Page 75 of Alien Rescue

Viglar injected her and then turned to Zanr, and they grunted at each other. She really had to make some effort to learn that grunty language. Could a human make those sounds? The doctor left and Zanr came over to her. “Viglar said it will take a few hours before the treatment works.”

She sighed. “I suppose it was too much to hope that I’d be cured instantly.” She clutched her arms around herself. “Will it hurt?”

“Yes.”

She glared at him. “You can at least try and reassure me.”

“You said never lie to you.”

She sighed. “You picked a great time to listen to me.” That dizzy feeling had the room spinning around her, and she laid down on the couch.

He knelt before her and took her hands in his. “You are losing your balance again?”

“Yes.”

“You may lie to me about this, my breeder,” he said, sounding haunted.

Her smile had to be as pathetic as she felt. She traced his prominent brow, the ridge running to his head, down his temples, over his cheeks, and to those tough-looking lips.

“Remember I told you I was kidnapped?” She needed to talk about this. To tell someone about what happened. To look at it with grownup eyes. And maybe forget that if the doctor’s injection didn’t work soon, the nanos might still kill her.

“Yes.”

“They grabbed me from my home. At the time it didn’t occur to me to wonder about that. I was too young to think about it. But my father, I mean my mother’s husband, was the one who gave them access.”

His eyes looked like erupting lava. “That woumber needs killing.”

“I don’t know anything about the camps you’re sending him to, but I don’t doubt someone is going to kill him soon.”

“I would like that someone to be me.”

“He’s not worth your attention. Anyway, they put a blanket over my head, and when they took it off, we were in a wooden hut, and I could see no houses nearby. Just dead trees. I was so relieved to be able to breathe properly again.” She stopped talking and took a deep, shuddering breath. She took Zanr’s hands in hers, held on for dear life. “They put me in a suitcase.”

“What is a suitcase?” Zanr asked, but she could hear from his voice that he already knew.

“It is a case you pack clothes in when you travel. I was small for my age.”

“You are still small for your age.”

Rose glared at him and let go of his hands. “Do you want to hear this or not?”

He took her hands back in his, held on with a firm grip. “Of course, I want to, my breeder.”

“Well, my Komodo, they kept me in there for two days. I didn’t know it was only two days then; I only heard afterward.” She clasped her arms around herself, unaware that she’d rolled herself into a small ball until he rose to sit on the couch and drew her onto his lap.

“I have found the kidnappers.” He sounded as if the words were torn out of him.

Rose realized her mouth hung open. “How, where, why?” She couldn’t think, didn’t know what to ask first. When did he have the time to even look for them?

“I tracked them down with superior Zyrgin skills.”

Rose wasn’t fooled. If she had to guess, he’d gotten their whereabouts from her mother’s husband. “What did you do to them?”

“I only hurt them a little. But I didn’t know they put you in a suitcase then.” There was a grim promise in his voice and she knew if those kidnappers were still alive, they’d pray for death soon.

They stayed like that for the next two hours and then Zanr stood with her in his arms. “We have to go to the infirmary. Viglar has monitored you remotely, but he needs you close now.”

She nodded and hid her face in his chest. “When will I meet the other human women?” she asked, more to take her mind off of her fear than anything else.

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