Warrior Invasion: A Science Fiction Alien Mail Order Bride Romance (TerraMates Book 10) (10 page)

K
atie sat
against the back of her seat and breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t been in her cell for long, but it was enough to make her realize she wasn’t interested in staying. The Oretoz had treated her worse than an animal. She didn’t even want to imagine what would have happened to her in the future.

Chixo had told her Commander Reck planned to interview her again in the morning. She wondered if he had discovered her absence yet.

Katie pressed her face against the window and watched the land drift further away into the distance underneath her. From this view, she could easily imagine the ship was flying over Earth. The colors were darker here and the buildings were slightly different shapes, but civilization was civilization. There were roads, parks, and clumps of small homes huddled together between them. For everyone else, life was going on as usual despite the fact that their human prisoner had escaped. Katie wondered what was happening back on Earth. Did her parents even know aliens had kidnapped her?

An image of Troxeo flashed across her mind. She tried to stop thinking about him, but he kept looming in front of her eyes. The big man throwing her over his shoulder on the Earth spaceship headed for Bonaan, the curious look on his face when he visited her quarters on his ship, the force with which he ripped off clothing.

What was happening to Troxeo right now? Were they holding him responsible for her escape? Or was he down below her somewhere on a different ship, preparing to follow them and drag her back to the underground prison? She hadn’t quite been able to figure out Troxeo and determine whether he was her enemy or something else. There was a spark in his green eyes that she couldn’t seem to forget.

“Thank you guys again for getting me out of there,” Katie said to Chixo, who sat across from her. Chixo was digging the dirt out from under her nails with a knife. The seats on the small ship ran along the sides instead of facing the front. “I don’t know how much longer I could have handled the isolation.”

Chixo snorted a little and looked up at the human. “You were hardly in there at all compared to the rest of the prisoners. It’s unusual for anyone to return from one of those cells.”

“Really? What did the other people do?” Katie had imagined that it would be like the prisons back on Earth, where everyone had a certain amount of time behind bars based on their crimes. But now that she was thinking about it, she had done nothing to merit being placed behind bars.

“All sorts of things. Most of them have spoken out against the Council either in the open or in private.” The alien shrugged. “It’s just one of those things you’re not supposed to do.”

Katie leaned forward in her seat. “Really? You’re not allowed to say you don’t like what your leaders are doing? What if they’re wrong about something?”

Chixo looked at her as though she were crazy. “Of course not. It would only breed dissent in our city which would spread to other parts of Oretoz. You’re either with the Council or against them. There’s no in-between, and they don’t tolerate anyone who is against them.”

Katie supposed there were regions like that on Earth, but she wasn’t from one of them. “That sounds terrible. Well, I can’t wait to get back home. I’m ready to curl up in a real bed with a big mug of chamomile tea. Arkhan, how long will it be before we reach Earth?”

Arkhan turned around in his seat next to Enan. “Earth? A long time. Never.” He turned back around.

“That’s hilarious,” Katie retorted. “Really. Do we have to transfer to a different ship somewhere?”

The big man shook his dark head. “Nope. This ship is all we have.”

“What are you going on about?” Chixo asked. “We’re in a land hopper. You couldn’t use it to get outside the atmosphere if you tried. Even if you could, this compartment would depressurize in an instant.”

Arkhan turned around again with a strange grin on his face. “We aren’t getting a different ship because we don’t need one. We aren’t going back to Earth.”

Katie had thought it would be difficult to get clearance for a flight to Earth. “Are you taking me to Bonaan? It makes sense. I was headed there in the first place. I’m sure I can arrange transportation back to Earth. But it’s an entirely different planet. Do you have a way to get there without a ship, like a transporter?”

“We’re not going to Bonaan either.”

She stared into his dark eyes, and her stomach started to twist. For the first time, she felt like something was wrong. Katie was still wearing the electromagnetic handcuffs Arkhan had slapped on her wrists back in the prison. She wouldn’t be able to move her arms unless someone freed her. Chixo had already questioned him about his choice of a ship before they left the Fortress.

“Where are you taking me?” she whispered.

Arkhan stood and came into the back of the hopper. He was too tall to stand up straight in the small ship. He had to bend over when he reached her seat. “You are an intriguing creature and far too interesting to be locked away in a prison cell. But I can’t let you go, either, not when I have other plans for you.” He ran a thick finger down her cheek. “You are no longer the prisoner of Troxeo or Commander Reck. Now we are free to be with each other.”

