Page 1 of Fated to the Alien Rebel

Chapter 1

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Three monthsago

Sage

I’m not sure the blood is ever going to come out.

I dab at the small stain that is setting in on my white blouse, but it only grows bigger. I swipe faster, but the blood continues to spread until my entire shirt is soaked.

I bolt upright on a gasp and suck in air as though I’m suffocating. My forehead is damp, and my clothes are sticky with sweat. I glance down, expecting to see blood, but it’s only my plain blue shirt.

I sit within my pallet of blankets until my heartbeat returns to normal. God, I wish the nightmares would stop, but several times a week they visit me. Haunt me. Remind me of that night and what I did.

Every night, I go to bed thinking tomorrow’s the day I’m found out. That Alice or Gary or Adam are going to realize that no one named Melody Sage Holden was on any passenger manifest bound for the planet Tavikh. Or the authorities will show up to haul me away. Whichever one it is, I’ll be leaving here and heading back to Earth and prison.

There’s no way I’m going to fall asleep again after this. I drag myself to my feet, splash some cool water on my face, and change. Once I’ve slipped on my shoes, I step outside. It’s still nearly dark, but with the two moons in the sky, there’s enough light to see with. From the position of the second moon, I’m going to guess it’s about four or five. Within the next hour, the sun will rise and people will stir.

It’s been weird trying to get used to much shorter nights and longer days. Just once since I got on this planet, I’d like to get more than five hours of sleep.

I grab my bucket from the ground and head for the side door of the settlement so I can get fresh water from the river just beyond it. It always freaks me out to be outside of the four walls, but there’s no other choice. It doesn’t matter that there are a shitload of dangers on Tavikh neither I nor Makayla considered when she helped me stowaway on the Exodus Voyager.

Almost two years ago,space explorers had discovered Tavikh was a habitable planet. It took them a year to organize the pioneer trip for a new settlement here.Every day, more and more people were leaving Earth for somewhere else.

Six months after that first group of passengers arrived on Tavikh, the ship I was on landed here. That was a month ago. A month filled with stress and nightmares.

Worry about predators sits heavy in my gut as I scan the area.

It’s not just predators I have to worry about either. It’s also the Krijese. Just thinking about the scary ass aliens who live on this planet makes a cold chill run across the back of my neck.

Everyone here should be grateful for the other alien tribe that inhabits this planet. If not for the Tavikhi, so many more of us humans would be killed by the Krijese. Does anyone care that they risk their lives to protect us? Not at all. Nearly everyone in the settlement treats them with antipathy.

Thankful my bucket’s full, I rush back inside the walls that provide an illusion of safety. As soon as I secure the door, I encounter Gary.

“Morning, Sage. You’re up early.”

I raise my arms slightly to indicate my haul. “Getting some water for coffee before I head to the Tavikhi village with Rojtar.”

He shakes his head. “I don’t know how you can go off with one of those aliens. They could do anything to you.”

It’s the same every time. “I’m learning how to become a healer. Since we have a limited supply of medicine on hand until the next ship arrives, someone needs to be able to offer aid if something happens and we’ve run out. Whatif someone breaks a bone? Who’s going to help with that? We don’t even have a doctor in the settlement. Have you ever thought about why that is?”

Nobody here will admit that the government back on Earth doesn’t care what happens to the people who have come to Tavikh. The fact that Gary won’t meet my eyes is answer enough, because he knows why even if he or Adam—who appointed themselves the leaders of the settlement—refuse to see it.

“Don’t come crying to us if something happens to you then,” he says and exits out the side door.

“As if I would,” I mumble under my breath as I head back to my tent.

It takes me a couple tries, but I finally get the fire going in the small pit. I set the bucket over it to heat, and while I wait, I grab my pitiful looking mug from inside. There are times when I miss the freshly brewed coffee from the office. On Tavikh, it’s like drinking mud. At least it’s something, I guess.

I’m nearly finished when commotion from the front of the settlement draws my attention. The gates are opened and one of the imposing Tavikhi warriors strides through. On our treks to and from their village, I’ve learned Rojtar is one of the younger warriors, although I haven’t figured out his exact age. Despite his apparent youth, he’s as tall as the rest of them, who have to top seven feet. While he doesn’t have the hugely muscular build as their leader Zander—or Shefir as they call him—Rojtar could still do damage to someone.Especially with the sword attached to the belt around his waist.

His long, yellow-blond hair swirls around his shoulders in the breeze as he approaches. I toss out the rest of my coffee in the fire making it sizzle and steam.

“Greetings, human Sage.” He lays a fist over his heart in the Tavikhi sign of respect.

“Good morning.”

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