DETECTIVE MELINDA KATIAMA
I woke up as the sun hit my face. That was strange. I usually drew the drapes before I went to bed to prevent the sun from hitting my face before my alarm went off. I looked at the window, and then it all came back to me, the night before. I sat up quickly in bed. “Shit,” I said as I remembered bits and pieces of what had happened. Getting up so quickly in bed made my head throb and I grabbed it with my hands.
"Oh, coffee and aspirin,” I said to myself. I leaned over to the side table and grabbed the bottle of aspirin and a glass of water and swallowed one. “Why the hell am I naked?” I said as the blanket fell off of me and I looked down. “Oh my God, did I sleep with Commander Handor?”
I quickly jumped up out of bed, which made my head hurt even worse, and wrapped the blanket around me as I went into the kitchen, fully expecting to see Commander Handor sitting and having a cup of coffee. I walked in quietly and slowly, but there was no one there. The front door was locked and after thoroughly checking my apartment, I knew that I was alone.
I made a fresh pot of coffee and tried to piece together what happened. I remembered the lieutenant telling us he had a hunch that this was an inside job, our case. I remember thinking that was just perfect, that my first case was going to be an internal affairs nightmare, and washing down the agony of knowing that with lots of tequila. Then I remembered convincing myself that it was basically my last night of drinking on Earth. Who knows what could happen to me in space? I might never return, so I had convinced myself to get plastered. Then suddenly a flash of being high in the sky soaring over buildings came over me.
"Oh my God. He flew… he flew with me in his arms. I remember, it was amazing,” I said to myself as I walked over to the window and peered out over the skyline of the city. I can't believe that actually had happened. I really thought it was a dream, but now I remember him landing on the roof. And then I remembered… “No! No, no, no… Melinda you did not do what I think you did,” I said to myself as I ran my fingers over my lips.
I remembered touching Commander Handor’s shiny scales with my hands and that had led to a passionate kiss, one that had made my knees weak, or maybe it was just that I was that drunk. But I knew deep down inside that I had begged for more, and he had pushed me away. How embarrassing is that?! But if he pushed me away, then why did I wake up naked? I did not have any flashes of memory of him making love to me. So that must be a good sign. The last thing I remembered was falling asleep. I had to know what happened, but I knew that my pride was not going to let me ask him.
“Shit, you just made this case way more complicated than it needed to be, Melinda. And on your first day of your promotion. You know you can't hold your drink,” I said to myself as I walk to the bathroom to take a shower and wake myself up and pretend like this didn't happen. It would be the only way that I would be able to look Commander Handor in the face. I would have to pretend like I didn't remember anything at all.
I wondered if he saw me naked? I was so damn embarrassed. I got sloppy drunk and made a fool out of myself, throwing myself at him, letting him fly me over the city. I was so ashamed of my behavior, and from now on, I knew I would have to keep it in check. It was a good thing we were leaving on the mission the next morning, because at least then I would not be getting drunk. At least then I would be working on the mission twenty-four hours a day. I got dressed ready to go into the office hours early, hopeful I could get some work done and do more research before Commander Handor came into the office.
I got in two hours of solid research while the office was quiet and only a few agents were in. I looked over photos of all the women that had vanished, especially Katie Cormick. She was a tall and very lean blonde with big blue eyes. She looked very dainty and very elegant, almost regal. She definitely had the look of someone that was raised with money and never had to work a day in her life. She was the complete opposite of me with her pale skin and delicate features that made her look very fragile. I could see how she was desirable to a race that valued obedient females.
I looked at the photo feeling very guilty. I was supposed to be helping this woman and instead I was throwing myself at her fiancé. My first day on the job and I was already personally involving myself in the case that I should be solving. How could I have messed up so badly? I was never drinking again.
I needed to focus, and that focus landed on the conversation that the lieutenant had with us in the bar. The fact that he needed to have that conversation outside of the office was also a major warning to me. I could not stop thinking about why the lieutenant thought that it was something internal. Why would anyone at the department want to have a part in the vanishing of human females that were destined to become the wives of Drackon warriors? It didn't make sense to me.
As far as I had known, most of the department and the government were very pro Drackon relations. Even the captain himself had a daughter that had married a Drackon warrior a couple of years before. Everyone had embraced the technology and the trades that the Drackon race had brought to Earth. The women absolutely loved them, and now, after my brief encounter last night, I knew why.
No matter how hard I tried to focus on my work, I kept getting flashes of Commander Handor pulling me into his arms and kissing me. I kept getting flashes of watching him shift, shiny scales emerging across his shoulder and torso, with silver wings coming out of his back. Six-pack abs and toned muscle formed all part of the beautiful creature that I saw before my eyes the night before. I now understood. I was a little jealous that I had not allowed myself to indulge before; I had always been too busy with work and never met a Drackon in my life until yesterday. Their arrogance and disrespect for women had always turned me off, and yet all it took was for one to shift in front of me and I melted into his arms. “Pathetic, Mel," I whispered to myself.
"What is? What is pathetic?” I heard a deep voice say. I looked up from my desk to see Commander Handor hovering over me with a stupid grin on his face. I felt my face turn bright red, but my stubbornness and pride would not allow me to admit my embarrassment.
"Nothing, Commander Handor,” was all I could come up with.
He leaned casually against the window in front of me and said, “Are you sure about that? How are you feeling this morning?”
I narrowed my eyes at him and said, “That is none of your business."
