Page 8 of Claimed by an Alien Warrior

He hit the ground hard, teeth clacking together, and tumbled down the slope, kicking up dust and battering his weary body along the way. He scrabbled for purchase with all four hands but managed only to alter the trajectory of his roll and set himself to flipping backwards. Each time his torso hit the ground, a little more air was forced out of his lungs.

Finally, he reached a more gradual slope, and he slid to a halt. Lying on his back, he stared up at the unfamiliar sky as he caught his breath and reviewed his new aches. Somehow, he’d avoided serious injury.

A cold breeze flowed over him, chilling his scales; though he was burning up inside, his outer layers were like ice. That was far more uncomfortable than the pain in his limbs.

When his ragged breathing finally subsided, he became aware of other sounds — the airy whooshing of ground vehicles speeding along the distant road, the soft whisper of wind over the sand, the rustling of vegetation, and something else. His scales prickled.

Rendash sat up and turned his head to listen. It was a whirring sound, almost like the rapid popping of human blasters, but this was constant and seemed to originate from somewhere high up. He lifted his gaze.

The sound gained strength gradually, drowning out Rendash’s thumping heart, and soon pulsed through him. Suddenly, a black object roared over the mountain peak he’d just crossed.

The vehicle was long and dark, its tail end narrow. Huge blades rotated atop it — a primitive but effective means of flight. A bright light beamed from its underside to cast a broad circle of illumination on the ground. He longed for a blaster; he’d even accept a human weapon, so long as he didn’t have to rely upon his nyros to fight.

Rendash pushed himself to his feet to face the new threat.

The aircraft passed directly overhead. Its vibrations jarred the loose dirt around Rendash, and its spinning blades battered him with violent, freezing wind. Two more of the vehicles flew over the crest, veering in opposite directions along the mountains as the first continued toward the distant road. The noise of the aircrafts quickly faded.

They cannot detect me while cloaked.

A small boon, and not much of a surprise, but how long could he maintain the cloaking field?

He turned toward the stationary lights. Until he recovered more of his strength, a human vehicle would be the only reliable means of covering considerable distances. They were rudimentary conveyances; surely, they’d be simple enough to operate.

Without wasting more time — or precious mental energy — he hurried down the slope and sprinted toward the distant structures. The faces of his Umen’rak flitted through his mind, affording him impossible reserves of strength as his limbs threatened to fail. He leapt over a strange pathway that was set atop a mound of small, dark rocks in a narrow valley. It consisted of two relatively thin metal rails that ran as far as he could see to the left and right, which were bridged by shorter, thicker beams along the way.

Despite his cloaking, he kept low and to the shadows as he approached the structures. The buildings were well-lit, and several immobile ground vehicles sat nearby, some beside posts bearing more lights.

Rendash froze and pressed himself flat to the ground as the sound of an aircraft suddenly grew. The aircraft passed directly overhead, drawing the attention of the few visible humans.

Another ground vehicle — dull gold with four doors, small compared to Stantz’s black transports — arrived and stopped at the edge of the lights. When the door opened, a human female climbed out, but she turned and walked toward one of the buildings before Rendash caught even a glimpse of her features.

The whirring of the aircraft continued in the distance. This was potentially his only opportunity before his nyros failed.

He crawled forward, remaining in the shadows as he approached the gold vehicle. Its size became more apparent as he neared; he doubted he’d fit in the operator’s position without tearing the seat out completely. He glanced toward the buildings. None of the humans were watching, but the other transports were too clustered together for him to access without being noticed.

Slowly and quietly, Rendash opened the rear door and climbed into the back seat, gently pulling the door shut behind him.

He couldn’t guess where the woman was heading, but he couldn’t continue on foot. He’d simply have to make her go in the direction he needed until he could travel alone.

Chapter Three

Zoey flushed the toilet and stood inside the stall until the roar of the water being sucked down the pipe was replaced with eerie silence. The newer rest stops were like that — too quiet. That put her more on edge than the old, echoing, rundown restrooms did; at least in the old ones you could usually hear cars driving past on the highway, reminding you that you weren’t all alone.

She would have preferred not to stop at all, but sometimes a girl just had to pee.

She stepped out of the stall and walked to the sink. After washing her hands, she splashed cold water on her cheeks and stared at her reflection as she dried her hands and face. She looked tired. Not anI went to work at six this morning and have been driving for half the daykind of tired, but a bone-deep, emotionally-and-mentally destroyed kind.

Zoey braced her hands on the edge of the sink and leaned forward. She looked herself in the eyes. “What are you going to do, Zoey? How much longer can you hold on before you break?”

Unsurprisingly, she had no answer.

Her eyes brimmed with tears. “I thought I had it for a while there, dad. I really did. A job, a boyfriend, a home. Not a great job, or the best boyfriend, or the nicest place to live, but it was stable. And now it’s all gone.” She blinked, and the tears spilled down her cheeks. Laughing humorlessly, she straightened and wiped her cheeks. “And here I am talking to myself in a restroom in the middle of nowhere. God, can I sink any lower?”

The answer to that question — deceptively bright and tempting — came promptly after she left the restroom and saw the row of vending machines beneath a nearby shelter.

“Aw, come on!” She spread her hands to either side as she looked up at the sky. “This issonot what I need right now.”

Frowning, she walked to the machines and looked over the variety of snacks and drinks they contained. She didn’t need any of it. These indulgences were part of why everything had gone wrong with Josh. If she’d developed a backbone and tried a little harder to resist, to avoid giving in to her temptations, she could’ve been what he wanted. She could’ve been more attractive, more pleasing…

---