The Human: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Betania Breed) Page 4

  Sooner or later, her pursuers would find her. At that point, her fake identity, artificial iris, and forged blood work would no longer help her. Then she would be lost.

  Chapter 4

  Talon was beside himself with rage. His men tried to stay out of his way. He needed an outlet for the unrestrained anger raging inside of him. Cat had hit him precisely where it hurt, and he was surprised at how well she seemed to see right through him. The animal inside him had reacted immediately and very strongly to the challenge in her words, and he had almost lost control. He needed to try to tire out his predator at least a little – and to do that, he had to let it out.

  It was dangerous to shift here on Earth and to explore the area in his animal state. In the dark that existed here on Earth, he could still pass for a human in his normal state, if necessary. At least, he thought as he clenched his teeth, until he had taken his opponent out of commission. Humans were a strange species. They were so… unspecialized. Well, most of them, anyway. They had five senses but utilized only a fraction of each of them. Instead of working to improve their sense of smell or vision, they perceived everything happening around them with all of their senses at the same time. No wonder they were completely emotional and useless during battle.

  He stomped past the guards he had posted at the entrance without saying a word. They opened the huge door without comment and watched him as he went out into the snowstorm. Talon stopped and took a few deep breaths. Nobody, neither human nor animal, was in the vicinity. With a growl, he rid himself of his clothes and remembered to stash them where he knew he would be able to find them later. The damned snow, that was falling in huge flakes, made it difficult for him to use his sense of smell. He stood in front of the library for a few seconds, completely naked, enjoying the feeling of being exposed to the elements, even though he would have much preferred the heat and dryness of his home planet.

  He stretched his arms, fell to his knees and roared as loudly as he could, as the bones in his body started to shift all at once. The strong pain let up as quickly as it had set in. He felt his predator take over the reins and pulled himself back voluntarily. There was little danger in giving his feline predator the power to make all of the decisions in this godforsaken area. The less he tried to control the cat, the longer he would be able to keep it in check when it had to pull back again. He had no idea how much time they would have to spend in the company of the Kalatassians, so it was bitterly urgent for him to tire his animal out.

  When he returned to the library three hours later, and shifted back, his feline predator was practically purring with happiness. They had roamed the area, had run, and had hunted. They had even caught a small animal. He didn’t allow his lion to do that very often. The more you let your animal hunt and kill, the more difficult it was to control it. When he pulled on his soaking clothes, he also pulled on his responsibilities as a commanding officer again. And then there was Cat.

  What in the world was he supposed to do with her? He was sure that she was keeping something from him. It must have something to do with why she needed to leave her home planet. Cat had said that she was being pursued because of her special abilities. After experiencing the small taste that she had given him, he understood why all of the governments in the world were after her. It would be an invaluable weapon during times of war to have someone like her. Someone who could infiltrate the minds of others and read their thoughts, and there was always a damned war somewhere on this planet.

  None of this explained the desperation he had seen in her eyes though. “Oh yes.” he thought as he passed the two guards at the entrance. She could disguise herself pretty well, but not well enough for someone like him. He could smell a lie before it even left someone’s mouth. Even if Cat wasn’t lying literally, she was still keeping a lot from him. When she had begged him to not leave her behind, he had practically been able to touch her self-hate with his hands.

  He noticed that he had been clenching his teeth again. His lion still wasn’t tired enough, and probably never would be as long as Cat was in his life. It was just too dangerous to take an unmarried woman on board the Kalatassians’ ship. There is another possibility, his animal whispered in his ear in a quiet purr. He silenced it by banning it to the farthest reaches of his head. It could wait there until it was needed, but he couldn’t stop thinking about it. If Cat were his partner…

  He shook his head. It just wouldn’t work. She would just have to deal with staying here at least a few more days, until they had found a suitable spaceship to replace the captured space cruiser. Did you tell her that part, too? The lion’s voice whispered. It sounded both sarcastic and reprimanding. Talon stopped walking suddenly and thought he could hear soft laughter in his head. If he had been a human, he would have smacked his forehead with his hand. Cat thought he was leaving her here forever, not just for a few days! Damn, where had he left his usually well-developed common sense?

  Without worrying about what his men would think, nor about the wet clothes he was wearing, he started running. He crossed through the book-filled rooms in long strides, until he reached Cat’s little camp. He looked around and used his well-developed senses of smell and hearing. Nothing. She wasn’t here. His lion roared in fury, a sound that made its way into the furthest reaches of the library and made his men stop what they were doing. All of them started making their way to him, one after the other, while he was searching every corner of the room.

  He told himself to remain calm, even though the animal inside him was telling him to hurry. He took another deep breath, so he could take up her trail. Her scent of sun and hot wind filled his nose, but there was something else. Something dark. It smelled of mold and cadavers rotting in a damp cellar. He knew this smell. Talon tried hard to remember. Stay calm, he told himself and his lion. We won’t find her if we lose our heads.

  Losing your head… that was it! It smelled like the woman who had contradicted Ferthoris III. The king had ordered his men to chop off one tentacle after the other. Her blood smelled just like the dark scent that was covering Cat’s. Talon thought feverishly. If the Krak’Heri had kidnapped Cat – certainly all traces in the room pointed to this – what did they want with her?