I stood up for my desk and began to walk away from him as he said, “I would think it is my business after last night.”
I froze in my tracks. I walked over to him and looked around to make sure no one was watching us and then I whispered, “What did happen last night? Did we… did you…?” But I could not get the words out of my mouth. “I woke up naked. Why?” I said sternly to him.
"Do you mean… did I make love to you with expert skills that drove you wild?” he whispered to me. His description and the way he said the words pulled a reaction from me and my body, which was betraying me at the moment. How did he do that? He was being an arrogant jerk and yet my body was responding to him.
I narrowed my eyes at him and crossed my arms in front of my chest. “Well?” I asked.
"No, I did not. Even though you were practically begging me for it. You gave me quite a show, a drunken striptease, if you will. It was quite humorous; thanks for the laughs. Now are you ready to get to work?"
"What?!” I shouted in response to him telling me that I stripped off my clothes in front of him. My angry reaction had a few employees look in my direction. I quieted down out of embarrassment as I stomped after the Drackon as he walked toward the elevator.
"What do you mean I gave you a show? And what do you mean it was funny? That's not exactly what a woman wants to hear about her naked body,” I angrily whispered to him.
He laughed in response and said, “We are going to the firing range. You also admitted in your drunken state that you have never been out in the field on a ship or on another planet. I refuse to have you as a partner unless you at least get a few hours of training on what it's like to actually be on the ship with a blaster gun and on another planet.”
"I trained with the blaster gun before,” I said to him angrily. The nerve of this jerk! He just kept going and going.
"Not like this. Are you coming or not?” he asked me. I sighed in resignation and followed him. Moments later, I found myself inside a ship simulator and Commander Handor was instructing me. He showed me how to aim in order to not hit vital areas of a ship. He taught me how to use the seats and various consoles and tables for cover; these were things that I had not been trained on before but thought would come to me easily. But it did make a difference to have a trained Drackon warrior showing me what to do. I was impressed with his maneuvers and various tricks. And he was right: I felt more confident after actually shooting a blaster gun inside the tight space of a spaceship, even a simulator one. It gave me more confidence and I felt ready for anything.
"That was not bad at all, rookie. You have good aim, but the training is nothing like the real thing. I hope you're ready because we leave in a matter of hours. Get some sleep tonight, not like the drunken show you did last night. You have to be rested and prepared. I'll see you at the launch in the morning,” Commander Handor said to me.
"Yes, I'll see you at the launch, and thanks for this,” I said. After he left, I went to see Alfonso. “I leave in the morning,” I said to him.
He gave me a big hug and said, “I'll miss you. Take care of yourself. It's a dangerous place out there; aliens are not humans.”
"Yes, I am finding that out with my new partner,” I said to him.
"Is he mean to you? If he is, let me know and I'll kick his ass,” he said to me playfully.
"No, not mean, just different. It takes some adjusting, but he does have some skills that will come in handy, and as the captain said, he knows space better than anyone. I need him,” I said, admitting to him what I would never admit to Commander Handor.
"Then I am glad that he will be at your side supporting you, backing you up. It's very dangerous to go into space, but to deal with criminals in space is even worse."
"Wish me luck, but don't forget about what I asked you. My favor, it might be more important than I ever thought,” I said to him.
"I didn't forget. I'll watch him for you. Good luck,” he said as he gave me a hug and I left to go to my desk and wrap up a few things before heading home. I packed lightly, as I would mostly be wearing the spacesuit issued by the department along with their boots and accessories. But I always packed a clever disguise. Sometimes it was important for an investigative detective not to look like a detective in order to get information. I went to bed early, ready to get an early start.
The next day I found myself in the most amazing position, one I never thought I would experience: I was peering out the small window of a spaceship at the blackness of space.
"It is beautiful, isn't it?” Commander Handor asked me as he stood beside me.
"It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my entire life,” I said as my eyes began to water at the sight before me. I was on a very small and fast spaceship with a small crew. It was Commander Handor and myself, along with one pilot and one medic. The quarters were small and the sleeping pads had room for a small bed, and that was all.
We had to take a small ship because this was a mission that was very time sensitive. The longer we took, the more we were in danger of losing the females all together. It had already been three days since they had gone missing, and the more time we wasted traveling at is slow speed, the further away they could get from us. Therefore we were in a small, fast ship with a skeleton crew. A larger ship would have to go at a slower speed and there would be more people needed to crew it.
"If you think that is beautiful, come take a look at this,” Commander Handor said as he walked over to the other side of the common room of the ship. I followed him and looked out the window and gasped at what I saw. It was the blue marble of Earth, and it was my first time seeing it from space. It was absolutely enchanting and amazing. I would never take for granted my planet after seeing this view.
"It is beautiful. I find that I am most enchanted with my planet of Mooreah when I am on a ship looking at it from space. It is then that I miss it the most and can see it for all its beauty."
I looked at him while he had this genuine moment of longing for his home planet. There really was something under the surface of his arrogant and mean comments that he always dished out to me. He did have a heart. As I looked at him, I wondered exactly what had happened on the roof the other night. I had to know.
"Commander Handor,” I began to say but he cut me off and said, “Melinda, call me Eniv.”
"All right, Eniv, tell me what happened on the roof the other night. I can only remember bits and pieces. Tell me the truth,” I said to him quietly.
He looked at me stunned and said, “Does it really matter?”
"It does to me. I don't like having missing information,” I said to him in all honesty.
