Zern Page 6

  “Excuse me, sir, but we have a little bit of a situation with the Raither. He is waking up and has put up quite a fight. We need something to restrain him.”

  “What happened to the ropes? Those took us quite a while to make from the fibers of the plant matter around here. Don’t tell me that he destroyed them already?”

  “Unfortunately, that is the case. You said yourself it was a gamble. We have been unable to try again with the others. It seems pointless, considering he already broke through the ones that happened to be our strongest. It would be a lot of work for nothing to waste the weaker ropes on the likes of him.”

  I couldn’t help but feel the surge of pride for Zern. He was proving to be quite a difficult opponent to face up to. The only reason they had compromised him to begin with was because he had been outnumbered. Even that wouldn’t have stopped him had he not been knocked unconscious. I had full faith in his abilities. He was the most incredible man I had ever known. And yet he wasn’t a man at all. How could I allow myself to have these feelings? We weren’t even the same species.

  “This is absurd. Human, you stay here. Don’t even think about trying to escape. The consequences will be dire. And as for you,” Parra said, referring to the Raither that had come with the bad news. “Stand watch outside the door and make sure that nobody comes in or out of this room. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, sir. Of course. Don’t worry about a thing. I will make sure that all goes well here while you take care of Commander Zern.”

  Parra nodded, and I was suddenly shut into the room and left alone.

  ***

  As much as I wanted to get out of there, it was obvious that there was no way out. My first plan of action was to look around and look for something that I might be able to use as a weapon. It would have to be small, so that I could get away from my captors without them suspecting that I had any means to defend myself. And yet I knew that if Parra came back and found that I had been going through his things, I would be in mortal danger.

  I could not allow that to happen, and so I began searching quickly and very carefully, making sure that I put everything back exactly as I had found it. This man was obviously ruthless, and if I wasn’t careful, it could cost me my life. That was something that I wasn’t willing to risk twice. The danger just wasn’t worth it.

  I gazed around the room, frustrated when I found nothing of use anywhere. There was the bed of course, and the small hutches that had been made of wood and wooden pegs. Inside, I had found nothing but a change of clothes. It was quite discouraging, to say the least. I was just about to give up hope when a little gleam flashing from the doorway caught my eye. I ran to it, my heart pounding. I wasn’t sure I would be able to handle another setback. But there it was: a small knife wedged between the door and the wall. I looked at it and took it carefully from its hiding place, slipping it into my pocket quickly.

  It was made of the same metals from the ship that all of the other tools had been made of, and I yelped in surprise when the cold metal began to drag down my leg. It had cut a hole swiftly in the fabric of my pocket, and it was slipping. I reached down to grab it before it hit the floor and gave me away, but as soon as I did, the doorway creaked open. I gasped and scrambled backward, surprised to see the Raither man that had been put in charge of my safekeeping.

  “Hello, human,” he said, leering at me. I froze in terror. If he saw the knife fall to the floor, I didn’t know what I would do. Not only would I be persecuted, but what other twisted punishments might they find for me? Another magma worm?

  “I don’t think that you should be in here. Your boss was pretty clear about nobody coming in or out of the room,” I said, sinking slowly down to the floor and drawing my legs together until I was sitting comfortably and staring up at him. I slowly moved my hands to the hilt of the knife and waited for the Raither to approach, gripping it tightly in my hand, readying myself mentally and physically to strike.

  “What the boss doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” the Raither said, sneering. “And you should probably know that if you are thinking about doing anything stupid, there is going to be a world of hell for you to deal with if you do.”

  I wondered briefly if he knew that I was holding onto the knife. But I could not let my paranoia win out. He had no idea what I had been doing in there. In fact, he had come in with ill intentions, and if Parra knew, the hell would not be on me: it would be on the intruder. I knew enough about the Raithers to understand that much. The man’s boss had claimed me, which meant that he would risk life and limb to ensure that no other Raither male had any contact with me whatsoever.

  “What do you want with me anyway?” I asked, not budging from my spot on the floor. “Don’t you have a whole cell full of women that you could choose from? Why me?”

  “Well, on my planet, I followed orders from one man alone, and that is the man who abducted you initially. Marx. He told me that he wanted to claim you, not Parra. I’m supposed to take you to him, and the two of you are going to make a break for it. Marx is tired of dealing with the boss. I don’t mind it so much though. But still, I respect the guy. I’m going to do what I can for him.”

  “You know that your boss isn’t going to like that,” I said, doing my best to keep the conversation going for as long as possible. I didn’t want the Raither coming anywhere near me. All I could think about was Zern. What were they doing to him? They wanted information from him. Were they willing to torture him to get it? Of course they were.

  “I don’t really care what the boss likes,” the Raither said, taking a step forward and fixing a cool smile upon me. “I don’t even know if his plan is going to work or not. Sure, it’s pretty cool to have an underground tunnel system and all. A lot of the guys around here respect that sort of thing. But truth be told, it doesn’t do much for me. There isn’t anything very special about it. I could do the same thing myself somewhere else and not have to deal with taking orders from a gredding asshole like Parra.”