Katie tried to recoil from his touch, but there wasn’t much space to move around. Her head was already against the window behind her. “I don’t understand what you mean. Why would you go to all the trouble to help me escape and not take me back home?”

“Because he’s an idiot, that’s why.” Chixo rose from her seat. Unlike Arkhan, she was able to stand up fully. She pointed an angry finger in his face. “I can’t believe you. We broke about a dozen military regulations and turned ourselves into outlaws so you could fuck an alien? I would never have helped you if I had known.”

“That’s being a little harsh, don’t you think?” Arkhan put up a weak attempt to feign innocence. “You said yourself that you didn’t like her living conditions. I promise you Katie won’t be kept in a cell while she is with me. She might end up naked again, though.”

Katie launched herself out of her seat. Arkhan had been looking at Chixo, and he didn’t have time to react before she slammed the top of her head into his face. She felt his nose crunch against her skull and saw two gushes of blood start to drip down his face.

“You little bitch!” He flung her to the floor of the spaceship.

Stars danced across Katie’s vision as she struggled to get to her feet. Arkhan reached for her again, but Chixo distracted him.

“If you lay another hand on her, I’m going to report our location immediately. There’ll be a swarm of officers here before you know it.” She had her hands on her hips and was doing her best to look threatening despite her small stature. Katie noticed her hand was inching down her side to a blaster.

Arkhan stared down at her with disgust. “You wouldn’t do that. You would implicate yourself as well as me. If you call us in, your reward will be a cell right next to mine in the Fortress.”

“Let’s find out.” Chixo’s hand rested on her blaster. “Staying in the Fortress would be less of a punishment than working alongside a dishonest soldier.”

Arkhan was finished playing around and wanted to get past this obstacle. He pulled a weapon out of his belt and fired it at Chixo, who fell in a crumpled heap on the floor of the ship.

Katie rushed over to the alien woman’s side. A tiny needle protruded from her neck, trembling in tune with her pulse. “What did you do?” She could hear the panic in her voice. It was embarrassing, but she had just lost her only ally. Enan was still silently flying the plane. He didn’t seem eager to jump to her defense.

“It was only a tranquilizer. I had a feeling she might not see things the same way I do. I’m not going to kill someone I’ve known and trained with my whole life, but I don’t have to let her ruin my plans either.”

“What are your plans, exactly?” Katie countered. “What could you possibly want with me?”

Arkhan narrowed his eyes. “Haven’t you figured it out yet? You have a certain allure to men from my planet. I guess humans are as stupid as they say. I’ve seen the way Troxeo looks at you. He might deny it, but I know he sees the same thing I do. It’s impossible not to notice the way you hold yourself when you walk and how your curves take over an entire room.” He licked his lips as he looked down at her, not meeting her eyes but studying her body. “You seem different from our women. You are soft, and it makes a man hard.”

Katie whipped her foot up to kick him in the knee. She would have gone higher if she had been able to reach his balls. “Stay away from me.”

The big man didn’t seem affected at all by her little attack. He grinned. “That’s perfect. I like a challenge. I wouldn’t have gone to 'all this trouble' if I didn’t. But don’t get too feisty, Earthling, or I’ll give you a shot just like Chixo. It won’t kill you, but it will make you wish you were dead.” Katie cringed when he moved toward her, but he walked past to pick up Chixo’s limp form. He dragged it toward the back of the ship.

“What are you doing with her?” Katie demanded.

He shot her an irritated look. “Will you stop asking so many irrelevant questions? I’m putting her into an escape pod. She doesn’t need to come with us.”

He set Chixo down in a particular seat at the back of the ship. It was set apart from the others. There were several buttons on the arm of the chair, and Arkhan pushed a few in a predetermined sequence. When he had pushed the last button, a clear bubble closed over Chixo’s body. A flick of a switch opened a hatch in the rear of the plane. The bubble containing Chixo slowly rolled toward the opening, moved down the ramp, and bounced away into the sky.

Katie’s face contorted into a silent scream. Arkhan gave her a derisive smile.

“You know she’s safe, right? I’m good at protecting people. You’ll see. Chixo’s in an escape pod. It’s on autopilot, and it will take her back to the Fortress. Fortunately for us, they don’t move very fast, and she’ll probably still be unconscious by the time she arrives. It will take a while for them to wake her up and get the full story out of her. With luck, we will be too far gone for anyone to find us. I’m not sure what she would tell them. She doesn’t know where we’re going.” He flicked the overhead switch and the ramp closed.