"I shifted and flew you home, landing on the roof, and when I set you down on your feet, your hands went to my chest and my scales. You let your hands move over them, touching them lightly, and it turned me on. You looked up at me with your wide, brown eyes and I couldn't help myself. I pulled you to me kissed you. You moaned; you liked it. It gave me permission to continue kissing you and feeling your body.”
"Oh…” was all I could say, as his description was turning me on. I was starting to recall that moment and I remembered my hands moving over the shiny silver scales and how they felt under my fingers. “Then what happened?” I asked him, wanting him to continue the story.
"I knew that I would not be able to restrain myself any longer. I would want more from you. That was when I remembered that I am a taken Drackon. I am promised to another. I remembered that the one I am promised to is in danger and I should not be indulging with another human female. It is wrong, so I pushed you away."
"Right,” I said, remembering the sting of rejection and how it felt. But now hearing his words about why he rejected me, I looked at him in a new light. As my eyes moved over his face, he became even more attractive to me. This weredragon wasn't just all arrogance, ego, and conceit. He actually had a conscience and his beautiful, light-gray eyes were filled with guilt at this moment. He moved his head, looking down at the floor, and a piece of thick, black hair fell over his forehead. I resisted the urge to pull it back. He was actually feeling in a conflict about kissing me when he already had a bride, one that was in peril. It only made me want him more, and I also filled with guilt at the thought. Then I remembered something else, and it was something that he did not mention. Had I dreamt it?
"Did you tell me something about the way I smell?” I asked him.
"What! No, nope, I don't know what you're talking about,” he said really fast and moved away from me to the table on the other side of the common room and grabbed a bottle of water. He chugged it down really fast.
"Yes, I remember you pulling me to you, or picking me up, and then you said something about the way I smell,” I said walking over to him.
"No, you’re mistaken. Now, back to the case. I should prepare you for the environment of Sala. The outposts are small, but very dangerous. It is outlaw territory. There is no one there to enforce the laws. It is every Drackon for himself.”
I knew that he was pivoting off the topic, which made me think that I was absolutely right that he had said something about the way I smelled and that it drove him wild. But we did need to talk about the mission, and I did want to be prepared. But something he said had my attention. “How small are these outposts?” I asked.
"Each outpost is different, but there's only a few buildings and maybe 100 to 300 Drackon at each of them, always coming and going. Lots of traffic in and out," he said. Then he continued, “Why do you ask?”
"Well it seems to me, if I were a criminal that was kidnapping human females, I would take them to a bigger place. I would not take them to a small place where they would obviously stand out. Wouldn't reports come in about captive human females at these outposts? Wouldn't they be easily see?,” I asked him with my wheels turning in my mind. I was onto something.
He gave me with a startled look and put the water bottle down on the table. Then he stared at the wall and said, “I had not thought of that before. Your agency had us on track to check out the outposts to gather information. They want us to go there to do some questioning of the known criminal elements that are there. Get information from them with a little violent persuasion,” he said.
"And while we're doing that, we're wasting time. The human females are being taken somewhere, and that is happening while we're going from outpost to outpost, looking for breadcrumbs that could lead nowhere,” I said to him, walking back and forth in the room as I thought this out.
"Yes, it would steal a lot of time from us. It would be days before we found anyone that we could get information from,” he said.
I looked at him and put my arm on his, stopping him and said, “So if you were a criminal stealing human females, many of them, where would you take them in order to hide them? Mooreah?”
"No, that would be too obvious. I would take them to Riolb,” he said to me. We both looked at each other as though a light bulb had been turned on. It was dumb that neither of us had thought of this. Riolb was a known outlaw planet, not only for the Drackon race, but for other alien races as well.
"The outlaw planet,” I said to him. “I have heard of it. But as far as I know, no one at I.S.F.A. has been there.”
"That is probably why your department had us starting on Sala instead of going straight to Riolb,” he said.
"Or, the lieutenant is right and it is an inside job with the department and they are sending us to Sala on purpose, a wild goose chase. They don't want us to find the human females. They are setting us up for failure,” I said to him.
His eyes grew wide as he looked at me with acknowledgment that he thought we were being set up as well. Then he said, “We should re-route ourselves from Sala to Riolb. There is no point in wasting time on Sala. I have heard about auctions on Riolb. We could start there,” he said.
"Auctions? Like black market auctions of weapons and resources?” I asked him.
"Yes, all that stuff, but they also auction aliens. Maybe now they have started to auction humans as well,” he said.
I gasped in shock. “We need to go there!” I shouted at him as the thought of humans being auctioned off horrified me, especially women who had been captured and had no say in the matter. They had been abducted. “I will radio the department base for permission to change routes,” I said as I began to walk towards the communication well.
"No, don't bother. We need to just go there. We’d then wait for all the red tape and for people to say yes or no, and you do not know who you can trust or who is behind us in the department. You are in space now, and in space, we have to make up our own rules. That is how we have successful missions. It is just you and me, Melinda,” he said to me.
I looked at him, not knowing what to do. I knew that he was right but my career was at stake. I had just been promoted after working so hard my entire life to get this position, and I was going to defy orders. It could get me fired, it could ruin everything for my career.
Eniv walked over to me and put his hand on my arm and said, “You know deep down that this is the only way. Trust your instinct, Melinda; that is what makes you a good detective.”
"You are right. Let us go tell the pilot that we have permission to reroute to Riolb. You could guide him there,” I said to him.
