Out of the corner of her eye, Cat saw the powerful predator jump into the cage. Talon. She was sure it was him. She would have recognized those eyes with their infatuating combination of amber and liquid gold anywhere. His body was huge in its animal shape, and far more powerful than lions on Earth. His powerful build reminded her of the pictures of the saber-toothed tigers she had seen in books and movies. He was emitting danger out of every pore – only someone with a death wish would try to stand in his way.
Or people who were sure that they could approach him without getting hurt – for instance, if they were separated from him by steel bars. Cat cursed the paralysis that was taking too long to let up. She had gotten it from the substance on the slimy squid monster’s skin. Her skin crawled, but she couldn’t even scratch herself. She saw Talon’s head jerk around when the steel door slammed shut. His irate roar rang in her ears and made her heart race. She had no idea how much control he had over the animal inside him, even though she was sure that she had seen his intelligence in the beast’s eyes. She watched helplessly as he jumped at the steel bars at full speed. The cage rattled, but the bars held.
On quiet paws, he snuck over to her, licked her face once with his rough tongue, and settled down next to her. His predator body exuded welcome warmth, and it helped her fight back a new wave of fear. If she wasn’t mistaken, he had not come alone. She could hear roaring and yelping outside the cage, and it gave her a glimmer of hope. Maybe… Cat thought hard. She couldn’t move, but if he shifted back to his human-like form… She stared into the yellow-gold eyes looking down at her out of the large feline’s head. “Can you change back?”
Was that a grin? The sight of the razor-sharp teeth prevented her from considering if lions could smile. Before he did what she had asked of him, he growled something at the steel bars, and received some yips and howls in return. A restrained roar silenced them. She could hear rustling in the bushes, and then it was quiet.
The air flickered and bones cracked, and after a few seconds, Talon was himself again, and he was naked. Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea, after all. She kept her eyes firmly on his face, which was unexpectedly hard, even though they were imprisoned and Cat couldn’t move. He stood up, went over to the other end of the cage, and tried in vain to move the door that had crashed shut.
“Are you okay?” he growled and came back to her. For a man who was locked in a cage after falling into his enemies’ trap, he seemed remarkably calm. He answered her most burning question before she could even ask it. “The paralysis will leave your body in the next few minutes. Do you know what they want from me? Did they say anything?”
Cat shook her head and asked him to help her up. She felt better already, sitting up, even if being this close to the completely naked Talon was making her exceptionally nervous. She looked at her surroundings with curiosity. Something about this place felt vaguely familiar, like a dream that kept returning. In the cold air, she thought she could detect a hint of a smell she associated with her childhood. She closed her eyes and tried to recall the memory. It had something to do with Coran and her birthday – that was it! Cat wanted to smack her forehead. Of course! Coran had thought of something very special for her birthday. He had given her a visit to the zoo but had made a scavenger hunt part of it. Her brother had always loved riddles and had been a master at solving even the most difficult secrets. Coran and Cat… enough, she told herself. There were far more important things to discuss.
She looked out from the cage but couldn’t find what she was looking for. “Where are your men?” Cat whispered and leaned against him. Her arms went around him on their own, and she leaned her head on his naked chest. At first, she couldn’t identify the feelings welling up inside her – that’s how foreign they were to her – but then she realized what they were. Protection and something else, something deeper. She felt safe in Talon’s arms. Whatever happened, they were together. The numbness seemed to be leaving her body more quickly now. Cat raised her head, and he lowered his at the same moment. Their lips met for the first time. Cat knew she would never forget the tremendous tenderness in his touch. His lips told her what he hadn’t been able to say in words. A soft growl came from his chest, but there was nothing threatening about it. Cat could feel his whole body vibrate with that sound and could have spent hours in his arms. She closed her eyes, heard his breath, and tasted him on her lips.
Cat felt dizzy when she understood what the kiss meant. There was no going back now. She had fallen in love. It felt final, and even though she had always shied away from the word “love”, she knew that this was a turning point in her life. Her escape plans vanished into thin air.
“Where are your men?”
He shrugged. “I sent them back.”
“I assume you don’t know what these… things want from us, either?”
