Page 64 of Alien Rescue

She nodded. Should she mention that she hadn’t managed to pass the shooting-range requirements during her training? She’d planned to take the course again, but now she wished she was better at everything so that she could protect Zanr.

He pressed his forehead against hers for a moment, then turned away and she sighed. “Pssst, Zanr.” He glanced back at her. She pouted her lips the way he’d done before. “Kiss goodbye.”

He came back to her, kissed her, hard and fierce, his tongue invading her mouth. Then he turned without a word and disappeared. Rose clutched the laser pistol with shaking hands. That alien sure could kiss.

He went up to where Morgan had stood before and he must’ve done something because the cloak went down and the glowing wires were visible again. He ran down to the boat with that amazing speed. She held her breath when he disappeared into the long boat via the hatch on top. She couldn’t hear anything. What if Zanr was in trouble? He might be able to defend himself against humans, but what about the Zyrgin that was working with the scientists?

She settled into a more comfortable position, determined to make sure no one sneaked up on Zanr. A shrill alarm went off inside, and the boat became visible again.

Gunshots and shouting above the alarm came from inside the boat. Zanr might think he was bulletproof, but in such close quarters, someone was going to get in a lucky shot. Rose bit her lip. As if he stood next to her, she knew Zanr would tell her to stay put. But what if they’d captured him? Or shot him? What if the bomb was in there and it went off?

She had no choice, she had to go in and guard his back. Go into that small, dark, enclosed space where she would be trapped without a way out if she lost her bearings. Her feet wouldn’t move. She sat as if petrified to stone, and she’d never loathed herself as much. “Move,” she shouted at her legs, but they wouldn’t budge. All she could think through the panic was that the submarine was like the ultimate coffin. Like that shallow grave in the basement. Like a suitcase.

Seeing spots in front of her, gritting her teeth, she crawled. Made her palms and then her knees move. What made the experience even more terrifying was the fact that she couldn’t feel anything beneath her palms.

It took forever to reach the river. She crouched at the iron plank that led from the bank of the river to the boat. She lifted her hands and realized she’d lost the weapon Zanr had given her.

“Idiot,” she whispered to herself. Luckily she had her own laser pistol. Every fiber of her being fought her with the need to run away from the dark, enclosed space beyond that hatch.

Rose squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. She could do this. She’d allowed Parnell to bury her every few weeks for almost a year. Zanr needed her. For him she could do this.

Trembling, her stomach roiling, she crawled over the iron slab until she reached the opening to the submarine. Inside, the lights flickered on and off in a steady, disorienting beat. Along with the alarm blaring unrelenting soul-destroying noise, it was seriously disruptive to the synapses. Every time the lights came on, it showed horrific glimpses of a massacre: a fallen body, oddly broken; then it went dark then light again; an arm torn off a man who’d probably tried to take Zanr on in hand-to-hand combat; darkness. Please let it be Zanr that caused this havoc and not the traitor Zyrgin or a human. Please let Zanr be safe.

Rose wanted to call out, but didn’t want to let them know she was there or to distract Zanr. She needed to get inside, see if Zanr needed help, but she couldn’t make herself move.

“Talk, human. Give me the codes to disable the nanos or I will cut off pieces of you until you regain your memory.”

“Fuck, you freak,” a terrified male voice screamed. He might be afraid, but he was braver than she’d be if Zanr stood over her with hands dripping blood. And she had no doubt they dripped blood.

A terrible scream echoed around the metal hull and Rose’s stomach became serious about expelling its contents.

“No...no...no...stay way. I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you.” He blubbered some numbers.

Rose forced air into her lungs and quietly, carefully climbed down into the large coffin, steadily make her way toward Zanr and the unfortunate man who now babbled everything he knew.

She stepped over bodies and avoided puddles of blood, and the lights still did that steady on-and-off beat that threatened to drive her crazy.

She stepped through an opened hatch and saw Zanr standing over a man cradling a bloodied hand to his chest.

The lights went out and stayed out.

A harsh whimper tore out of her body, starting deep in her gut, and moved up her throat to escape past her trembling lips.

She was alone in the darkness, buried alive, and no one would ever know she’d died there. Alone and afraid in the dark. Parnell had forgotten her, and no would know to come and get her out.

Warmth around her. “You are with me, my breeder.” She breathed in his unique smell, whimpered because she was afraid and ashamed of her own cowardice. She didn’t even care that he smelled like fresh blood, as well. “K...K...Komodo?”

“Yes, your Komodo, I have you. Hold onto me, I have to call for warriors to take these weapons.”

Rose willingly clung to him while he grunted. He seemed to be able to see in the dark. Soon she saw daylight and she almost cried with relief.

“Is the bomb here?”

“Yes, it is a nuclear bomb that will destroy the continent if it is detonated.”

Rose hurried toward the daylight streaming in, in front of them. “But it won’t go off, right?”

“No, they have not finished building it. My fellow warriors will remove it to a safe location and dismantle it.”

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