"That's the spirit!” he shouted with a happy grin. Minutes later, we were rerouted to Riolb. We would have two more nights aboard the ship before arriving. Eniv took this time to teach me about Riolb. He drew maps on the board and told me about the different cities. There were two main ones. Mzech was the largest city and full of markets, criminals, outlaws, and weapons. It was very dangerous and Eniv went over it and intricate detail.
"This is the Temple of Star. It is located at the top of the hill high over the city. If we are ever separated, meet me there. I will wait there until you show up, you wait there until I show up. That is always our meeting point,” he said, showing me on a map of where the Temple of Star was in the city of Mzech. After he went over that city, he pulled up a map of Cix and did the same. Cix was a big city as well, but half the size of Mzech. It was located on the river and was a port city with lots of illegal cargo coming in and out through the river. “Here on the Mangum docks is where you will find a small, white place of warship called morning light; that is our meeting point if we get separated.”
"Yes, I understand,” I said to him, and I was very impressed with how detail-oriented he was. He had everything prepared in a way that was flexible for both of us. He knew that anything could happen out in the field, especially the fact that we could be separated, and having meeting points was something that I would not have thought of on my own. I would have just gone in, guns blazing and asking questions, trying to find the females.
Eniv was more covert about it and it was the smarter way to go. He was not going to let me off that ship until I had everything memorized. We worked endlessly; there was no night in space to let me know that I was working through the night. I finally fell asleep with my head on the table. I felt Eniv nudging me awake. “Come, Melinda. You will be more comfortable in your bed.”
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize I had fallen asleep.”
“No need to apologize. We have been working for 12 hours straight. It is good that the next 12 hours you will get good sleep because who knows when you will sleep again once we are on Riolb. It is very unsafe,” he said to me.
He pulled me up to my feet and in my clumsy, sleepy state, my body pressed against his in order to stop from falling. I looked up into his eyes and had that overwhelming feeling again, the feeling that I wanted to kiss him. He laying down close to me his lips were only an inch from mine. He breathed sharply and my lips opened, ready to receive a kiss.
He let out a bit of an angry growl and said, “Go to sleep, Detective Katiama.” He walked away from me and I felt ashamed once more.
What the hell, Melinda? I thought to myself. Why did I keep falling under his spell every time he was only an inch away from me? It was as though I could not control my own body when he was that close. It was as if everything, and every consequence, got thrown out the window and I would sacrifice everything for him just to kiss me. It was pathetic, and something I thought would not happen again, and yet here I was, practically alone in space with him and I was doing it again.
I made my way from the common room to my sleeping bunk. I needed a good rest. He was right: I was about to enter a foreign planet that was a known outlaw planet. I would need as much rest as possible; this was all new territory for me. I slipped into bed and soon passed out. I had set my alarm for 10 hours of sleep; I would have liked 12, but 10 would have to do. I slept very deeply, and it must have had something to do with being in space. I slept deep and I slept hard, but it did not stop me from having romantic dreams about Eniv. Even in my sleep, I could not get him out of my mind.
When I woke up, I quickly showered and made my way to the flight deck.
"Only five hours until we will be entering hostile space territory. I'm going to take her off autopilot,” Rick Larson said as he walked onto the flight deck with a cup of coffee. He was the pilot and he would set the ship on autopilot so that he could sleep. It was a common occurrence on small ships with small crews.
"You are relieved of night watch,” he said to Richard Davis, the medic who would sit on the flight deck while the pilot was away, including the night shift.
"Sounds good to me. I'm gonna go get some sleep. I will set my alarm for five hours," he said as he nodded a greeting to Rick and I before leaving the flight deck to get some sleep. I felt myself growing nervous about getting closer to Riolb. I forgot that the space outside of the planet would be full of pirates and criminals.
"How are we supposed to get through the hostile space territory in order to land on the planet near Mzech?” I asked Rick.
"I've taken care of that. I have a contact that has a landing port on a base near Mzech. I have already entered the codes and a path has been made clear for us,” Eniv said as he walked onto the flight deck.
"Great, that makes my job so much easier. It is an asset to have an alien a board a human spacecraft. Especially a small and fast one like the Simeon. I'm sure many would want to steal this ship with its awesome capabilities,” the pilot said as he sat down and took the ship out of autopilot.
"That's great,” I said to Eniv, making I contact with him for the first time since the night before when I tried to steal a kiss from him. I felt really stupid about it. It was not me at all. I was a feisty Latina that did not care one inch about some weredragon. I needed to pull myself. I would no longer be giving into the temptation. If he got an inch away from me like he did last night then I would pull away. Remember, he belongs to another, I said to myself. Eniv did not make eye contact with me; instead, he gave me an order.
"Make sure you have your gear on, and don't forget everything I taught you, or are you incapable of that?” he said, stomping out of the flight deck without giving me time to respond.
He was pissed. I guess he had every right to be. I wasn't exactly being a good partner on this investigation. I was a distraction. But wait… that was not true: I was the one that came up with going to Riolb in the first place and not going to Sala at all. I was the one that set up Alfonso to shadow the guard at the port on Earth. I was the one asking all the questions and setting up the lab. I was a damn good detective, and I wasn't going to forget that.
