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Eventually, someone manages to set off an alarm. I’ve acquired some key cards from the bodies, so I start pilfering everything I can rip from their comm systems before anyone has the bright idea to delete it or go on a full lockdown.
We were able to make landing in the mountain range near the target location. We will make slow progress toward the valley and monitor the geothermal activity. Limiting ground movements. Ordered a floating landing pad to enable safe travel between station and…
I flick through the reports while they transfer to my storage chip. I’ll be able to send them to Mak’s intel team for a full analysis, but I can’t resist the urge to learn everything I can right now. Usually, I control my curiosity in the interest of a clean extraction and a quick exit, but this is different.
This is my brother’s life. He was here.
It was a shock to see nearly my own image appear on the wall of the lab that I had recently littered with dead bodies. But I quickly saw those little differences — the long straight nose, the rounder cheeks, the lack of a crease between the brows. Vallaki, my little brother, who I have not set eyes on since he rejected me passings ago. There was a ‘subject profile’ beside it, which intended to make all members of the team aware of the protocol for dealing with ‘the beast.’ It noted the many injuries and deaths he had caused while in captivity, which made me chuckle. He was to be treated with caution but preserved well for his purpose.
Do not harm this subject, the chart said.The subject must remain healthy for breeding.
I scan until I reach the final reports.
The beast and its mate escaped after crash landing on Okrila. Location unknown. Presumed alive. All parties responsible perished. No need for further impunities. Additional human cargo was stolen from the site, but recovery attempts indicate that those subjects have now resurfaced in Alliance territory…
The beast. Presumed alive.
My brother’s alive.
How many times will I mourn him, only to breathe a sigh of relief and go on worrying about his fate? The tight feeling in my chest is that hope for another chance to see him, even though I fear the prospect. To look into the eyes of someone you love, and see nothing but hatred — a replacement there in his place, a parasite wearing his face… I could never wish him dead, but sometimes it feels like it might be easier to mourn him than know he’s out there living like a shell of who he should be.
My regrets over our last encounter never leave me be. I have made a million mistakes in this life, but his fate is one that I will never forgive myself for. I let the shame and sorrow fill me up, because it will fuel a rage that might carry me through the next part of this mission.
Someone bangs on the door to the comm room I’m standing in.
“Security team! Open up! We’re clearing every room in pursuit of an intruder!”
I close my eyes for a tap.
No time to overthink it. There’s only time to kill. After all, I have a mating ceremony to attend. Hopefully, the happy couple will not mind my lateness.
Several Azza soldiers flood into the room, whispering prayers to their deity when they see the room full of corpses. But they don’t see me yet.
CHAPTERTWO
KAYE
It’s startingto feel like my time spent on Earth was a past life. Those memories might as well turn to black and white, because the events of my life since boarding a ship bound for a terraformed moon colony have been far more colorful.
Colorful can be dangerous.
When I adjusted to EC-12, I started to believe that the local wildlife and the intermittent pirate landings were the worst of my worries. It could even get a little boring looking after my colony farm and trying to teach kids that would rather be chasing the wild alien cattle we call ‘wildebeests.’ Back then, we were sure the only thing pirates wanted from us was food and cash — maybe an airbike or a gun while they were at it. But one day, they were after human females, too, and I was at the marketplace on the wrong day. After that, my constant worry was making it through one more day alive. Weeks of survival blurred together but felt like years. I’m more than ready for boring again. A wildebeest wandering onto my property is about all the excitement I need for the rest of my days.
I’ve been living among pirates for weeks, chasing down an alien that bought my best friend at auction. Every time we think we’re close, the slippery merchant either lands on a planet or a station where security is tight. While the captain used the authorities to rescue me from a similar fate, the same won’t be possible because the male who purchased her has made himself above the law.
“This kinda scum is the reason I even have a job,” the captain mutters as she prepares herself for the big day, the day she promised would be our time to rescue Frankie. “If the authorities could get this done on their own, I’d happily retire.”
“He must have quite a fortune,” I say.
“Considering they’re on their way to the planet he owns… Yeah, a rich bastard. And he’s decided to stop off to see his clients while he has poor Frankie locked up on his ship? He’s in no rush to get her back because he doesn’t think he’ll be caught. I warn you, I’m worried what shape she’ll be in.”
Every time I think the same thoughts, a shiver runs up my spine. That fate could easily have been mine. What could Frankie be going through?
“Do you think he’ll chase after us?” I ask. “Will he look for her?”
She frowns, and in moments like these, I hardly remember she’s an alien.
Captain Rossa is a Kar’Kali, the alien species closest in DNA to a human, and yet still so different. She has gray skin, teal blue hair, broader shoulders, and more height than most human women. As a 5’11” human woman myself, it’s strange to have her dwarf me after I spent my life being the tallest one in the room in many situations. There are plenty of alien species that are bipedal and vaguely similar, but Kar’Kali share our face shapes, our hairlessness, our blunted teeth, and many other features. Humans and Kar’Kali are close enough that humans can trigger their mating call, a love bond controlled by something we don’t have—kali.