  He could feel the presence of his men in the room and turned around. He looked at each and every one of them and saw nothing but determination on their faces.

  “Men, we have a problem,” he said.

  ****

  Cat woke up to complete darkness. The first thing she noticed was the horrible smell of rotting fish. She suppressed the urge to vomit and tried to sit up. She succeeded, even though her limbs offered some resistance. When she reached an upright position, at least her dizziness subsided somewhat. The darkness that surrounded Cat was so thick that she used her fingers to feel her for her eyelids. Yes, they were open. Her next thought made the adrenaline course through her body. Had they blinded her? She wouldn’t put it past the authorities. A blind prisoner would have a hard time escaping, but that was nonsense, she told herself. First of all, her pursuers didn’t stink of fish, and secondly, all they had to do was give Cat an injection and she would be out of commission. She wasn’t sure who had control over her right now, but she knew it was someone she didn’t know.

  What was the last thing she could remember?

  Talon had been there and had told her that he was going to leave her behind. First, she had begged him, and then she had provoked him, hoping that he would change his mind, but the only thing the idiot had said was that he didn’t want to risk his men’s lives.

  Her breath started coming faster and her heart started racing when she thought of his exact words. I would take the risk anytime if this was just about me. She let out a sound that was half sigh, half sob. She had only heard what she had expected – harsh rejection – but what Talon had really told her, had gone over her head. He had really meant I would put my life on the line for you. Even though this dark room was starting to make her panic, she felt a glimmer of hope in her chest. Ta
lon had told her clearly enough that he had feelings for her, but she hadn’t understood him.

  Cat took a few deep breaths, so she could think better. It was black as night in this room, and deathly quiet. The sound of her own breathing was strangely comforting. “Come on,” she said out loud, startling herself with her own voice, but there was something else… like a distant, barely perceivable echo of her words. Either this room was so huge that her voice bounced off the walls, or something else was in the room with her.

  Cat thought feverishly. After Talon’s rejection, she had wandered aimlessly through the library, looking for a place where she could think in peace. She hadn’t found the peace she had longed for. Someone or something must have found her, instead. There had been some strange noises, wet slurping perhaps, but in her agitated state, she hadn’t become aware of it soon enough. Cat knew that she had turned around when she had felt a small prick on her upper arm. The drug had made its way through her body very quickly, because she hadn’t even had time to panic.

  She was really starting to get scared. She could deal with many things, but the darkness was getting to her more than she had expected. Anything was better than just staying put, Cat decided. She stood up carefully. Whoever had kidnapped her hadn’t gone to the trouble of putting her in chains or tying her up. Come on, girl, Cat encouraged herself. You survived the Mind Readers. You survived a childhood with unfeeling adoptive parents and you survived the disappearance of your brother. After your escape, you were able to remain undetected for a whole year. What do you have to lose?

  Nothing other than her life.

  She felt her way forward in one direction. Since she couldn't see anything, it didn’t matter which way she went. Cat’s goal was to find a wall, and to get an idea of the size of her cell. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she bumped into an obstacle. Cat fell to her knees and ran her hands up the rough surface until she was standing on her tiptoes. Yes, this was a wall, even though it felt strange, somehow. It was slightly bumpy, warm and a little soft.

  This wall was not made of steel or concrete, Cat realized. Her knees started to give way when she understood. She saw stars, and her breath came in gasps. The obstacle was organic. She suddenly felt fatalistic, put her ear up against the structure and listened. Her nose was right up against what she had thought was a wall, and she could hear the slow, droning of a distant heart.

  She was caught in a living, breathing thing, and God only knew if she would ever get out of it.

  Chapter 5

  It hadn’t been easy, but Talon had done it. He hadn’t stormed off like a man possessed and taken up Cat’s trail. Instead, with self-control that surprised him, he organized a search party with his five best men to accompany him. He told the others to wait for the Kalatassians' ship, and, if they hadn’t returned in the meantime, to board the ship. They had accepted their strict orders to let the Kalatassians take them to Kanthari 7 with some mumbling. He had looked at each of them and growled suggestively, and their sounds of displeasure had gone silent. Talon was secretly pleased that his men didn’t want to leave their commander, but of course, he didn’t want to encourage them by praising them for their commentary. That would be the day!

  When he was sure that the majority of his men would return home safely without him, he felt a little better. Now he could concentrate on what lay ahead of him: freeing Cat from the hands of the Krak’Heri. He could only speculate as to the motives of the tentacle-armored race, but he had a strong suspicion that Cat’s disappearance was connected to his ruler’s cruelty.

  The so-called Krak were a tough and long-living race, and as such, their memory was especially strong. Were they acting in revenge, because one of theirs had been mutilated in a most barbaric way? Talon tried to remember the woman’s face. In his eyes, she had been exceptionally ugly. She had been cold, her skin covered in scales, but her eyes had been beautiful. They were a dark blue that reminded him of the color of the ocean that Ferthoris had fished her out of. Had the king won her in a poker game, as well? In the end, it didn’t matter. After her limbs had been removed, she had been useless to the king, and he had ordered his men to drop her off in the desert. A creature of the ocean like her couldn’t survive without water, and she had died a cruel death in the hot desert sun.