I followed Eniv out into the hallway in my anger and said, “Excuse me! Commander Handor! I did not deserve that! Without me, you would be on Sala right now going from outpost to outpost on useless questioning sessions that lead you nowhere. Without me, you wouldn't have someone on Earth looking out for our best interests shadowing that guard! I am a damn good detective and I know how to investigate. I am experienced in the field, many years in the city of New York. Yes, I know that Mzech and Cix are more dangerous, but I have yet to prove myself there. You have no reason to treat me like this. Check your disrespect at the door when we get off the ship, because I'm not going to put up with that shit!” I said as I moved past him down the hall and into the common room.
He did not follow me. I’d showed him. I smiled at my reflection in the glass of the window as I stared out into space and could see the planet of Riolb in the distance. I was back. I was my feisty self and he was not going to take that from me, the arrogant prick.
I stared out the window at the King Jarith Rykor and yellow planet with marks of green that I assumed were rivers and small oceans. The space around the planet had small dots, and I assumed those were aircraft. There were a lot of them. It was very unnerving, like going into shark-infested waters. I stared at the beautiful planet, enjoying its splendor. Just because the population were outlaws did not mean I could not find the beauty in this planet. It was no fault of the planet that it was populated with scum. I could still enjoy the fact that I was going to an alien planet, the first one I would ever stop on, and I was excited to see everything that it had in store.
I was sure that cities would be vibrant and unusual. I smiled knowing that I was about to have an experience of a lifetime, and I was going to do it while doing something that I loved. I was here to solve a crime and to help the women, if we could find them. This was my responsibility and I was going to do it or die trying. If I was going to die, dying after being in space and seeing a whole new planet was a good way to go, if you asked me. At least I would know that I had lived and that I had died trying to save others, women who were being taken advantage of. It made me swell with pride and it filled me with motivation and the hunger to deal with the criminal scum bags that were doing this in the first place. I was ready. I was primed. I grabbed the maps that Eniv had shown me and looked over them in the last few hours, imprinting every single detail that I could into my mind.
"Here,” Eniv said as he walked into the common room. I narrowed my eyes at him, not ready to be polite to someone that was being so much of a jerk.
"What?” I said as he piled on coins onto the table. They were a metallic green. “Is that…?” I asked, picking one up.
"Yes, it is magenta. It is the best currency to use here on this outlaw planet. We will need it. We will buy communication devices that work on the frequencies used here. We will use it to bribe others, and of course to eat and drink, possibly shelter if we get too far away from the ship. Take it,” he said coldly.
"Thanks,” I said stuffing them into a zippered pocket and closing it back up. I had heard of the alien currency called magenta, but had never actually seen or touched it. It was thrilling to me.
"We're entering the airspace. Rick wants us on the flight deck and strapped into our seats,” he said to me. As soon as he said it, I ran over to the window and looked out. We were very close to other aircraft, but there was no hostility. I expected to see ships firing at each other and we would have to dodge blaster fire. But it was nothing like that. It was just like watching sailboats out in the marina waiting for their turn to come into port. The planet of the Riolb took up all the space in the window. Now at this range, I could see the land masses and the water elements; it was beautiful. I sighed as I looked at it.
"Let's go,” Eniv said to me. He was right: I couldn't stay here staring out the window. I could do that from the flight deck and I should follow the pilot’s orders. Our lives were in his hands at this moment. A few seconds later, we were all strapped into our seats and Eniv was on the communication wire telling someone on the other line a series of numbers and letters.
"This is Commander Handor of the Special Intergalactic Forces calling Base Master Courvelle,” he said.
"Commander Handor, you're all set. Please verify your code,” the voice said.
"Code BV18F," Eniv said.
"Code is cleared. Coordinates are sent to you now. This is your landing point. You are clear for safe passage,” the voice said. We all looked at each other and smiled. We watched as aircraft around us seemed to let us through. It was some sort of blockade. I was grateful. Soon we were entering the atmosphere quickly, with bright red King Jarith Rykor and yellow burning around us until we slowed and were flying over the land mass and with a large populated city coming into view. My mouth fell open as my eyes focused on what I saw.
"There, you see that hill over there, Melinda?” Eniv pointed.
"Yes, that is the Temple of Star. Our meeting point,” I said to him. He nodded his head.
"Coming in for landing,” Rick said as he looked at Richard. Richard nodded in agreement. As I looked over the city, there were very tall spires that reminded me of temples in India, but these spires went hundreds of feet into the sky, like skyscrapers in New York. They were massive and beautiful. Below, the city sprawled out and there were many markets and booths. It was very crowded and crawling with all sorts of alien species. I could see a few Drackon in the air as they flew in dragon form. It took my breath away to see such unusual sights. “It is all so beautiful… enchanting,” I said under my breath.
"Yes, and very dangerous. You are armed and geared up, yes?” Eniv asked me.
I nodded yes to him and swallowed hard as he reminded me that we were entering a hostile territory. The Simeon landed in a cleared-out landing port that looked very run down.
"As soon as she is settled in, turn off the engine and open the gate. Ships that linger without opening up and unloading quickly look suspicious, and before we know it there will be many blasters aimed at us,” Eniv said to Rick. Rick nodded yes and as soon as the Simeon's feet were touching the ground, he did as instructed. Eniv and I immediately unbuckled our seats and were at the gate, waiting for the ship to open. We hopped off immediately.
"Commander Handor! My old comrade! It is good to see you,” an old Drackon said as he walked toward the ship. Eniv smiled and held out his arm. “Kolstin, it is good to see you, old friend.”
The Drackon called Kolstin looked at me up-and-down and smiled at Eniv and said, “I can see you have been very busy with your time.”
