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  PAX: Verian Mates

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  CYLO: Dragons Of Kelon

  Corillion Mates: BOX SET(1-6)

  LAIKE: Aliens Of Jenalk

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  PAX: Verian Mates

  (A Sci Fi Alien Abduction Romance)

  By Stella Sky

  Chapter 1

  Second-in-Command Pax Curad

  “To victory!”

  I raised my glass, smiling broadly at the men surrounding me. It had been a long time since the disease affecting the men of Helna had been so debilitating that we had been at a crippling disadvantage in the fight to win Earth. The Verian men were warriors through and through, and I was proud of all that my men had accomplished. Despite that adversity, we had risen to become the fiercest warriors in the galaxy. And soon, all our hard work would pay off.

  “Grendal, why aren’t you raising your glass?” Helden Matchob asked the man beside him, who was glowering darkly at the table.

  “I refuse to take part in a custom that originated on Earth!” Grendal spat, his fist landing on the table so hard that the reverberations threatened to spill his drink. “That is not the way!”

  I cast a worried look toward my brother, the Doyan and leader of Helna and all troops who fought to overtake Earth. Doyan Grod Curad was a hot-headed man and had been since they were boys. I and my brother had been raised by our short-tempered father, himself a Doyan and a man predisposed to violent fits of rage. Grod seemed to have adopted our father’s temperament, while I had managed to keep myself out of trouble by learning the darkness of the moods of the men around me and picking up valuable delegation skills.

  Just as I had feared, Grod’s eyes had narrowed, and he stared darkly at Grendal, who remained oblivious to his leader’s fury, so stuck was he in his own bloated conviction.

  “You refuse to follow the lead of your second-in-command?” Doyan Grod demanded, his gaze cold enough to send a shiver down my spine, even though the look wasn’t directed at me.

  “I refuse to take part in human customs,” Grendal said, refusing to take the easy way out of the confrontation. “It has nothing to do with the second-in-command.”

  I closed my eyes and sighed inwardly. The stubborn fool was going to get himself killed.

  “It has everything to do with the second-in-command!” Grod continued, his face darkening from the sleek, crisp white of the Verian complexion to a passionate cream color. “It is your job and duty as a Verian soldier to uphold the law and follow the commands of your superiors. Commander Pax ordered you, specifically, to raise your glass!”

  Grod’s heavy hand came down on the table, hard enough to crack it in half. The men jumped from their seats as their glasses crashed down onto the floor; all but Grendol, who was staring from his seat at the Doyan with wide eyes. He was scared now, but it was a little bit too late for that.

  “I…Dershalga!” Grendol cried, cowering in fear as the Doyan made his way toward him.

  “It is too late for your petty apologies,” Grod said, his voice menacing. “You have disrespected the powers that be: the mighty rule that has brought us to the edge of victory. You show me now whose side you are on, and I refuse to allow you to fight in my name and share in our victory from this moment forth.”

  I looked away just as Grod stopped in front of Greandol, and a sickening thud filled the air. I winced as Greandol’s body slumped to the floor, and opened my eyes again just in time to see my brother’s chilling smile.

  “Anybody else want to bring up their displeasure with the way things are run here?” Greandol asked, quirking his brow.

  Nobody spoke or moved; they scarcely dared to breathe. This was the state that Grod seemed to prefer them in. He loved to be in the center of a group of people who were in awe of him: who feared him and his orders so deeply that they didn’t even catch his gaze.

  But I knew better than to take my brother’s temper tantrum lying down. Just because Grod was the older brother and had been chosen to take over as Doyan didn’t mean that he wasn’t beholden to the laws of Helna. No matter how obsolete our father had started to make them.

  “That wasn’t really necessary, Grod, was it?”

  Grod turned his sinister gaze onto me, and his face brightened into a broad smile.

  “Oh, you know me,” he said with a shrug. “I don’t like it when people mess with my little brother.”

  I gritted my teeth, both angered and embarrassed by the words. Grod always used whatever excuse he could to slaughter perfectly good men. Greandol had been an asset on the battlefield. His hatred of humans had brought him far. And now, we were going to have to completely rethink our strategy for the next battle, because Grod couldn’t seem to contain his temper. It was ridiculous.

  But I was stuck. There was nothing more I could say if I wanted to spare the lives of the men in the room. I knew Grod wouldn’t harm me, not really. We had been through too much together, and I was the man’s single closest friend. Everybody else was too intimidated by the Doyan, or stepped on his toes and wound up dead. Only I could see the softer side of the cruel leader, and in a way, Grod needed me.

  “Now then,” Grod said, turning his smile onto the rest of the men in the room. “Shall we continue with the festivities?”

  Nobody was in the mood to celebrate with their comrade’s corpse bleeding on the floor in front of them, and I quickly stepped in before Grod sensed their dampened spirits and lashed out at them.

  “Of course!” I said lightly, stepping forward and grabbing the bottle of elixir that had rolled off the table and toward his foot. “But let’s get away from the traitor. We shall celebrate in style, not like savages.”