“The Krak?” His eyebrows went up. “I have my suspicions but I wouldn’t bet money on them.” He went silent and leaned his head to the side. “I have a feeling we are about to find out though.” Then she heard what his sense of smell and sharp ears had already perceived. Someone was coming towards their cage, with slurping, slow steps. It was hard to tell how many there were, but the intensity of the increasing stench told her that there were more than one. Three figures materialized out of the dark. She didn’t know which one of them had taken her from the bizarre jail cell. They looked too much alike for that. Cat couldn’t even tell if they were male or female. They all looked the same to her.
She could see another person behind the three of them. He or she was light-footed, compared to the slurping Krak, and had a human silhouette. Broad shoulders and a narrow head … similar to Talon.
He had realized who was coming towards them at the same time she had. Talon ignored the Krak as he threw himself against the cage, closing his fists around the steel bars. She watched as his knuckles turned white with exertion, but the steel fence held. Claws came out of his fingers, but they had no effect on the steel. The sound the claws made on the steel made her hair stand on end. Cat gathered her courage and stood at his side. She could see his rib cage heaving out of the corner of her eye.
“Tybor,” he growled, when the man was finally visible.
With this one word, he was both accusing and expressing profound disappointment. It cut straight to her heart. Damn, she knew what it felt like to be betrayed by someone you trusted.
She knew his face from somewhere. He was coming closer to the cage and she realized who he was. She had run into him several times in the library. The friendly expression on his face was gone now. He looked smug, and his grin told her that he could see how hard Talon was trying. One step closer, and she would be able to touch him.
He realized his folly and jumped back with the elegance that his race was known for, when Talon extended his claws and reached for him. “Sorry, old buddy,” he said condescendingly. “You and your valuable little whore had your chance. Kiss her one last time before I separate you.” He was almost singing, he was so happy.
Cat took a step backward instinctively. The certainty in Tybor’s voice was worse than any threat. “What are you going to do to us?” She gathered her courage and stepped back up to Talon’s side. It was hard to look at his face. The fire in his eyes promised that he would kill Tybor, but at that moment, he was powerless. The roar he let out was a clear admission of helplessness.
Tybor’s expression didn’t change, but the hatred in his voice was hard to miss. “You will fulfill your contract. I will bring you to your new lord and master, and you will live there happily ever after. Or less happily. It depends entirely on the king’s mood.”
This made the Krak hiss. Cat had no idea what had made them unhappy, but even she could see that he should not have said those last few words. They moved closer together, but Tybor didn’t seem to notice. He was focused only on her and Talon, and on making sure they knew that he was superior to them.
“Why?” When Talon spoke, Tybor’s eyes widened in fake surprise.
“Can’t you figure it out?” He shook his head in fake sympathy. Talon’s answer consisted of nothing more than a challenging look. Tybor sighed and returned the stare. “Our king is not especially pleased with you. One could even say that he is afraid of you.”
“I never did anything to try to overthrow him,” Talon responded, suddenly appearing dangerously calm. “I obeyed his orders, no matter how ridiculous or cruel they were.”
Cat took in a deep breath. If she judged Ferthoris III correctly – the colorful brochure on board the space glider had given her a small impression of his majesty’s character – then his words were equal to high treason. Even so, she felt something close to relief. When Talon finally expressed, out loud, the things he had been thinking, he had crossed a line. Tybor seemed to think the same thing, because his eyes took on a hard and calculating look.
“You just spoke your own death sentence, Talon,” he said, drawing out each syllable with pleasure.
Talon snorted. “As if my death weren’t a sure thing already,” he said evenly. Only Cat could see the tension in his shoulders.
“You’re the one who said it, not me…”
“Just tell me one thing. Did you tell the pirates how to get around our protective shields?” Both men were looking at each other without blinking.
“Nicely done,” the man across from her said condescendingly, “but even that happened with our king’s permission, more or less. He gave me free rein to choose my own methods.”
“You will never get away from here without a space cruiser,” Cat added.
“Then it really is a good thing that our supposedly captured space cruiser is waiting for us right behind Saturn. The Kalatassians will drop us off there, and all of us will fly home comfortably. I’m sorry – not all of us. The former commander will not be joining us, unfortunately.”