"Kolstin, this is Detective Katiama. Detective Katiama, this is Kolstin, a very trusted friend,. Our ship is safe here?” Eniv said to Kolstin.
"Yes, you are well protected here, my friend. Will the ship be left unattended? How can I help you old friend?” he said.
"No, two humans will stay on the ship. Detective Katiama and I are into the city.”
"Excellent, then I do not need to put warriors on your ship. Now what else do you need?”
"Radio communicators for Detective Katiama and I to communicate on a low-frequency not easily picked up,” Eniv said to him.
"I do not have any available that are not being used, but I can send you to another place where you can purchase what you need,” Kolstin said to him.
"Thank you, we need to head out right away,” Eniv said.
"Of course, I would not expect any lingering from Commander Handor. Always on his feet, always on a mission, and always successful. You are in good hands, human female,” Kolstin said to me with a wink.
Moments later, we were walking through the very crowded market streets. I tried not to look like a fish out of water even though I wanted to walk around with my mouth wide-open, taking in all the visuals and stimuli. The smells of the market and he sounds of various alien dialects been spoken. It was overwhelming and exciting.
"Stay close to me," Eniv whispered in my ear as we walked down the alley and to a small booth.
"A.P.468, two of them,” Eniv said to an alien man behind the counter. The alien man said something to him in a language I did not understand, and Eniv responded to him in the same language. The alien turned around and then put two small radios on the counter. Eniv paid him with two magenta coins. The alien man looked at me and then said something to Eniv that I did not understand.
Eniv looked at me and I could tell that he was thinking and processing. He turned to the alien man and responded to him. The alien man continued to speak to him and was pointing down the alleyway as though he was giving him directions. He seemed to nod a goodbye to the man and then he grabbed my arm forcefully and led me out of the booth saying something to me in the alien language. “Hey, watch it. What are you doing?” I said to Eniv.
"Play along, act like a captive slave,” he said to me quickly. I did not ask any questions and I knew that he was onto something, so I became completely submissive and allowed him to lead me away, even looking a bit frightened of Eniv as I went along. He led me in the direction that the alien had pointed out. When we finally rounded a corner, he let go of my arm. “Here, put this in your ear. It's the radio, and I have set your frequency.”
I grabbed it and put it in my ear and said, “What was that all about? What did he say?"
“He looked at you and then asked me if I was going to sell you in the auction with the other human females.”
I gasped and said, “Katie…”
"Possibly. I played along with him and said that yes, I was in the market to sell you, but that I wanted someone else to handle the selling process for me in order to protect my identity. He said that down this way, I will find a Drackon known as Houston. He said Houston handles many auctions of human females and the auction is tomorrow at the Isle of Mog. I thanked him and then grabbed you as though you were my captive."
"Good. Where the hell is this Houston? Let's bust him, let's find the girls," I said, ready to get started.
"Not so fast; we can't just bust in on a crime boss and expect to get out alive. We need to gather intel and then make decisions. We do this my way, remember?” he said to me.
"Yes, I remember. So what now?” I said to him.
"We go to the Isle of Mog area of the city and scope it out. See what we can find. I doubt that the girls will be there, but they should be close by. A crime boss would not risk having to take them very far when auction day is tomorrow; too many could steal them away," he said.
"Lead the way,” I said to him.
He looked at me and said, “No, you will walk in front of me and I will walk behind you; I will guide you in your ear. This way I can keep my eyes on you.”
"All right, I'm ready. Which way?” I said to him.
"Straight ahead to the end of the alley and go right,” he said. I started walking and soon we were in the area known as the Isle of Mog. It wasn't exactly an island, but it was a clearing in the marketplace. There was a platform on the one side, which I assume is where auctions were held. There were many shady characters around and I was shocked to see that a few of them were human males. Eniv grabbed me by the arm in a show of dominance over me. Even though it pissed me off beyond belief, I knew he was doing it so that everyone knew I belong to him and would not think I was on my own, an invitation to be stolen. Shady eyes looked at me and at Eniv.
"Come this way, slave,” he said to me as he dragged me off toward a building. “We've got to fit in and I know just the place, perfect for overhearing conversations and for fitting in."
We ducked under ribbons of drapery and into a watering hole. Many different alien creatures were sitting around drinking. Eniv walked in like a regular and ordered two drinks from the bar while I played the obedient slave. I carried both of our drinks to a table and we sat down. “This is embarrassing,” I whispered to him.
He grinned a big smile and said, “I'm kind of enjoying it. But it is for the mission, remember that.”
"Well just don't get too used to it. I'm your partner, not your slave,” I said to him.
He laughed a little and then said, “Just sit and listen.”
"I would, but most of them are not speaking my language,” I said to him.
"That is true. If you want to be useful, you can give me a back massage,” he said playfully while looking around.
"Very funny," I whispered to him. We sat there for twenty minutes and he drank both of the drinks, as he would not let me touch it.
"This stuff is ten times stronger than anything on Earth and I already know you can't hold your drink, so don't touch it,” he had said to me. It played well with the slave and master cover up that we had going on.
Then I noticed a change in the way he was sitting. He was leaning back a little. He was listening to the Drackon warriors that were sitting behind him. They were not speaking English, so I could not understand. But I could tell by Eniv’s reaction that they must have been saying something about the auction or the human females. I noticed that one was eyeing me. I lowered my eyes to the table, not wanting to give an invitation to steal me away from Eniv. Although, if they were the Drackon involved in stealing human females, it would be an easy way to find Katie and the other women. Soon they got up and left their table. I looked at Eniv and he nodded to me.