  Grod nodded, his face mirthful, and I let out a slow, deep breath as my brother led the way out of the room and into the banquet hall of the palace, where the celebration could begin in earnest.

  ***

  “Pax, my dear brother. I have something I need to ask of you!”

  I cringed. Grod was severely intoxicated and stumbled toward me, steadying himself by gripping onto my shoulder.

  “You can barely stand. Ask me in the morning, when you are sober.”

  Grod laughed heartily and shook his head.

  “No, no,” Grod said. “There is nothing wrong with my state of mind. I can assure you I can think quite clearly.”

  I sighed, reluctant to start a fight with my obstinate brother. Especially while he was clearly drunk.

  “What is it that you want from me, Grod?”

  “Doyan!” Grod declared, his voice loud and pompous. “Doyan Grod! That is my title, dear brother, and you will respect me by using it in front of my men!”

  I glanced around the banquet hall, which had thinned significantly since night had fallen. A few men were just as drunk as Grod; probably friends of the slaughtered man who were mourning in silence. They were staggering around the room, their faces aimless and lost, while others leaned against the walls and sprawled out with their heads and hands on the tables, sleeping deeply. The men had no idea what they were talking about, or whether or not I had referred to my brother by his official title. But I nodded.

  “Of course, Doyan. Dershalga.”

  “You men and your petty apol
ogies,” Grod laughed sharply. “What was I saying?”

  I sighed. “You wanted to ask something of me.”

  “Oh! Right! Of course. Pax, I have to tell you, of all the men fighting for the cause, it’s absolutely crucial to have a man of your caliber on the field. You were raised by father, after all. You know exactly what to do. And that, dear brother, is why…”

  Grod trailed off for a moment, taking a deep drink from a bottle he pulled off of the table beside me.

  “That is why,” Grod continued, “I want you to do something for me, please.”

  “Do what?” I asked, my patience waning. There was nothing worse than talking to my brother when he was intoxicated. He was so full of himself sober that it was even more unbearable when he was drunk. And he went on and on and on…

  “I need you to do a solo mission. Stealth! To check out exactly what we’re going to be up against. We want to strike Zone 70. That will really hit them where it hurts. But we can’t do it without intel!”

  “We can talk about this in the morning,” I said, as patiently as I could. What Grod was asking of me was absurd. Zone 70 was Earth’s largest military base. All of the most powerful and intelligent human minds had collaborated to make the place impenetrable. It was practically a suicide mission.

  “You must go to Earth,” Grod insisted. “You’re the only one who can do this without being killed. I have the utmost confidence in you and respect you to no end. I am needed here, or I would do it myself.”

  I sighed, pursing my lips tightly.

  “I will consider your request and get back to you about it in the morning.”

  As soon as the words had left my lips, I knew that they had been the wrong ones. Grod’s face began to darken in rage, and a look of sheer malice contorted his features.

  “You will consider it now, or be considered a traitor to the cause!” Grod declared, pumping his fist in the air. He dropped the bottle to the floor as he reached for his weapon, fumbling with his belt as he did so. I raised my hands and backed away.

  “All right, dear brother. I will do as you request and make a trip to Earth. I see the sense in your words. We will do whatever it takes to control the Earth.”

  “That’s right,” Grod grumbled, still grappling with his weapon. But the rage had left his face, and his hands gradually slowed their attempt to pull the weapon from its holster. “You leave tomorrow, in the morning. Understood?”

  I nodded, my chest tight with a combination of rage and anxiety. Heading to Zone 70 could easily become a death sentence. And I was nearly out of my medication. The humans had provided the Verians with temporary relief from the symptoms of their diseases, but I still found myself suffering acutely when I was not able to get the proper dosage of the medicine in time. If Grod was going to have me leave tomorrow, I would run out by the time the ship reached Earth. It was outrageous.

  And yet, the matter was closed. I would have to try to talk to Grod about it when the morning came. Even being second-in-command, I wasn’t allowed to refill my medication until it was gone. Resources on Helna were so scarce that it was a miracle that I could even get my hands on it at all. Everybody was just trying to survive these days, just long enough to see to the victory over Earth.

  There, the doctors would have access to plentiful resources; enough to manufacture vaccinations by the bucket should they choose to. And I would never have to worry about the crippling weakness creeping over me and making me an easy target to my enemies again.

  “Good!” Grod shouted, his face much lighter now that he had gotten his way. “Now that that is settled, come. We have much to discuss.”

  ***

  The next morning, Grod refused to see me.

  “He drank quite a bit last night,” Grod’s security guard confided in me. “He needs to sleep it off.”

  My jaw set in agitation and I sighed. I knew I would get my head bitten off if I approached my brother while he was sleeping. Grod’s orders had been clear enough. Go to Earth. Spy on Zone 70. Come back when I knew how many soldiers were being trained and how.