Katie’s body felt frozen, but her mind whirred. If Arkhan just sent Chixo back to the capital while she was comatose, they might not blame her for what happened. She hoped she would look more like a victim than a conspirator.

Arkhan stepped around her and took his seat at the front of the ship once again. “I suggest you make yourself comfortable. It’s going to be a while before we arrive.”

T
roxeo slammed
his fists onto his ship’s console. Katie wasn’t any better off in Arkhan’s hands than she would have been in the prison. Knowing him, she might be in a worse position. What would he do to her? He already knew the answer to his hypothetical question. Troxeo remembered all too vividly the way his cousin had eyed the Earthling, and the conversation they held afterward. He knew what Arkhan would do to Katie.

Arkhan wanted the Earth girl as badly as Troxeo did, but they had different motivations. Arkhan merely wanted to take his pleasure from her soft, rounded flesh and use her like he used everyone else in life. Troxeo swore Arkhan wouldn’t get the opportunity to have his way with Katie if he ever got to see her again. He wanted her flesh as well, but he wanted even more than that. He ran his hands through his hair. He should never have let Arkhan help with his mission to Earth, no matter what their blood ties were.

The problem now was figuring out their destination. His spaceship was headed east because he had seen the hopper go in that direction. But Troxeo knew the initial heading of a ship wasn’t an accurate indicator of its final destination. Where could Arkhan possibly take her that would be safe from the prying eyes of a pursuing military force? The city stretched for miles around the Fortress. There were a few small towns to the east of Capital City, but after that, there was nothing but woods.

Then it hit him. Arkhan had taken a hopper because he didn’t plan on leaving the planet. He broke Katie out of prison, but he wasn’t going to return her to Earth. He was going to keep her for himself. There was only one place Troxeo imagined he could go. He changed the course of his ship and turned the engines up to full speed.

Several generations ago, before the Oretoz had united under the Council, Troxeo’s family had been farmers. They had lived their lives peacefully in the country, but they were always willing to stand up for what they thought was right. His family had been ideal candidates to become soldiers once the alliance had formed. The Council heavily recruited for its new army and promised excellent pay.

The Trepniss men and women signed up without hesitation, and their children and their children’s children continued to serve the Council as they came of age. Eventually, the agrarian home in the country was forgotten. There was no need for it when soldiers began staying close to their commanders in case duty called. They lived in the Capital City now, bunking with their brothers and sisters in arms.

Troxeo remembered the old homestead and knew Arkhan did, as well. As children, they had convinced one of their relatives to take them there in a beat-up land ship. Over time, trees had begun to creep closer to the old building and it had been vacant for many years. Undeterred, they broke in through the back door and explored the old house.

Dry Oretoz air had preserved the building and its contents. They shared a laugh at the simple tools of their ancestors and their clothing. Troxeo was old enough to remember there was a lack of communication devices built into the house, unlike modern homes. There wasn’t even the luxury of elevator pods. Instead, there was a dangerous-looking tall and complicated structure built of wood that required a man to use his feet to reach the next level of the house. Wood had fallen out of favor as a building material. His grandfather had told him about an incredible boom in technology after the Council took over. Many of the old homes were never upgraded.

Troxeo knew the old homestead would have a magnetic appeal for Arkhan. There were no communicators, no surveillance systems, and nobody else around for miles. Or at least there wouldn’t be until Troxeo found them. He hoped his childhood memories would be a good enough guide to find the old place. It wasn’t on any of the maps.

He put his hand on his ship’s built-in communicator, then slowly lifted it off again. He knew what he was supposed to do. He should call it into the Fortress. A dutiful soldier would let Commander Reck know the situation right away, either directly or through his subordinates.

Troxeo’s responsibility was informing Reck that he suspected Arkhan was the one who had stolen the prisoner. He needed to request backup ships. Any prison escapee was a big deal, especially one from another planet. If he were able to recapture Katie successfully, Reck might even be in a good enough mood to give Troxeo a promotion. That was all he had hoped for by bringing the Earthling to Reck in the first place.

It was his duty, but Troxeo couldn’t perform it. He stared at the communicator for a few moments, unsure of what to do. If he captured Katie and brought her back, she would be put into cell 406 again, if she were lucky. It was likely Commander Reck would order him to kill her on sight. He imagined the beautiful woman’s face contorted in fear and confusion as he shot her. He wouldn’t do it.

He reached for the communicator again, but he turned it off instead of activating it. There no question in his mind as to why he was doing this. His purpose was clear. He was going to rescue Katie. He had to know if she was his eleste.