"We have to wait here a while," he whispered to me.
"We should follow them,” I said to him.
His eyes widened and he looked at me and said, “Did you understand what they were saying?”
"No, but by the look on your face, I could tell they were supplying useful information. And the way they were looking at me let me know they were interested in human females.”
"That's good, Detective, but if you would've understood what they were saying, you would know that they were on their way to join 10 more warriors. We are not a match for them. Their information was useful, but we are not going to follow them. We are going to go back to the ship,” he said to me.
"What? Why?” I said loudly. Everyone around us turned and looked at us and I remembered that I was supposed to be an obedient slave. Eniv was quick to react and pounded his hand on the table and shouted in his own Drackon language. He grabbed my arm hard and dragged me out of the watering hole. I was pissed off but I knew that I had done this myself by not keeping in character like I was supposed to.
"Sorry, shit,” I said to him.
"We're going back to the ship before you blow our cover,” he said angrily. He didn't say another word as he marched, dragging me through the crowded markets and alleys. Finally, we were secure aboard the ship.
"All right, you can let me go, you jerk,” I said to him.
"You deserve more than that for punishment. You deserve a spanking,” he said to me angrily.
"Oh shut up. Are you going to tell me what those Drackon said or not? I am more useful with information than you are,” I said, spitting the words at him.
"They mentioned the word Houston, and they mentioned females to be auctioned off tomorrow in the morning at the Isle of Mog. But it was not exactly this that interested me as much as the fact that they did not just say Houston, they said Mr. Houston."
My mouth fell open, “Houston is a human!”
"Yes, it seems so. Drackon do not use Mr. and Mrs. the way that humans do. Houston is a human male.”
"It is familiar to me,” I said as I walked back-and-forth.
"Is it done? Did you rescue them? Are we leaving?" the pilot said as he came into the common room.
"No, but it will happen tomorrow, and the ship must be ready to depart as soon as we have them. It's going to be a quick and harrowing escape into space. Then we will hope that we are not followed,” Eniv said.
"Great, sounds easy as pie," Rick said sarcastically and then said, “I'll go tell Richard to get his medic bag ready. Sounds like we're going to need a couple of Band-Aids.” Then he walked out.
I stopped in my tracks as I remembered something, “John Houston!"
He was a special agent in I.S.F.A. five years ago. He was reported missing in action after a space mission. Never to be heard of again. He was very close with Captain Smith before Captain Smith became a captain. “Holy shit. It's Captain Smith, he's the inside rat inside the department!” I said to him.
"Fuck, we really are on our own here. I didn't expect the betrayal to be so high up in the department. Fuck, we really have to go about this right. This is a very dangerous situation; this John Houston has Drackon warriors working for him. I can take on two, maybe three by myself, but it sounds like he has ten or more working under him. They are obviously rogues that have disobeyed the king and have made themselves warriors for hire,” Eniv said.
"So what's the plan? We have to find out where they are keeping Katie and the others and take them before the auction.”
"That is a great plan, but in such a dense city, we have no way of knowing where they are. They are not going to willingly lead us to them without figuring out that we are following them,” he said.
"You have a point there. So what do we do?” I asked him.
"We wait for the auction. We can try to outbid anyone that bids on the women and buy back their freedom, but it is risky. If anyone finds out who I am, then they will know that it is a set up.”
"Or, tomorrow during the auction we can steal the women away before they go on the auction block. I am sure they must parade the women in some form so that the goods can be inspected. They will be in the area of the auction I can guarantee you that is when we take them. We will have to do it quick and the Simeon will have to be hovering very nearby."
"Good, that is a good plan. I think we should use both of these plans. First, we will use your plan and try to see if there is a way to steal them away before they go on the auction block. If we cannot get to them, then we will do my plan and try to bid on them," Eniv said.
"So we had to plans now. What if neither of them work?” I asked him.
"Then we will follow whoever buys the women and try to get them from those buyers; hopefully they will not be separated too far apart. I will rescue my bride, I will not to fail her,” he said as he walked out of the common room.
Hearing him say that jolted me. I almost forgot that it was his bride and that he was promised to another. And all the excitement and getting caught up in the details of the mission and figuring out that it was Captain Smith behind all of this, and his partner John Houston, I completely forgot that Eniv was in fact here to rescue his own damsel in distress and he was going to marry her.
What's strange is that he seemed angry about it. I didn't understand why. This was everything that we had worked for. Now that our time was upon us, I made my way to my sleep bunk in order to get some rest because the next day was going to be crazy and chaotic.
But in the middle of the night, I could not sleep. I was too wired, I was too nervous and filled with adrenaline about the mission the next day. So much could go wrong, we could get killed, we could get everyone killed. It was such a public mission in the middle of a market and there would be nowhere to hide. It wasn't the stealthiest of missions. I got up from my sleep bunk and went to the common room in order to get some water.
"What are you doing awake? You should be resting as much as you can,” Eniv said, startling me as he sat in the dark of the common room.
"Shit, you scared me. I didn't see you sitting there. What are you doing up?” I asked as I walked over to him.
"If I told you, you would not believe me. You would not believe me because I have been such an ass to you, it wouldn't make sense,” he said to me. What the hell was he talking about? Was he sleepwalking? Could Drackon sleepwalk? It didn't seem likely.