  The ship was already prepared for launch by the time I arrived at the loading dock, and my eyes scoured the area for Rence, a man who, most people knew, dealt in under-the-table matters. I had never needed to go under the table for anything. I had come from a powerful political family, and all of my needs had been easily met. So when I approached Rence, asking to speak privately with him, the man was clearly nervous.

  “What can I help you with, Commander?” Rence asked, doing his best to keep his voice light. Clearly, it was a challenge, and I decided to get right to the point.

  “I was wondering if you knew of a way I might be able to get some more Vari-X. I’m nearly out, and there is no way I can re-stock on Earth. I’m set to leave in just a few hours. Can you help me?”

  Rence’s face fell. “That’s a really fucked up situation. Didn’t you tell the Doyan about it?”

  “No…he isn’t taking any visitors at the moment,” I said bitterly. “That’s why I thought I would ask you.”

  “Freg, that’s a tough one,” Rence said, running his hands through his silver hair. He wore it short, to show that he was a mechanic and not a warrior, and then his eyes lit up. “I can help you a little bit, but out of my own stash. The Vari-X is almost impossible to get my hands on these days. And it’s run by government organizations, so if I tried to stick my nose in that, it would be the end of the line for me. I need this job.”

  “Your own stash?” I asked, frowning.

  Rence nodded, digging into his pocket and pulling out three slender vials, full of the liquid that had been prepared for injection.

  “I have another refill coming up soon. I can handle the weakness for a few days. You though? Being on Earth? I don’t think you can. Take them.”

  I shook my head and backed away. “No, I couldn’t possibly do that. Thank you anyway.”

  “Don’t be a krocha, Commander. Please, take them. They will keep you safe until your return.”

  I sighed heavily and allowed Rence to hand me the vials. I opened one and sniffed it deeply. It was the real thing, all right. No mistaking it.

  “I owe you for this, Rence,” I said quietly. “I give you my word, you won’t regret this.”

  “Hey, I’m just doing what I can for the cause. I bet you could hit everybody on the docks up for their Vari-X and you’d leave with more than you know what to do with.”

  I smiled tightly. Though my brother would be prone to do such a thing, just to prove that he could, I wasn’t like that.

  “That won’t be necessary,” I said as cheerfully as I could muster. “On behalf of the Verian people, I give you my thanks.”

  I gave Rence a respectful nod and headed to the ship, where I was quickly ushered inside and given a brief inventory of what I would be leaving Helna with and what I was expected to bring back once I arrived on Earth. Any trip to Earth for any reason always doubled as a resource mission, and this time, I was instructed to find and return to Helna with three pounds of quartz, a special mineral that was crucial in the production of Vari-X. The planet Helna had once produced a similar specimen, but over the years the stores were depleted and eventually emptied.

  I couldn’t imagine the splendor and beauty that the ancient texts once spoke of in relation to my planet. I had grown to know and love the mysterious foliage of the Earth and its beautiful, breath-taking landscapes. Helna was barren and dry, its climate a virtual desert as, little by little, all life upon it began to die. Soon, if we didn’t escape to Earth, the atmosphere would become so toxic that no life could possibly be sustained.

  It was fortunate that Verians and Pelins were the only sentient life left on the planet because it would have taken a tremendous effort to re-establish the animal life from Helna on Earth. It would have been messy; but in truth, the only animals that had ever existed on Helna were the Troppolai, and they had long ago been relocated to the home planet of the Pelin race, where they were treated
with reverence and taken care of as though the beasts were sacred.

  “Thirty-seven hours until entering the Milky Way Galaxy,” my ship reported. I sighed and leaned back in my chair as the mechanics at the loading dock nodded their go ahead at me. I fired up the engines, and the rumble of the ship jolted me into awareness. Whether I liked it or not, I had a job to do. And I was going to do it to the best of my ability.

  I was Second-in-Command Pax Curad, after all. Raised by the Doyan who had changed it all, my father, Kelron Curad-Yoltaz. I was descended from the proud lineage of the mighty Yoltaz clan: men who reformed the government of Helna and had paved the way to victory, fighting insurgents and providing our people with the technology and strategy they needed to succeed.

  And now, just like my fathers before me, I was going to do the unthinkable. I was going to gain the intel that my people needed so that they could win their place on Earth, so that the beauty and restorative peace of the Earth would be our own. Failure was not an option, and whether I had my hands on enough Vari-X to last the duration of the trip or not, I would return to Helna victorious. Nothing would stand in my way of conquering Earth. And no matter what happened, no matter what the personal cost, I would provide my planet with whatever was necessary to win the war against the humans once and for all.

  Chapter 2

  Dr. Ali Monroe (Head of Z70 Geology Department)

  “You’re kidding me, right?” I sighed, glancing at my watch. “I’m supposed to be back by 9pm to get my rations.”

  I had just begun to take my lab coat off when Dr. Cranston had appeared in the doorway with another demand. He seemed especially fond of picking on me for some reason; probably because I was recognized by Zone 70 as one of the most intelligent people at the base. He was the kind of man who would get painfully jealous over that sort of thing. Especially since I was a woman.