Page 3 of Alien Rescue

“I’m not betting against you,” Larz said promptly.

“Count me out,” another one said.

“Twenty rounds,” someone shouted from the front.

Inevitably, one of the warriors behind him muttered, “No blood woumber.”

Zanr shrugged it off, like he’d done from the time the Zyrgin had found him abandoned in the desert. Only one week old, weak, but determined to survive. He remembered the fear, but mostly he’d been angry. That emotion had kept him alive until the Zyrgin found him.

Several others entered the bet. Zanr mentally stroked his ridge. With the credits he’d make, he’d be able to buy his breeder many hair ornaments. And he could take her some yarn, as well. “Did I tell you my breeder’s hair has beautiful spirals?”

Larz and all the other warriors around them groaned. “What,” he said innocently, “I have to mention it. My breeder has truly remarkable hair.” Thick and black like midnight on his home planet. Her hair made spirals and it wrapped around his fingers. As if even her hair recognised him as her warrior. He’d been half afraid he’d be denied a breeder because of his bloodless status. He never expected to have such a superior breeder.

“Start marching, no blood,” the warrior who’d sneered before ordered.

Larz tensed, but Zanr merely laughed and exited the shuttle, dragging Larz with him. “I’d be fighting all the time if I took offence,” he told Larz quietly. Instead he took their money off them when they lost their bets.

His friend’s eyes blazed red. “It is not right.”

Zanr shrugged. “I know, but I’m used to it. Besides, they’re just jealous because I have such a pretty breeder.” Larz had a noble side to him, and the last thing Zanr wanted was for his friend to be punished again. Because of him.

Zanr camouflaged himself, the others doing the same. They strode to the back of the row of warriors marching through the streets, the sound of their boots stomping on the ground, echoing around the city. After centuries of conquest, Zyrgin warriors knew how to intimidate those they conquered. Making a statement early on made for less resistance when they started the work camps. Though Zacar had said there would be no work camps on Earth, no one knew exactly what his plans were.

Larz smirked and they both fell in and started to march down the long road they’d chosen. It snaked through Washington and allowed the humans a good view of their conquerors—showed them why fighting would be a bad idea. They had a much bigger force than they’d landed with three years ago. The warriors who’d gone back in time meant they had more warriors to keep the humans under control should it become necessary. They’d waited out the centuries, taken breeders and had small warriors, and had been a sizable presence on Earth by the time their ship landed on the planet. If they hadn’t traveled back in time, they’d never have been able to take Earth without establishing war camps and killing most of the men.

Zanr had no idea why this conquest was different and didn’t care what the higher-ups had planned. He wanted to get back to his breeder. This show of strength was necessary, but he was ready to be done with it.

The little human had been asleep since he’d rescued her. When she did open her eyes, she was delirious and called him odd names. He wanted to be the first one she saw when she woke. She had terrible dreams, and he wanted her to know that she had a strong warrior to protect her against the things haunting her in those dreams.

Crumbling tar and dirt crunched beneath his tough Zyrgin boots. Made of jinz izwe, it protected him from most weapons. His uniform was made from the same material. They could program it to be any color or texture, but for the march they left it silver. The uniforms shining in the human sun made an impressive statement. It said, “We are here to stay—bow before your masters.”

Before he could get back to his human, he had to march down the streets of Washington, along with his fellow warriors, to show these humans what they were up against. The troops marching from one end of Washington to the other were broadcast all over the world. Large, intimidating holo images of the Zyrgin warriors, marching through their capital cities, hung over every city on Earth. Even with the time travelers and the small warriors they’d produced, they didn’t have the numbers to make the kind of show of strength that Zacar wanted. Zanr marched through the crowds. No matter how many times they did this, he always felt proud of being a conquest warrior. He and Larz entered a waiting shuttle and took a circuitous route back to where they would start to march again. They would march the whole day—make the humans believe hundreds of thousands of aliens had landed on Earth.

Zanr had done this thirty times now and he wanted to get back to his dwelling. His breeder might be awake. He’d set the sensors in their dwelling to monitor her and alert him if anything changed, but he needed to be there to watch over her.

His breeder had slept the last two weeks. Sometimes her eyes would open, but she looked at him with vacant eyes. She showed none of the fear and revulsion that some humans experienced when they saw a Zyrgin warrior for the first time. But he saw terror in her eyes, in the way she cringed. Not terror of him, not yet anyway, but terror of being trapped in the hole she’d been buried in. He heard it in the way she would sometimes beg to be let out. Sometimes she begged to be let out of the proving hole and sometimes out of a suitcase, her hands pushing as if she was still in that basement and covered with a heavy steel door. When he found the human responsible, he’d torture him for many weeks. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the rank that gave him access to the prisoners. But he’d find the human or humans responsible for torturing his breeder.

“What bothers you?” Larz asked.

“I want her awake. I want her to tell me who put that terror into her eyes.” Because he was going to torture and kill all the human males that had buried her in that basement. They’d captured Parnell and some of his cronies—now on their way to the home world. But too many humans had escaped that building. He wanted all of them to suffer the way Parnell and his scientists were suffering.

“Let me know if I can help,” Larz offered.

The command to stop marching came when they were in the middle of their thirtieth round.

The warrior behind him swore and Zanr smirked. “Pay up.” Zanr collected his winnings, ignoring the mumbled, “no blood weakling,” from a few of the others. He took the ball of twine with a satisfied grin. He had a breeder to care for now. The credits would come in handy.

“I will bring the game to the barracks.” It was a piece of cardboard with faded prints of colorful snakes and odd-looking squares. He didn’t want the other warrior near Rose. She might see a blooded warrior and make a comparison.

Waving at Larz, he went to find a shuttle bound for Headquarters.

Chapter Three

In Rose’s dreams she proved herself, but then the dream twisted, turning into a nightmare. She begged Mr. Parnell to let her out of that shallow grave and he scorned her, telling her she wasn’t worthy, would never be good enough.

This time in her nightmare, a strange-looking being haunted her dream, as well. The strange man-being was dressed in a metal uniform and had a green-and-copper face. He kept her trapped inside a large cube made from the same silver as his uniform. She screamed and screamed, but no one knew she was trapped. She was back in the suitcase, unable to move, and her kidnappers ignored her screams.

“Quiet, my breeder, you are all right,” the silver man-being said, in a voice like electrified lightning. His shiny uniform made her eyes water. She gratefully gave in to the darkness.

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