Never. Nobody would separate her from Talon. Not now, after her cold heart had learned to feel again. Cat wracked her brain for a way out. In seconds, she quickly walked through various scenarios. Offer herself to Tybor? No, she wouldn’t have a chance there. He had already received everything he wanted from Ferthoris – a position of power. Grab him and pull him up to the cage so that Talon could slit his throat? Hardly. She wasn’t strong enough, and there was no way she was quick enough. Beg the Krak for mercy? What were they doing here, anyway?
Talon spoke up, as if he had her thoughts. “You are working with the Krak? Why? After everything that farce of a king did to that woman, they agreed to do that man’s dirty work?” Cat listened up. Talon’s face didn’t change, but she knew that he was watching Tybor and the Krak very closely. She tensed up instinctively, secretly preparing for either Tybor or the Krak to attack him.
The smell of rotting fish got stronger. Tybor couldn’t see it, but the Krak were inching closer. Their tentacles moved so quickly, and Cat thought that maybe she had been wrong, but no – their long limbs continued to move toward the cage.
Tybor looked at him, unmoved, and shrugged. “They are being compensated for their loss.”
“Nonsense,” Cat blurted out. “What could they possibly want with Talon?”
“There are some things between heaven and Earth that you couldn’t possibly understand with your limited brains, human woman.” He spoke with all of the disdain he could possibly manage. “Enough chatting. It’s time for us to depart. Honestly, I can hardly wait to get out of here. This planet and its weak inhabitants disgust me.”
That’s when Cat knew that she didn’t have a choice.
If she was going to find a way for them to escape, she needed to act now. She had to use her gift. Tybor turned around. He flinched when he realized how close behind him the Krak were, and Cat shivered in satisfaction. “Do your work, despicable fish things,” Tybor growled, and took a few steps to the side to evade the tentacles. He looked at Cat one last time and spat on the ground. “Let the human woman live,” he ordered in a commanding voice.
Cat had to decide. Whose head should she go into? Was Tybor the better choice, or one of the Kraks’? She chose Tybor, simply because, at the very least, he had something human about him. She didn’t dare imagine what it would look like inside one of the tentacled creatures’ heads, and she didn’t intend to find out.
She closed her eyes, blocked out her surroundings, gave her spirit the order to move ahead, and then, thanks to years of practice, she was in Tybor’s head.
It was different than with Talon. There was a gray twilight here, and she had a hard time moving in it. Talon had been easy to read, because he was a good man in his core. Tybor, on the other hand, was rotten. He loved only one single creature – himself. Everything revolved around him, his position in his world, and his status. This spongy and somehow despicable way of thinking made her aim less accurate. One time, inside the head of a pedophile mafia boss, she had experienced the same thing. It had taken 15 minutes for her to overcome the wall of slime that had separated the rest of his thoughts from his innermost desires.
This time, she needed to work more quickly. She had 30 seconds max. Cat doubled her efforts. As if from a distance, she noticed her body trembling. A tear opened up in the gray mass. Seeing his defenses weakening like that gave her renewed strength, and she pushed and squeezed through the crack until she was finally in Tybor’s head. Just like the mafia boss, the traitor had surprisingly little resistance to offer once she had managed to crack him. Before he could defend himself, she planted the thought in his head, made sure that it was deeply anchored, and fled back into her own body.
All hell was breaking loose around her. Cat prayed that she hadn’t taken too long, because then everything would have been for nothing.
The three Kraks had positioned themselves at the cage and were trying to wrap their tentacles around Talon. He had managed to bite one of his arms free, as evidenced by a tentacle lying on the ground, jerking helplessly. He was half man, half lion, and even in this scary half-form, he was impressive. Every move showed the strength of his body, and even though the tentacles were restricting his movements, he was able to evade most of them. He moved surprisingly gracefully for a man of his stature – no, that was the wrong word. He was deadly elegant, sure of himself, and absolutely precise. When he aimed, he hit his mark, and the pain-filled hissing from the Krak proved as much.
Cat tore her eyes away from Talon, whose punches were landing faster and faster on his enemies. She was wondering if it had even been necessary to rush into Tybor’s head, when one of the tentacles shot out at her. She barely had time to fall to the ground. Finally, Tybor made a move.
He started moving towards the Krak who was closest to him, with heavy steps, as if he were fighting against what his head was ordering him to do. She saw that his fangs and claws were out, and before the squid creatures had the chance to smell any danger, he attacked them. He had the element of surprise on his side. His claws slit the plump body open. The stench of rotting fish made Cat’s eyes water.
