Chapter 10—Earth
(La’el)
I had never felt so good in my entire life. It had been a few days since Senana and I had finished the exchange. I’d never understood how close you could truly be to your other half until he was buried deep inside me, filling my body with his seed. In the last few days, I’d ridden my mate’s cock until we were both utterly exhausted.
A broad smile jerked at my lips as I watched Senana and the Aky’an, Edik, talk over everything we would need to do once on the ship. The ship—Sena told me—would be here in the next few hours and there would probably be a thirty-minute gap to get into the cargo hold. He’d explained how we would board the ship while the crew was being distracted, and once all the corpses were loaded on later, we would remove the false ones planted by the Aky’ans.
I purred deeply when I remembered waking up beside him that morning after the exchange with my tail secure between his legs, his hand firm on my hip. There was nothing quite like having your mate lay beside you. Ever since that night, I had had the warmest sensation swirling in my lower abdomen that made me purr unconsciously at times. I rubbed my belly, adoring that feeling Senana had left behind.
“La’el, does your stomach hurt?” Sena asked while looking at me with narrowed brows.
I chuffed, my tail winding around my leg in a happy twist. “No, Tao, my stomach is fine. It feels really good actually.” Sena looked at me with a confused expression, his stormy eyes swirling.
“Okay… Well, we need to get going. We have to be in position when the ship lands.” He walked toward me and shoved those dreaded blue pants toward me. I growled openly when I saw the rough denim that he clutched, my tail thrashing.
“La’el, you have to wear clothes, or you will draw more attention to yourself. I cut a hole in the back of the jeans for your tail.” He indicated the gaping hole in the ass of the pants. I was still not willing to put the clothes on, not when they rubbed my sensitive skin almost raw.
“La’el, you can’t be around humans without clothes—t-they won’t understand. To my kind, that is an open invitation…to…to exchange.” He pushed the pants toward me again, waiting for me to take them.
“I don’t exchange with anyone but you. If they touch me, I’ll kill them,” I growled, my skin crawling as I imagined a stranger’s hands touching me the way my mate did. I didn’t want to give in, and I knew that wearing the garment would make me uncomfortable, but my Tao was telling me this would make him happy. I relented. Taking the pants, I stepped into the rough material. Already, I could feel it scratching against my skin, making me gasp at the sensation.
“Once we’re home, I’ll get you something with softer material. Okay, Blue. Turn around so I can pull your tail through.” Smiling at the nickname, I turned, also pulling my mane over my shoulder so not to block his view. I felt the soft tug on my tail and couldn’t help but smile more. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Sena feed the end of my tail through the hole until it was completely in and the pants were up around my waist. I went to face him when I felt a chaste kiss land on my bare shoulder.
“Thank you, La’el,” Sena murmured into my tapered ear, hot breath warming the cartilage.
“Nipata su bec coesku tu’yi ni, Tao.” I let the words come out unconsciously. Sena’s brows furrowed, a confused expression forming on his face.
“La’el, you know I can’t understand you,” he said while turning me around, buttoning and zipping the jeans.
I stared at him, not able to translate what I’d said. How did I explain the unexplainable to him? I opened my mouth to try.
“He cannot express the emotions he feels in your language. So he expresses them in the only way he knows how,” Edik said, his deep voice breaking the tender moment between the two of us.
I looked past my Tao at the Aky’an, holding back the sneer I wanted to direct at him. Senana might not know about the races duality, but I’d been raised to understand how evil they could be. The bad blood between my kind and his would not dissolve after only a few rotations. He was as unattractive as they all were, with that dark charcoal skin and broad face that were always drawn into a perpetual scowl. It was their eyes that tended to bother me the most, beaded and black. My people believed them to be soulless, mindless creatures that knew no better than the pitki. I couldn’t come to terms with what I thought about the Aky’ans; it wasn’t in my nature to judge anything, and he had been good to Sena. I still didn’t feel comfortable around him, or trust his generosity.
Sena looked at Edik and then back at me. “Must be some pretty complicated emotions to not be able to find the words in English.” He chuckled and patted my hip before walking back to Edik to continue their discussion. I didn’t say anything as the two began to go over their laid-out plans again.