  “So if he finds you and kills you for letting me out of your sight, then it’s no harm, no foul right?” I asked, raising my brow at the Raither. He didn’t seem to be a very forward-thinking kind of a man. But he did seem like a good mook.

  “First of all, he probably wouldn’t kill me. I have a plan. If he doesn’t, I could always just escape with you and my real boss and stop worrying about this underground city entirely.”

  “City?” I asked, unable to keep my curiosity out of my voice. So they were trying to build a city underground? Is that what we were doing? That seemed pretty ambitious. And also, a little bit pointless. It was smart, in a way, until you started encountering the magma worms that had nearly destroyed myself and Zern both.

  “Well, nevermind. That’s not what’s important. It’s time for you to get going. Technically, Parra can’t claim you as my commander already has. He is the rightful owner of you, not Parra. We will have to make sure that the rest of the world knows that.”

  “You mean I don’t even get a say in any of this? Once some guy claims me, that’s it?” I asked, shaking my head. “No, no, no. That doesn’t sound right. In fact, it’s primitive and archaic, and I refuse to take part in anything so misogynistic. You guys are just going to have to find somebody else to fight over. Because I’m not playing this game. Not with you and not with anybody. I don’t care what you have to say about it.”

  At first, I thought that the Raither would be angry, but instead, he laughed heartily at my refusal to comply. “I was kind of hoping that this would get messy. You look like a lot of fun. Come on; let’s show each other what we are made of.”

  I yelped in fear as the Raither lunged at me, his large hands open and gripping me by my shirt. I tried to squirm away from him, but it was no use. He was strong. Very strong. Of course, all of the Raithers were strong. They were a warrior race, built to destroy any opposition that crossed their paths.

  I managed to pull the knife out from my pant leg and slice the Raither on the wrists. He c
ried out in agony as his blood began to cascade to the floor. I jumped up to my feet and stuck the knife in his throat. A gurgling cry was all that he was able to emit as he slumped to the floor and grew limp.

  I stared at him in disbelief for a moment before realizing that now was my only chance to get out of this place alive. I had to help Zern somehow. There was no way that I could let him stay stuck in what was almost certainly an abusive interrogation that would ultimately end with him losing his life.

  I wiped the blood off of the knife and ran cautiously to the doorway, looking out to make sure that there was nobody coming either way. I tried my best to figure out where they might have taken Zern. A sudden yelp of pain answered my question, and I ran as fast as I could down the darkened corridor toward the sound of the Raither that I loved.

  The thought came and went in my head with a flash. Love? This was hardly the time of the place to consider something like that. It was probably purely chemical. We were in a dangerous situation together and were probably doing a lot of trauma bonding. That wasn’t necessarily the same thing as being in love with somebody.

  Still, I had to save him. When I finally made it to the area where Zern was obviously being tortured, I halted, my heart pounding in my chest. I had one little knife. What was I going to do to help Zern against Parra? Parra was ruthless. He wouldn’t care who he hurt, as long as it meant that he was able to get what he wanted. And for some reason, what he wanted was me. I had to do something.

  And so I ran inside and plunged the tip of the knife into Parra’s back. He let out a startled cry and stumbled backward, backhanding me as he did so. I fell to the floor with a crash, and suddenly Zern was on his feet, standing in front of me and pulling the knife out of Parra’s back. He was ready to fight, even though it was clear that he was weak and in pain.

  The Raither that had abducted me was there, Marx, and he ran across the room and lunged at Zern, hoping to take him down so that he could get a grip on me and probably leave. Everybody was shocked by the turn of events, but they were not flummoxed for too long. Soon, a bloodied brawl was taking place, and the Raither that had abducted me was on the ground, knife wounds taking a mortal toll on his body. Zern was strong and fast, and soon Parra had to call for reinforcements.

  Zern and I were both handled roughly by a group of Bardans, and lead deep down the dark panels to a new room. We were thrown inside mercilessly, and a heavy metallic door was slammed closed on us, leaving us both panting in the darkness.

  Chapter 5

  Captain Zern Krechan

  “Lila, what in the hell were you thinking?”

  I couldn’t help but be angry. And I was unhappy about the fear in my voice. I knew that she had only been trying to help me. And yet, the thought of her putting herself in danger, especially for me, really rubbed me the wrong way. I had risked so much just to help her. She shouldn’t have come for me. She should have gone for the exit and gotten herself the hell out of this underground prison.

  “Excuse me for trying to save your ungrateful life,” Lila growled, her gorgeous emerald eyes flashing even in the darkness. I could feel my heart thudding in my chest as I studied this fierce human from across the room. There was something so different about her. I had never encountered a being like her in all of my life, and although it had been nothing but trouble, I still couldn’t help but feel gratified to have known her. “I didn’t know that helping someone I care about was against the rules. I’ll remember that next time and leave your ass behind.”

  “Good!” I shouted. “You should have. Now look at us. Both of those are trapped, and there is no way out this time.”

