Page 26 of Argurma Monster

She drew in a deep breath in an attempt to ease the persistent throbbing in her head. As much as she wanted to rail against him, what he said aligned with what she had already worked out. The spaceport clearly had safety protocols to lock it impenetrably against attack. The survivors were unexpected, but it also stood to reason that anyone who could have possibly survived had been left into the spaceport. No one had come for them.

“When can I see my mates?” she groaned.

“You are speaking of the Argurma?” Medic Sieylana leaned over Beverly, her eyes bright with curiosity. “There is not a lot known about the species, but I have never heard of them group mating before.”

“Whatever relationship you have with the Argurma, it is meaningless now,” Ragal interrupted. “This is a Kaze colony, and our laws must be abided to here. Your official mated status is registered as unknown and you will be hereby put in the mating pool.”

The medic straightened, her eyes whipping to him. “Captain, I must protest. If she is saying that is mated, by law we must—”

“What you must do is what you have been ordered to do,” he replied as he turned to the female with a steely regard. “Just get ready and then report to me.”

Sieylana lowered her head submissively. “Yes, captain.”

Ragal’s gaze slowly caressed Beverly in a way that made her skin crawl, his eyes brightening with a look of interest that made her skin crawl. She was relieved when he suddenly turned away and headed for the door. Her stomach churning, she glanced over at the medic busying herself with putting away her equipment.

“The mating pool is metaphoric right?” she asked with a nervous laugh. “They are just going to pull straws and argue over it for a few days, right?” Anything to buy her some time.

The medic glanced over at her with a weak smile and shook her head. “The Kave have aquatic dwelling ancestors. Anciently we were a swamping dwelling race—but that was before. While we are mostly land dwellers now for the sake of convenience as the dry land allows us to live comfortably in our cities in a fashion that would be difficult in the swamps, but it is difficult to escape instinct. Many of our life events still take place in water, however, and because of that the spaceport was fitted with a poolto aid Kaze who were transitionary between our homeworld and our new colony.”

“Including mating,” Beverly observed, and the medic inclined her head.

“Sadly it is our irresistible draw to the swamps that brought the infestation to our door. We did not realize that the Hethkreian vablor parasite that lives in the swamps was a true threat to us.” She sighed and continued to put her equipment away. “Our scientists were fascinated with the parasites. They appeared to target a particular species of animal with which they lived in a symbiotic relationship. They are fascinating really. When they infect their hose, they borrow their mouth into the back of the brain while their feeding arms surround the hypothalamus. From that point, they send thin motor tendrils into the various parts of the brain controlling eating and movement etc. Meanwhile, its tapered tail imbeds into the neck, burying its asexual genitals where it will reproduce and release spore-eggs into the host. The juvenile parasites are tiny and live in colonies along the arms, legs and genitals of the host. Once they become mature, they erupt out from beneath the skin of the mother-parasite’s host, causing shallow lacerations and small contusions that never entirely heal. What is fascinating, however, is how they don’t all attempt to swarm and burst out of the skin. The just slip out one or two at a time when the time is right and continue the cycle of life. Observing them in their natural environment was fascinating.”

Beverly tried not to gag as she recalled the sight of the wedge-shaped bugs scurrying toward her. She didn’t get the appeal of what made them so fascinating, but that was also not her area of specialization.

Sufficiently distracted from thoughts of the literal activity of mating in a pool, Beverly sat up and peered at the medic curiously. “How did it infest the Kaze, then?”

Sieylana breathed heavily as if attempting to steady her nerves and she cast Beverly a sad smile over her shoulder. “We were all warned to not go into the swamps without proper gear and sanitization afterward. Although no one suspected that they would infect us, the general consensus was that the swamp was still a restrictive zone while the composition and lifeforms within the swamp was being studied and safety was being determined. A couple wishing to mate, however, made the decision that they wanted to mate in a more authentic way out in the swamp. They were the first casualties, and from them the infection spread throughout our colony city.”

“And the city died,” Beverly concluded.

“And the city died,” the medic confirmed. “We died. Our whole colony died. There are only two hundred Kaze left. One hundred and thirty of which are males, eighty unmated.” She glanced at Beverly sadly. “They will never let your mates have you.”

That was what they thought.

Chapter 23

Talech prowled restlessly, his vibrissae snapping around him with angry hisses as his mandibles clicked in an angry chitter. It had been two days that they were locked inside the room and whatever hope he had that they would be reunited with their mate had gradually fractured and crumbled. He needed to find a way to get out of there. They needed to find Beverly. He would tear the entire spaceport apart if he had to.

Snarling, he whirled around and charged the door for he calculated was the twelfth time in the last hour. He knew that was insanity, and he was aware of Zoreth’s eyes following him, but he could not hold back his rage. What stability he found in attaching to both Beverly and Zoreth, it had been quickly shattered with his mate’s absence. He turned toward the door of their cell and stalked over to it in a rage. Roaring, he slammed his fists on the walls sending an echoing vibrational through the room that hurt his ears. A hand curled around one of his horns and his head was dragged to the left to meet Zoreth’s concerned eyes.

“Calm, Talech,” the male ordered. “I have been gradually working my way into the system over the last thirty-three hours to hack into the system here but your bellowing is distracting me.”

“Beverly... anastha... she is—”

“I process her absence,” Zoreth soothed. “I feel the same rage, but this situation requires our focus. We are incapable of action while confined and they will not release us.”

“I will break the door,” Talech growled. “I have broken many doors.”

Zoreth chuffed softly and shook his head, his vibrissae twining with Talech’s comfortingly. “A spaceport does notpossess such weakness. Force will not work. Even its systems are created with encryption difficult to access. Give me a rotation, Talech.”

“A rotation?” Talech spat. “They have stolen our mate. They will seek to destroy us.”

“It is difficult to destroy on Argurma. More to destroy two,” Zoreth reminded him with infuriating calm. “And our anastha possesses intellect and resourcefulness. They will not succeed easily with her.”

Humor rose reluctantly through the haze of Talech’s malfunctioning systems, and he chuffed in agreement despite himself. “Beverly will remove the civix of any male who gets too close without her permission granted.”

Zoreth nodded, his glowing gaze growing warm. “Beverly is fierce.”

---