  He realised that there was a strong possibility that Cat’s abduction was an act of revenge. He gulped when he thought about what the Krak might do with a woman they thought was his ruler’s next chosen one. A wave of hot anger set his body on fire and awakened the predator inside him. Damn his king and his perverted, lustful ways, and damn the Krak for abusing a woman. The damned fish heads weren’t men enough to get their revenge in battle. They probably had no idea that Ferthoris III would just dismiss the loss of his human wife with a dramatic wave of the hand, and then log in to the next poker game right away.

  Talon and his men ran around the building, looking for broken windows where they could take up the trail. It wasn’t time to shift yet. They didn’t know whom they would run into, human or Krak. If they let their animals go now, they would waste valuable reserves that they would need in battle later. He told the feline predator that was raging inside him to remain calm. One look at his men told him that they were having the same struggles that he was. They were trained for this and had enough strength to keep their animals in check, but you could see the tension in all of their faces. It wouldn’t let up until the animals had dug their claws into their enemies’ flesh. At least the driving snow had let up. The bitter cold around them wasn’t pleasant, and without the snow that covered everything, they would be able to take the scent up better.

  Felcor, who was running right behind him, cleared his throat to get Talon’s attention. Without slowing down, he waved him over. “What’s up?” he asked curtly.

  “What will you do with the woman after we have freed her?”

  Talon’s anger boiled up. “What has gotten into you? Are you questioning my orders?” he said through tight lips.

  Felcor lowered his head. He was a good guy and an excellent fighter, but he would never be a leader. That’s why it was so surprising that he had even dared to ask the question. “It’s just that…” he looked for the right words, then squared his shoulders and looked right at his commander. Talon noticed this with astonishment, but barely had time to think about this unexpected realization. The young man’s next words would normally have sufficed to put him in a state of shock. “Some of us are wondering why we have to meet our king’s every mood without question. I mean,” he added hastily, when Talon’s growl reached his ears, “we don’t have anything against fighting – quite the opposite. Every one of us loves a good fight. You know that. We just don’t see any reason to answer to every whim of a man who hasn’t the slightest clue about battle.

  Talon was silent. The words hit too close to home and to the thoughts he was finding in himself more often. Actually, he should have cut Felcor’s head off, right now, and not just in the metaphorical sense. “That is high treason,” he said quietly, looking down. He could see the next broken branch that showed him the way to where he suspected Cat was.

  “No, it is healthy Kantharian sense,” Tybor joined in, from behind him. His low bass sounded happy, as if he was finally expressing something that had been on his mind for a while.

  “Exactly. We do not want to serve an idiot. We want to be your men,” the fourth in the bunch confirmed. “This isn’t a trap,” he added, and Talon almost flinched. They knew him too well not to guess his first mistrusting thought. “Nobody here is questioning your loyalty, but…”

  “Since we first saw how you looked at the human woman, we have wondered if we couldn’t have a meaningful life, too,” Tybor jumped back in. Talon turned his head and scented unobtrusively. The smell he perceived did not smell like lies, but not like the whole truth, either. They were all sick and tired of the king who only cared about affairs with women, but there was something else he couldn’t put his finger on. Either one of th
em was hiding something, or they were afraid to tell him everything. His heart was beating faster than it should have been. A life without Ferthoris III flashed in front of his eyes. He forced himself to slow his racing heart.

  “We will talk about it after we return the human woman to safety,” he instructed them and tried to make his voice sound stern. “Right now, we need to concentrate on what is really important: saving her from the Kraks’ slimy tentacles.” He stopped, knelt on the ground, and looked closely at another track. It pointed almost too clearly to the northeast. Either the Krak had been in a big hurry, or there was another reason why they had left a trail like a herd of elephants. He stood up and turned to his men. The sight of their eager faces gave him a pang. “Something isn’t right here,” he said softly. Tybor, the oldest of his warriors, nodded in agreement. This was new too, he thought to himself. Since when did they show agreement with what the commander was saying?

  “The trail is too obvious,” Felcor agreed. “Someone wants us to rescue the human woman.”

  “Stop,” Talon said, and raised a hand. They all went silent and turned to look at him. “We need to proceed systematically and logically.” Why was this increasingly difficult for him? His men were different since they had landed on Earth. More insubordinate and independent. This was also something he would have to think about later.

  “We are certain the Krak took Cat with them, because we can trace their distinctive smell.” He felt the heat rise to his face when he called her by her first name, instead of calling her a “human woman.” “The Krak have good reason for wanting to take revenge on Ferthoris,” He held up a second finger and then a third, “but Cat is a thoroughly unsuitable object for taking revenge on the king, since he hasn’t even met her yet. Her loss will not hurt him.” He pointed the fourth finger at himself. “Who would the loss of the woman hurt? Who is looking for her? Tell me if I am wrong, but it isn’t Ferthoris the Krak are after. It is me.” He looked at each of them and saw only agreement. “Can anyone tell me why?”