  “Don’t be such a negative Nelly,” the human said, waving her hand dismissively. “There’s always a way out. I know that it doesn’t seem very likely right now, but I’m sure something will happen.”

  This kind of careless attitude was one of my greatest annoyances, even back on my own home planet. I hated to find that anybody was casual and dismissive when it came to making bad decisions. You couldn’t just prance your way through life and expect everything to work out. My past had taught me that much.

  “You are only saying that because so far, someone has always been there to get you out of trouble. But if you were ever left to be responsible for yourself, what would happen to you then? You would be dead. The magma worms would have eaten you by now, and there would have been nothing left. Your decisions are brash and stupid, and I will not abide them!”

  The human looked at me, her face startled at first, and then angry. I just about backed away from her, even though I didn’t know why. She was feeble and weak, just as all humans were. There was no way that she would be able to be a match for me physically, whether she had other weapons stashed away in her clothing or not. And yet, there was something very commanding about this human. Although she was small and female, she had stubbornness and ferocity that made me think twice about going up against her. Especially after seeing the way she had handled herself in the fight.

  “If it wasn’t for me, they probably would have killed you tonight. What would I have done then? I would have to live with the ghost of your memory in my heart for the rest of my life,” Lila yelled, her voice rife with pain. “So you would rather I live on the rest of my life being a coward and thinking only of myself and leaving you here to die in this hell hole?”

  “If it meant that you would be safe, then yes,” I said, stepping toward her and gripping her wrists in my large hand. She gasped softly at the contact and then looked away, her face changing shade. “I would do anything to protect you. I wish I knew why. All you are is a big pain in my ass. But I want to be able to know that you are not going to be hurt. If that means that I die during an interrogation while you run off into freedom, then to me that is worthwhile.”

  “But why?”

  The question came out in a cracking voice, the heartbreaking sound of her pain filling the room as she began to sob. The strength in her legs seems to have given out on her, and she slumped to the ground and covered her face as much as she was able to with my hands still around them.

  “Why would you sacrifice so much for me? I have never done anything for you, and I will never do anything useful. I can’t help you here. All I can do is try and fix an engine of a ship that is going to leave this place anyway. I will always be stuck here. We have no future together whatsoever. You’ll go your way, and I’ll stay here. I might as well be with the other humans, trapped in this prison for the rest of my life. At least the boss likes me.”

  Both of us laughed at the last statement, and I shook my head. “He probably won’t like you very much after being stabbed in the back the way he was. I have a feeling that we are going to have to get out of here. And if we don’t, the next time they deal with us, it might not end so well. One or both of us may not be intact at that point.”

  “But you’re so strong,” the human said, looking at me with wide glimmering eyes. I was relieved to see that she had stopped crying now, but it was clear that she was still wrought with emotion.

  I smiled down at her, conjuring the most soothing voice that I possibly could.

  “I will do what I can. But when the Bardans are involved, the attacks are much sneakier than you would guess. They have something in those pellets of theirs that they shoot out. It sucks my strength away. But as long as I can avoid the pellets, then yes, I could probably wipe out every single one of them by myself. That is why the Raither army sent me to this planet. I can withstand the dangers here. That, and it was kind of a punishment.”

  The human seemed surprised by this, and she opened her mouth as if to question it. But I shook my head. “I would rather not talk about that right now. Come on, get off the floor. It’s cold down there.”

  I lifted her up, using a little bit more force than I needed to. She flew up, her chest pressed against mine and our faces inches away from each other. A sudden, desperate longing consumed me, and I held the human tightly and stared deeply into her eyes. My heart w
as racing, in a way that it had only raced in battle before. Hers seemed to be doing the same, and she inhaled sharply, her beautiful face becoming tense with an emotion that was difficult for me to pinpoint.

  “I was so scared,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around my torso and staring into my eyes. “I thought that I was never going to see you again. First, when that worm nearly ate you. And then, when you were dragged away that way, by those Raithers who seemed like they wanted nothing more than to see you dead. They knew who you were, Zern. Why?”

  I swallowed hard. It was difficult for me to talk about my past. Even with the human, who would never have the same strong opinions on the dogmatic aspects of living on my home planet. I knew that she would not judge me quite as harshly as my own kind had seemed to, but it was little consolation. My past was mine and mine alone, and no matter how close I became with the human, I would not be likely to share that with her. Especially not here.

  “Please, we should not speak about this right now. Especially not with so many Raithers and Bardans around. It is not safe for me. And it is especially not safe for you.”

  The human frowned, her perfect lips jutting into a pout that brought the fire back into my loins. Before I could help myself, I dropped my lips upon hers. She admitted a soft cry that was muffled by my lips, startled by the suddenness of my advance. But instead of fighting it, she seemed to melt into my body, tilting her head up as my tongue explored the moist crevices of her mouth.

  Lila sighed as I sampled the sweetness of her lips again and again. I had never enjoyed such a bounty, and I could feel a strong surge of arousal awakening deep within my body until the physical testament to my lust was pressed firmly against Lila’s thigh.