottles and containers.

  She grabbed black material from a shelf and thrust it at him. “Put this on.”

  He looked at it and then her.

  “I can’t do anything about your skin color, but I can try to hide you until we make it out of here.” She took the material from him and unfolded it to reveal a shirt. She threaded her hands into the armholes before grabbing his. She pulled his arms through the holes. Then she finished dressing him by forcing the material over his head.

  As the material remained bunched on his chest, not fully falling to his waist, she returned to the shelf and came back with pants. She hesitated as she looked at his waist. She reached for him as if she would pull the white pants from his hips. Her breathing deepened, and he thought about kissing her again.

  Sure, it would be stupid, but he wasn’t exactly thinking with…

  Oh, so that’s what the human words “thinking with your little head” meant. Now he under
stood the phrase.

  Clever, clever humans.

  She pulled his shirt down all the way and tugged on his waistband, leaving the pants he wore in place before handing him the black ones. He thought about pretending he didn’t understand what she wanted him to do. But then, considering the circumstances, playing games right now wasn’t the best of ideas.

  He pulled the pants from his hips, kicking them aside.

  She made a small noise, and he glanced up to see her eyes focused on the nearby shelf a little too hard, giving the metal rack more attention than it deserved.

  Ice hid a smile as he dressed.

  “I hope you know where to meet your ship because I don’t have a clue where to take you,” she said. “The men haven’t been successful in finding the other aliens that you landed with, so hopefully they’ve made it home safely.”

  Ice felt relief in knowing his brothers weren’t here. Though, he couldn’t help but wonder if that was why she’d released him. Did they think to use his obvious attraction to her against him? Did she think he’d lead her to his family?

  Either way, it didn’t matter. As soon as he was free of this place, he would rid himself of the woman and find his family on his own—even if he had to search the entire planet.

  She glanced at him and, seeing him dressed, took shoes off of a shelf. She leaned over to put them on his feet.

  “You’ll need this jacket and,” she placed a cap on his head, “this.”

  When he didn’t put on the jacket, she grabbed his arms and threaded them into the sleeves. Glancing over him, she nodded. They went to the door. She looked out—and suddenly pushed on his chest to make him back up before continuing out the door.

  “Hey, Ken, they got you out patrolling the border?” her muffled words came through the door. He leaned his ear against it to better hear.

  “What gave it away?” came a wry response.