Truly, I was still caught up in my own thoughts and fears. What if I never returned to Indiku? What if I couldn’t live among the humans? What if I never saw my sires again? What if I could never be a zanzi again? The last one was the most frightening.
I rubbed my palm over my bare chest right above my heart and tried to calm the frantic beating. Aza had told me many times that things in life happened to make us who we were meant to be, and if we didn’t endure those trials of strength, we didn’t deserve to find the joys of happiness. I was scared, but I was also feeling a deep exhilaration. I would face my trials and conquer them, for my Tao, and me.
Sena and Edik both ignored me as they spoke in low voices over the idea they had set out. It only took a few more minutes of waiting, but they finally parted, Edik walking out of the cottage without another word. Senana came over to me, his face drawn into stressed lines. Even with the exhaustion weighing on him, he was gorgeous. His thick black hair was wild from the multiple times he had run his fingers through it, and his jaw was covered in stubble.
“All right, La’el, it’s time. The ship will be here soon. Just keep close to me and everything will be okay.” There was tension in his voice that said otherwise, but I decided to ignore his nerves. If he needed me to be strong, then I would swallow my fear.
“Lead the way, Tao,” I said enthusiastically, my tail wrapping around his leg in a comforting gesture. I clenched my hands at my sides to keep them from visibly shaking.
He nodded, leading the way out of the cottage. I followed close behind him, walking out into the sunshine of Oliris. I was pleased to feel the early light. Oliris had only risen a few hours earlier, so it would be awhile until Bizi joined. A shudder passed through me when I realized that I may never see Bizi again. I lifted my chin, as I would have in my scaled form, and marched on, keeping pace with my mate.
We walked in silence through the giant pines, him leading me on a path that he seemed very familiar with. As we got deeper into the forest, I noticed that the trees began to spread out more and more until we were no longer under their cover but standing on the outskirts of a clearing. There was something strange about this opening; the grass was flat and black, almost as if it had been scorched and flattened. Curiosity made me pass Sena as my bare feet touched the hardened ground.
Hissing, I pulled my foot back when the bare flesh burned against the hard top. Senana grabbed me by my tail to keep me from falling, pulling me securely into his arms.
“It’s pavement. It gets hot under sunlight, especially Oliris. Don’t stand on it for long.” He rubbed my shoulders before releasing me. “I probably should have found you a pair of shoes. That was stupid of me.” He murmured the last half more to himself than to me.
I shrugged. “I will be fine, Tao. What is pavement?” I asked.
“Human-laid rock for the ship to land on. Listen, La’el, once the ship gets here, Edik is going to distract the cargo hold with the bodies. Once they leave to retrieve the bodies, we’ll only have a few men on board we’ll have to sneak past. Once we are on there, we need to get into the cryotanks. You won’t remember anything about the flight; it will be like sleeping until we get to Earth and wake up. Like I said before, follow me step for step. When I stop you stop, when I turn you turn. Okay?” His tension had grown, and it was apparent with how quick he was talking, the way his shoulders bunched and hand passed through his hair for the hundredth time today.
On reflex, my tail wrapped around his wrist, pulling his large hand from his skull and to my chest, right over my heart. I could feel his palm shaking, and I knew he was just as unsure about this as I was. That gave me the resolve I needed. “We are connected, Tao. Don’t ever worry about me falling behind.” Unwrapping my tail, his hand stayed firmly on my pec, the shaking slowly dwindling away until his hand was still.
A grin passed over the big man’s face before he pulled his hand away and looked up into the bright sky. “It’s coming.”
I looked up and saw what he was referring to. A large black shape, bigger than any zanzi, was slowly descending into the large clearing. It was daunting, with all its hard black angles. My heart began to race as the wind picked up, ripping at my hair and throwing small debris into my bare skin.
Sena grabbed my wrist and pulled me behind the closest pine, very capable of blocking both of our bodies with space to spare. Even behind the large tree, I could feel the wind pick up and tear at the branches and ground. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before. Not even the largest zanzi could compare to this human ship. Booming noise soon followed the gale and I clutched my sensitive ears, trying to push out the howling building around us.
The ground vibrated with the weight of the vessel’s landing, and then the wind began to die, leaving a ringing in my head and my heart galloping in my chest. We hadn’t even done anything yet and already I questioned my decision to go near the monstrosity.