As one person, the two other Krak turned towards Tybor. His wide eyes betrayed his fear and confusion, and he raised his hands in defense. Cat almost felt sorry for him as he saw his end coming near, unable to do anything about it. He had no choice but to obey Cat’s orders.
Next to her, Talon looked at her quizzically. His chest was rising and falling, but he seemed not to be as out of breath as he should have been, considering that he had just fought off three opponents in restricted circumstances. “Is this your doing?”
Cat nodded. Her heart was racing like crazy, but before she could say anything, the noise in front of the cage grew loud, far too loud. A wet tearing sound and suppressed gurgle told of Tybor’s end. “I am sorry,” she whispered. Her throat constricted.
“Why?” Talon looked at her, and for the first time, Cat really noticed how big the differences between their races really were. She could see that he felt no sympathy for his dead warrior. His next words confirmed her suspicion. “He decided to take one side, and that side proved to be the wrong one. If he had gone to the trouble of finding out more about you, then he might still be alive.”
Or was it because he was a man and she was a woman? The agents she had been in contact with had all been men. They had also never worried about how it might feel to be powerless, until one of them had let his guard down – and then it had been too late.
“Because I left him no choice.”
“We should save this conversation for later,” Talon snarled and pointed out of the cage with his face. The last Krak was visibly weakened. He was swaying and making strange noises. The shrillness of them almost hurt Cat’s ears. He fixated on her, or at least she thought that was what he was doing, since she couldn’t make out any eyes on his pimply skin. He was bleeding slowly from several wounds that Tybor had given him.
“We need to get out of this cage,” Talon said and looked at her frankly. “Can you make him open the door?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered. He could see the reluctance she felt at the thought of trying to get into the wounded Krak’s head. Talon came over to her and held her in his arms. She enjoyed the warmth for two seconds. He was exuding heat, despite being naked in these frigid temperatures, and she blocked out everything but his presence. His body was still half-person, half-animal, but Cat wasn’t afraid of him. Talon lifted her chin and buried his amber-colored eyes in hers. I cannot demand it of you, I know that,” he said softly. Cat closed her eyes. He was telling the truth. He could and would not demand anything she didn’t want to do. It was her decision.
“Can’t your men get you out of here? Surely they will return with reinforcements.” Her voice got smaller and faded away. She could see the answer written on his face. “You sent them away,” she whispered.
“The risk was too great,” he replied, just as softly. Talon glanced sideways at the Krak who had stopped trying to move. He pulled her close one more time and she understood. He had been sure that he was going to die saving her. He was surprised and delighted that they were still alive and breathing.
Cat didn’t think about it for long. She made herself ready. Whatever it was that awaited her, she knew it would be bad, but did she really have a choice? Without pondering it any longer, she prepared herself and jumped into the Krak’s head.
The first thing she saw was a reddish light. It reminded Cat of the glow she had seen behind the crack in her cell. The slow, rhythmic pulse and steady beat, of what appeared to be a heart, accompanied her on her way into the innermost reaches of his brain. She tried to let herself be led by whatever motivated the creature the most, just like she always did, but nothing was clearly organized here, and there weren’t any forbidden zones either, where the being hid his most secret wishes. A Krak just took what he wanted. This aimless wandering felt strange to Cat. It was almost as if she was staggering around disoriented. She usually felt safe when she was searching for things in someone else’s head, but not this time. She saw strong impulses here and there, like eating and mating, but these wishes were just that. Nothing more. This Krak had no motivation or goal.
The familiar trembling in her body reminded her to speed up. If she didn’t hurry, she would have to leave empty-handed. She forced herself to breathe calmly and to go deeper into the Krak’s thoughts. Normally, she didn’t do that. There was a real danger of getting lost in someone’s thoughts and getting stuck there forever. Just breathe, she told herself. Come on, Cat thought out loud. What really makes you happy? There had to be something – anything. Even single-cell creatures don’t just vegetate without a goal, although they may not be aware of that.
