Page 14 of Alien Rescue

His breeder waved her hands above her head. “Hey, aliens, tell me what’s happening. Speake de English, or I’m going to start bashing in ridged heads,” Rose shouted. She narrowed her eyes at Zanr. “Don’t even think about putting your hand over my mouth.” She was getting good at reading his intentions.

Viglar glared at him. “You should teach your breeder respect for warriors.” He prepared another injection. “Zacar told me that you have to interrogate her. She is very small and delicate—she might die if you scare her too much. I do not hold with the torture of females,” Viglar said again.

Zanr stretched himself and glared at Viglar. “I am a warrior with honor. I do not scare my breeder.” Never mind that he’d tried exactly that earlier. If she’d acted truly afraid, he would’ve stopped.

“Leave me with my breeder. I would never torture her,” he told Viglar.

“If you hurt her or scare her, I will return.” With that threat, the doctor turned around and left.

Zanr turned to Rose. “Tell me about the secret lab. Do you know where it is? It is in the best interest of both our people for you to tell me.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “There’s nothing to tell. I’m not allowed in there.”

“If I showed you images, could you point out the scientists that worked there? The agents that were allowed in there?”

“No.”

“Do you know of any other secret labs, besides the one in the basement of the building where you were tortured?”

“I told you I wasn’t tortured.”

Chapter Six

Hours later, Zanr stared down at Rose. Asleep, she looked so weak and small. He arranged her hair in a style that was striking even if he had to praise his own skills. He didn’t want to leave her, not even while she slept.

He contacted Zacar. “I’m on my way to report.”

She knew very little of the scientists. At least he didn’t manage to scare her during the interrogation. She’d given him the answers he needed without realizing. She claimed to be a trained agent, but the fact that she was so quick to tell him her status, showed her lack of training.

Parnell either didn’t know how to train them or he wanted to surround himself with incompetents. Rose had no knowledge of interrogation techniques, what to look out for. No matter what planet you’d conquered, certain behaviors were universal. Government agents had certain skills she lacked.

He ran to Zacar’s office, again careful to camouflage and get past Zacar’s dwelling before the small human could make him drink odd fluids from even odder little cups. Zacar did not accept any excuses for tardy arrivals.

Zacar and Zurian both stood in the office, their faces grave. Zurian rarely spoke and it still surprised Zanr that the warrior had adopted a small human female. A very small and weak human female. Of all of them, in spite of the fact that Zurian had trained him, he’d thought Zurian would be the one to go back to the old ways and kill the weak, small human. But he’d seen Zurian play with it. As if he enjoyed doing it and not only to please his breeder.

That day, when he’d seen Zurian throw the human child in the air and catch her, had seen and heard the small human scream and laugh, it had made him question how his own blood could abandon him. What made him less acceptable to his closest blood than a weak human child to Zurian? He’d proved that he could grow into a strong warrior. He’d heard in older times when small warriors were born weak, they were always abandoned, that breeders had fought tooth and nail to keep the small Zyrgins safe—citizen or warrior. Zanr’s last memory of his blood’s breeder was her saying they should leave the weak, ugly thing in the desert and make another one.

When Zacar had formed his own team, and Zurian, a scarred warrior, and one of the few willing to train Zanr, had been chosen as his second, Zanr had hoped. At the time Zanr hadn’t gone through his third change yet. He’d taken a chance and indicated his willingness to join Zacar’s team, and shortly after his third change, Zacar had drafted him. Ever since that day, he’d looked forward—had enjoyed conquest and seeing new planets. But Zurian’s acceptance of a weak, small human sometimes made him wonder about his own closest blood. He shrugged off those thoughts and concentrated on reporting to his leader.

“My breeder was taken to the lab once when they took her out of the hole. She remembers little of it,” Zanr said.

The humans always said they had expressionless faces, but he could clearly see the concern and disappointment on both the warriors’ faces. Why were they so desperate to know about the scientists?

“Parnell admitted under torture that he’d put her in the lab when he took her out of the hole,” Zacar told him.

Zurian’s eyes narrowed. “Viglar should examine her again.”

Cold dread settled in Zanr’s gut. He knew they’d found some biological weapons in the basement. Larz had told him about the nanos Parnell had injected into Margaret. He would turn this world upside down for a cure if his breeder had those little killing machines inside her.

“Agreed,” Zacar said.

“I will see to it,” Zanr said. He wanted to run to Rose and get her checked over, now.

“What I am about to tell you is only known to me and the Parenadorz and four others. You will not speak of it to anyone else,” Zacar said.

His heart beat faster, as if he was going into battle. His leader trusted him. Him, Zanr, the bloodless warrior. “Yes, my leader.”

“We are dealing with a bigger problem here. Quantities of jinz izwe have been stolen.”

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