I looked around the tree and saw the ship that towered as high as the pine tops. Goosebumps broke out over my flesh and I had to take in a long gulp of air to keep from panicking. I steeled myself, trying to slow my racing heart. I needed to be focused for this to work.
I wouldn’t disappoint Senana.
(Sena)
I watched the ship with sharp eyes, while La’el kept himself plastered to my side as he watched. I could feel the slight tremors working through his slight frame, but I ignored them. We would have enough time on the ship to address his apprehension. At the moment, we needed to get into the cargo hold without being seen.
Once the landing gear was fully in place, the larger hatch on the bottom of the ship began to lower onto the pavement. I could see Edik and some of the other Indiku natives approaching the lowered door, their expressions as void as they usually were.
Men dressed in dark blue jumpsuits approached the natives, their necks bent back to look up at the giants. It would have been humorous in any other situation, but at the moment, I was feeling just as tense as La’el, and I wasn’t hiding it like I should be.
Deep conversation began to take place between the crowd of men—10 humans and five natives—and started to get more animated as the conversation went on. Edik lifted his hand in an upward motion, which inadvertently made the humans step back. That was my cue.
“Let’s go, Blue.” I tugged his tail for emphasis, making him gasp before nodding his head. I needed to know he was behind me. We couldn’t risk any distractions.
Moving from behind the tree, I took note of the visible surveillance cameras. I made sure to keep out of the twenty-foot range that went with the ground footage, and traveled in the ship’s shadow. Up ahead, I could see the natives talking with the men with more gusto than I thought was even possible for the Aky’ans. It must have been more than the other humans had expected; their attention was steadfast and unwavering.
Ten seconds.
I rounded the first major corner and peered up into cargo hold from the shadows of the ship. In the recesses, I could see the towers of crates and machinery, but no immediate life lurking about the ship. With a quick glance, I noted the natives were still holding their attention, motioning for the men to follow them into the woods to collect the bodies.
With one more cautionary look, I leapt silently onto the inclined hatch. La’el was quiet, so much so that I would have second-guessed his presence if not for the warmth his body emitted from right behind me. Rushing into the large hold, I turned out of sight as soon as I was able, sliding behind the first large stack of crates.
La’el slid in beside me, his firm body pressing in tight to mine, making my skin pulse where he touched me. With all the adrenaline rushing through my blood, I could feel my dick hardening in my pants. I looked over at my zanzi and grinned, short pants of air leaving my nose. His silver eyes swirled as he returned the expression, tail thrashing between us.
“Stupid natives. Can’t believe we have to drag twenty corpses on board,” a gruff voice sneered not far from the docking hatch. La’el jumped slightly and I had to clamp a firm hand over his mouth to restrain any noise.
“Stop fucking complaining and let’s just get this over with,” another voice responded, closer than the one before.
Quickly, I tugged La’el back into the darker shadows and farther into the ship. I saw the dark boots of the first few men walk onto the port before we were completely hidden in a small alcove behind a higher set of crates. Only then did I release my hold on La’el, who sucked in a deep gulp of air. Breathing hard, I rubbed his back as he regained his lost air, feeling guilty for reacting so harshly.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to clutch your face quite so tight.” I pulled him back into my lap, the alcove only big enough for us to squeeze in together. Distinct sounds of machinery moving made my muscles relax. They hadn’t noticed anything and were going about unloading the ship as they normally would.
“It’s okay, Senana,” he rasped out quietly, willingly leaning back into the heat of my abdomen. “Where do we go now?” he finally asked after a few silent moments, the sounds of the machinery filling the bay.
“The cryotanks. They should be close.” I rubbed my hands down his shoulders. I saw him look around at all of the storage. The belly of the ship was truly massive, 50 feet high and an unknown depth, which was filled to the brim with crates and other things.
“What is all of this?” La’el breathed, seeming overwhelmed with his new environment.
I grunted and a slight shrug followed. “Most of it will be leeri flowers when they are done trading with the transferring storage.” La’el looked over my shoulder, a perplexed look on his face.