The dull beating grew louder. Instinctively, she turned towards the source of the sound. The closer she got it, the stronger the red light pulsed. Her heart beat faster as she understood what she was seeing. She tried not to cry with relief when she realized that she had just found the Krak’s motivating force. When she looked a little closer, she couldn’t keep from shuddering in disgust. These creatures were so foreign, and a human brain had a hard time taking this in, much less understanding it.
Very carefully, she planted the thought of opening the door to the cage in the middle of the soft, pulsing spot. Cat knew that she couldn’t really feel what she was doing. It was only an illusion, but she still gagged when her hands reached in deeply and sank the order there.
The second she pulled her hands back out she got out of there.
Talon was holding her when she opened her eyes. She was lying in his arms. She smiled at him, but even that took a lot of effort. She was very weak, and her heart was still beating too quickly. She didn’t even know if it had worked. One look at the Krak told her that he was still swaying in the same spot, not moving towards them.
Then, slowly, very slowly, he started moving towards the cage door.
Cat held her breath and couldn’t watch. Talon wanted to let go of her, but she held on tight to him. “Wait,” she whispered.
It seemed to take forever for the tentacled creature to reach the cage. The loud squeak of the door being opened, was the most beautiful sound Cat had heard in a long time. Talon set her down gently. Cat held her breath, waiting for the unmistakable sound of Talon ending the Krak’s life.
She didn’t know what kept her from being an idle spectator, but something was wrong here. “Talon, wait,” she said and put her hand on his arm. His muscles tensed and his body trembled under the tension of being ready to pounce, but he did as she asked.
The Krak stepped back from the cage. In an unmistakable move, he raised his tentacles and slid slowly away from the open door. Talon and Cat followed him. When they were out of the cage, Cat breathed a big sigh of relief. She didn’t dare turn her back on the Krak, but the further they went from her jail cell, the more certain she was that nothing would happen to them. For a reason none of them could understand, the fish creature had let them go. Cat had only planted the thought of opening the door. Everything he did after that was of his own free will.
The three of them stood there for an eternity, just staring at each other, then the Krak turned and went in the direction of the aquarium.
“What in the world did you do to him?” Talon look at her doubtfully.
“That wasn’t me,” she retorted. “Maybe we are just lucky, or maybe he is injured so badly that he didn’t want to engage in a fight with you.” She was silent. “Why did you spare him? Surely not just because I asked you to.”
He was quiet for a time, while they walked slowly to the exit. “I don’t know,” he said. She could hear how perplexed he was. “I felt sorry for him,” he said, surprising himself. He shook his head and looked at his hands, as if he couldn’t believe that they hadn’t killed the Krak. “It must have something to do with this planet. Your emotions seem to be wearing off on me.” He frowned.
“Is that so bad?” Cat asked timidly. “I mean, bad for you?”
“It feels strange, like I don’t have any self-control anymore.”
Cat reached for Talon’s hand. She squeezed it lightly, and when he looked down at her, her smile widened. “Well, let’s get out of here, then. The sooner, the better.” She saw a sign on which the pale letters “Exit” were barely legible and followed the arrow. Well, she wanted to follow it, but Talon had stopped dead in his tracks.
“That’s a good idea,” he agreed, “but we have a problem. By now, my men are on their way home with the Kalatassians, and we don’t have a ship we could use to follow them. And anyway,” he took a deep breath, “I am not going to deliver you to Ferthoris.” It sounded like he wanted to say more. Cat waited, but nothing came. She felt surprisingly calm and hopeful in the face of this new catastrophe.
“We could charter a ship. There are plenty of captains on Earth who would love to earn some money transporting, shall we say, illegal freight.”
“We don’t have any money,” he reminded her. “Even if we could find such a captain, we wouldn’t be able to pay him.”
“I received enough money from the poker game to pay for ten passages to another universe,” she said confidently. “It might take a few days for me to get my hands on it, but it shouldn’t be a problem.”
An unexpected smile pulled at his lips. “Does this mean that Ferthoris is paying for our escape, when all is said and done?”
“I guess so,” Cat said happily. She laughed, and they made their way out of the zoo. “Where are we going? What do we do now?” It was strange to have someone at her side who would make decisions with her. She wasn’t alone, not anymore. Cat didn’t know if she would miss being unattached, but one thing was certain: Neither agents, nor Ferthoris III could do her any harm as long as she had Talon at her side.