Alien Tails Box Set

Chapter 2

Chapter 2Zenon watched one creature stand. It was male. He’d seen pictures of them so they’d know what not to take, but this man…He had fair skin, no visible claws or fangs. Zenon suspected he could’ve watched him for years and not grow bored. His eyes changed shape, his facial expression—he’d never seen anyone show so much emotion. He didn’t know if anyone on Negudade could harbor as much emotion.

Their information claimed Earthlings didn’t have fangs or claws, and the man didn’t show any, but Zenon had his doubts. A species wouldn’t survive if they couldn’t defend themselves, and there were animals on Negudade that looked harmless until threatened—then teeth, claws, spikes, or poison appeared.

He hoped they weren’t poisonous.

“Be careful of them.” He nodded at Brox to attack from the right as he edged to the left.

Brox spoke in a low voice. “I’ll take the female, you disarm the male.”

He appeared disarmed already, but Zenon nodded. He expected the male would run off to save himself. A Negudade would unless they were on a contract to protect the person they were with. He took a quick step forward, so he could catch the man when he tried to escape.

The female screamed, and the man, instead of running off, hit Brox in the jaw when he tried to grab her. Zenon stared. What was he doing?

Anek took a step forward, but Ghurva didn’t as much as twitch.

Zenon studied Brox, but he looked unaffected by the blow.

“Why isn’t he running?” Brox touched his jaw. “He’s not strong.”

The man glanced at them, looked over his shoulder at the female, and said something. Zenon had a language chip embedded, everyone on the ship did, but he couldn’t make sense of what the male said. Perhaps he was breaking their contract. It was the smartest thing he could do.

Water spilled from the female’s eyes. “Is the female ill?” He didn’t look away from the Earthlings. When no reply came, he glanced at Ghurva. “Ghurva?”

“I don’t know.”

“The male doesn’t appear alarmed by the symptoms.” Anek took another step forward. “It’s most likely not contagious, or he’d moved away.”

A strange tightness wrapped around Zenon’s ribcage. Could the male be infected by whatever the female had?

Then the man nodded, and as he took a step forward, the female jumped down on the other side of the strange wide outdoor chair. She ran.

“Shall I go get her?”

Zenon nodded at Brox. “Anek, follow in case there are more Earthlings around.” He took a step forward, and when the man tried to hit him, he caught his arm and secured him—though careful not to touch any of the pale skin in case it was covered in poison—and slung him over his shoulder. He’d expected him to weigh more. He was short but didn’t look unhealthily thin, so he should’ve weighed more.

“Where are you taking him?” Ghurva gave him a curious look—no one he’d ever met could give curious looks except Ghurva. Another sign he wasn’t like most Negudade.

“I’m bringing him.”

“No.”

Zenon bared his teeth. “Are you questioning me?”

“Captain.” Ghurva nodded, Zenon assumed to let him know Ghurva was aware of his status, but he kept on talking so it didn’t make a difference. “Our orders are ten females. No males.”

“I’m taking him for me. We have space and supplies for one more. I will have none of the females.”

Ghurva shook his head. Watching him made Zenon dizzy. Why couldn’t he be like normal people and tell him what he meant instead of using gestures?

“No, but—”

“Enough.” Zenon strode toward the ship while the female’s scream came closer and closer.

* * * *

Carlo saw the ship.

Every fiber in his body went on high alert. It was a small, round thing. Aliens. Spaceship.

He didn’t scream, but as panic set in, he fought like a mad man. The beast holding him was huge and far stronger than anyone should be. But he’d rather die than get on the ship.

With all his might, he pushed forward, hoping the alien wouldn’t suspect. He’d crash to the ground, but it didn’t matter. Breaking his neck was a risk he was willing to take.

The alien’s grip slipped, and Carlo got a knee up. With as much power as he could muster, he rammed his knee into the alien’s nose and flung himself to get out of his hold.

For a second, he believed it had worked. The alien grunted, the arm around him went momentarily slack, and he tried to cushion his fall as much as he could. But he hadn’t more than hit the ground until large, strong hands pushed him down.

Someone growled, Grace screamed, and he realized they’d caught her—f**k!

There was a blow to the back of his head and the world slipped away.

* * * *

Zenon’s heart beat fast as the male went slack under him. Had he killed him? The uncomfortable tightness around his ribcage was there again. He might have to see a healer about it once they got back to Negudade.

Lightly, he shook the male. He hadn’t meant to hurt him. It was only a light slap, a reprimand for fighting him. Cold washed over him. Earthlings were far more fragile than he’d believed.

“Be careful of the female.”

“What happened?” Brox came to a stop next to the still lax male. The female had grown quiet as she saw the male lie there. More of the wetness streamed from her eyes.

“He tried to escape, brought his knee to my face to get me to let go. It was nothing, but he took me by surprise.” Much like he had Brox before. “I pushed him down and smacked him on the head. Not hard, but…” He gestured at the male. “Did I kill him?”