“Leeri flowers?” he asked, confusion written on his face. His befuddlement was even more astounding to me. How could a zanzi not know about the healing powers of the leeri flowers? Edik had told me countless times that everything on the planet knew about the healing flowers, and that’s why there were so many of them.
“Yeah, the lee—” a large crash broke off my words and I stiffened, waiting for what was to ensue.
“GOD DAMN IT, CALE!” a man shouted from deep in the bay, his voice echoing off the metal interior. “WATCH WHAT YOU ARE DOING!”
“Sorry, Dane,” another, more timid voice responded.
“Come on, we need to find the cryotanks.” I got up and begin walking, ducking behind the crates as we moved. La’el followed right behind me, his hand touching the small of my back as I saw the tanks lined up along the wall ahead. There were over a hundred drawers in the wall, and each one would slide out to hold one body. Getting closer, I saw two at the bottom that were empty. Pushing the access button, the drawer slid out, revealing the soft lining of the bed.
“All right, Blue, this is where you need to go.” I grabbed for his hand behind me. The moment I touched him, I felt the tremors raking through him. His eyes were as wide as they would go while his skin looked even paler than normal. I could see the terror taking over his mind, clouding everything else. We didn’t have time for him to be scared. He had to get into the tank.
Grabbing his face between my palms, I caught his attention. “I promised you that I would find you when you were lost. I won’t lose you, La’el.” His breathing came in rapid pants but he nodded, trusting me even over his instincts.
Quickly, I helped him into the tank, laying him down on the soft cushions. “It will be over before you know it. I will be here when you wake.” He smiled at me as I slid the drawer closed and began punching in the timer for eight standard rotations. It was the exact journey time from Indiku to Earth, but I left off an hour before landing. It would give me and La’el the time we needed to prepare.
I saw the machine set and the freeze take over, sealing him for the trip. Taking a deep breath, I moved away from La’el’s tank and activated the one beside it. The drawer slid out and I began setting the auto-activation phase. I set the timer ‘til it started and got into the bed. Laying my hands over my chest, I took a deep breath as the drawer slid shut, putting me into darkness and soon oblivion.
(Edik)
I stood on the humans’ black landing pad and watched as the large ship ascended back into the sky, its strong force ripping into the trees as it rose. A sneer of contempt settled onto my features as I watched the black mass until it was nothing but a speck in the blue sky. Once it was gone, my anxiety only heightened.
I’d gotten rid of the zanzi, but he could ruin everything by being with Rays. The last thing I had intended was for Rays to be involved in this, I didn’t want to lose our only leverage, and yet fate seemed to intervene in every instance.
A zanzi wearing a different form caused a new set of problems that we hadn’t planned for. How Rays had turned the zanzi into one of his kind was beyond my understanding, although I didn’t need to know how to know that it would be the end of us all if it were to become common knowledge. This would only provoke more attention, and we didn’t need anyone looking too closely at what was happening on Indiku.
We were already so close.
I looked over my shoulder at the younger Aky’an standing behind me. He was shorter and had yet to grow into his nose, but he would be able to perform the task that I wanted to give to him.
“Go to the cottage and call our employer. Tell them there is cargo on that ship that they’ll want to collect.” The younger Aky’an shivered and nodded his understanding. He knew better than to question my motives; besides, all of my people knew what our ultimate goal was. He nodded and took off at a jog into the trees to do as I commanded.
“What about the injured zanzi?” another Aky’an asked.
I had forgotten about the zanzi. We’d moved its weak body to the far side of the field. It had lost a lot of blood in the past two days; it wouldn’t take much more to kill it. Although, we couldn’t leave its body to attract more of its kind. At least not here.
“Use it as bait to catch more. Our employer is raising their demand.The next collection will be here soon.” The others nodded and walked off into the woods to do as they had been told.
“Edik, what do we do about the zanzi? If it makes it to Earth alive before our employer intercepts them, they will surely find out about the—”
“It won’t be an issue. Our employer will make sure they won’t escape that ship,” I said, cutting the other Aky’an off.
I prayed for us all that neither of them made it off that ship, or everything would fall apart. I crossed my thick arms over my chest and looked back up into the empty sky, a feeling of dark satisfaction rolling in my gut.
I inhaled deeply, the smell of fresh cut leeri flowers still hanging in the air.