The tightness around his ribs grew tighter.

Ghurva crouched and rolled the male over. “No, he’s breathing.”

“Load him.”

Brox met his gaze but didn’t comment.

“Ghurva, you might as well insert the language chips while we go out to fetch the rest.”

Silence followed and Zenon looked around. Anek’s face was blank, as was Brox’s, but Ghurva bit his lip—who bit their lip? A part of Zenon wanted to roar at him to behave like an adult, but they were here to bring these Earthlings back, so they, hopefully, could get offspring more like Ghurva. Individuals who felt things, who cared enough to want to have offspring of their own. Beings who didn’t suffer from anhedonia, as the scientists called it. People who bit their lips and widened their eyes.

Zenon turned to Anek. “Secure them, the male too. He’s not strong, but he’s tricky, and if Ghurva is focused on inserting the chip, he might surprise him.”

Anek took the female from Brox and went into the ship.

“You will get in trouble.” Brox spoke in a low tone.

“I’ll take him as payment for the trip.”

Brox didn’t respond, but bent to pick the male up. Something in Zenon’s chest shifted and he had to force himself not to bare his teeth at Brox as he cradled the male to his chest.

He needed a healer. Something was wrong with him. There shouldn’t be any tightness to his chest. He was in great shape, had aced all the physical tests and passed all the medical controls.

* * * *

Carlo came to with a groan. Everything shook and there was a sound of an engine loud enough to hurt his ears. He tried to look around, but his vision was blurry.

Someone squeezed his right arm, and he squinted in their direction. Grace. He tried to talk, but his throat was too dry and the noise too loud.

Carlo sat up straighter and hissed as a wave of pain and nausea rolled over him. What had happened? He looked around, his vision still blurry, and it was too dark to make anything out.

Seconds bled into minutes, and finally, the roar of the engine quieted down to a low buzz.

“Are you okay?” He raised his arm to wrap around Grace. They were strapped into seats, but Grace was leaning into him as much as the seatbelt allowed. He moved as close to her as he could.

“I have no idea.” The way she wiped her cheek made him suspect she was crying, but no matter how many times he blinked, he couldn’t get his sight to clear up. “Are you in pain?”

He was. “It’s okay.” He swallowed hard. “I might puke, though.”

She moved away and called out. A huge, black creature stepped out of the shadows. The chorus of whimpers told Carlo they weren’t alone in here.

He was about to ask what was going on when a wave of nausea hit, and his stomach turned inside out.

Grace was yelling, but he couldn’t make out any words. He tried not to be sick all over himself, but being strapped in as he was didn’t leave him room to move around. The stink of puke filled his nostrils, the taste of bile overtook his mouth, and the fabric of his jeans soaked up the vomit on his lap, and he groaned.

There was a lot of hissing and spitting, and Carlo could make out a few words. Grace demanded a doctor.

There was tumult when another huge, black creature entered the room or whatever they were in, and the two of them unstrapped Carlo. Grace clung to his vomit-sticky hand and tried to unbuckle her belt as well.

A new wave of nausea hit and Carlo bent over, puking at one of the guy’s feet—bare, clawed, black feet.

The creature didn’t react. Carlo waited for a hiss, a curse, a blow even, but he—he didn’t know if it was a he—didn’t step out of the splash.

“I’m coming with you.” Grace was fighting the buckle, and one of the creatures spoke. It wasn’t a word Carlo understood, and yet he knew he’d said no.

“Yes.” Grace got the seatbelt off her and stood. She hooked her arm with Carlo’s, and he grunted.

“Are you mates?” Again, the creature didn’t say the words, and yet…Carlo didn’t have the headspace to analyze what was going on. Were they mates? “Yeah.” Grace was his best friend, and while he wouldn’t use the word mate, she was his mate, wasn’t she?

No one spoke, and Carlo squinted, trying to clear his vision. He got the feeling they weren’t pleased.

The two creatures led him and Grace into a brightly lit room, and Carlo hissed as pain pierced his brain.

“You need to lie down.” Grace touched his shoulder.

“I need a shower. Can you make them stop at the next bus stop? I’d really like to go home now.” As he spoke, his heart kicked into full gear. Were they being abducted by aliens? Was he on a spaceship? He couldn’t breathe. Black spots danced before his eyes, and his lungs refused to work.

“Easy. Take it easy. Breathe with me.” Grace pushed at his shoulders, making him sit. There was a cot or something, and he sat. “In.” She took a deep breath, and he tried to mimic it. “And out.” She blew out a long breath. They continued the procedure several times until his lungs let up a little.

“You’re doing great. We’re having us some exposure therapy for your claustrophobia, and you’re doing great.”

“Can we please go home?” He didn’t mean to sound so pathetic, but…shit. This couldn’t be happening. It had to be a dream.