I stood beside him and said, “Eniv, what are you talking about? You're not making any sense right now,” I said to him, putting my hand on his shoulder. He put his hand on top of mine and looked up at me. His light-gray eyes seemed heavy with guilt, even in the darkness of the room.
"What is it?” I asked him.
"I can't sleep. It's keeping me awake,” he said.
"What is keeping you awake?” I asked him.
"I do not love her. I have never even met her. She's not the one I want now,” he said as he stood up next to me.
"What are you saying?” I said in a whisper.
"You know what I'm saying. We may not make it out of the mission alive tomorrow, and I don't want to have any regrets. Do you?” he said as he pulled his top off over his head. I was surprised by what I saw. He had a very prominent, large tattoo that mimicked the scales on his body when he was shifted into dragon form. I put my hand on it. “What is this? A tattoo?” I asked him.
"My father made me get a tattoo of my dragon scales, so that I may never forget that I am Drackon, even when I am not shifted. He is very loyal to the traditions of the Drackon kind. It is he that chose Katie for me as a wife, for reasons of power and career."
"I see," I said, allowing my fingers to trace over the lines. It was fascinating. And now I understood why he had chosen Katie for a mate. It was not his choice at all; he was being forced into it.
"I don't love her. I thought I could grow to love her if necessary, but that was before I met you. Now I am tormented with the thought of never having you, the thought of never being with you and being forced to marry someone I do not love. I am more than happy to rescue her and the other women, and I would risk my life for it, it is my duty, but I cannot go into that mission tomorrow having never been with you. I want you, Melinda. I want you so badly at burns me inside. But if you say that you do not feel the same way, then I will walk away right now and tomorrow we will do our duty, we will be successful in our mission.”
I was staring up at him with shock on my face. I couldn’t believe he would admit all of this to me when I had been hiding all of it inside out of stubborn pride. Now he was here pouring out his heart to me and I was in shock. What he said dug deep into me; of course I felt the same way, but he was right about not living through tomorrow. I looked up at him and said, “I do not want to have any regrets if anything should happen to us either. I want this too."
I stepped back away from him and slowly undressed, peeling off my boots and suit. I pulled my hair out of my ponytail and let it fall down my back.
"Fuck, you are so damn beautiful, Melinda,” he said to me. His words filled me with desire.
"Now you, Commander Handor,” I said to him. He licked his lips and then pulled off his boots and his pants. Now he was completely naked in front of me. His body was hard and toned. His six pack abs were tight and his side abdominal muscles were rippled down to his hips. His strong thighs were like tree trunks and he was very tall, towering over me. His cock was perfectly smooth and pink and stood straight up. It was perfect, surrounded by light-brown curls. I could not take my eyes off of it.
"Like something you see?” he said playfully as he stepped toward me.
"I like all that I see,” I said to him. He pulled me to him and kissed me hard. His hands moved down my back and over my backside and squeezed me. I moaned inside of his mouth. Then his hands moved over my breasts and pinched my hard nipples. I could barely take more of this teasing. I wanted him inside of me and I wanted him now. His hand moved down my breast onto my belly, softly and slowly, until his finger was on my clitoris.
"Oh!” I shouted as his finger massaged it gently. I was already on the brink just with him touching me in this way. His finger moved around slowly in a circle as his mouth devoured mine. I was moaning wildly in his mouth.
"You feel so warm, you feel so good in my hand,” he whispered to me. His finger moved faster and faster on my clitoris until I exploded into orgasm. I could not control myself any longer and I released just as he pushed two long fingers inside of me.
“Oh God! Oh yes! That feels so damn good,” I shouted. He growled like a beast as he pulled his hand from me and picked me up. He laid me on the floor and kissed my mouth. Then he kissed down my chin, down my neck, and put his mouth on my nipple. He gently flicked it with his tongue, licking and sucking as he did so. I arched my back up off the floor, feeling extreme pleasure with every single thing that this Drackon warrior was doing to me. It was very naughty, and he was so skilled. I could not believe that I was with an alien weredragon.
His mouth moved further down over my belly until his mouth was firmly set on my center. He licked up and down, over and over as I wiggled on the floor out of control.
“You taste so damn good, Melinda,” he said to me between licking me. I could not get any words out as his mouth skillfully moved on my wet, slick center. Before I knew it, the pulsing between my thighs grew until I was releasing once more in epic pleasure.
"I cannot control myself any longer, Detective Katiama. I need to be inside of you,” he said as he moved above me, putting his body between my thighs. He was so tall, long, and lean that his head was almost two feet past mine as he aligned his hard cock against my wet center. The tip of his firm, long cock entered me and I yelled out in exhilaration and anticipation.
"Are you all right? Did I hurt you? You are so small, so fragile? I do not want to hurt you,” he said to me in a whisper.
"No, you are not hurting me; it just feels so good. Please don't stop,” I said, opening my thighs further for him to go inside of me. He moved his body and entered me slowly, inch by inch. His cock was thick and long and filled me. I pressed my mouth onto his muscular chest, licking at the tattoo of scales. I was so damn turned on by this experience with this alien. It was hot, messy, and taboo. I was with an alien weredragon. He was pushing his long cock inside of me, inch by inch, until finally he was all the way deep inside me.
"Melinda, are you all right?” he asked as he looked down at me.
I arched my head back, looking at him and said “Yes, it feels good.”
"Good, it really does,” he said as he began to finally move back-and-forth. Up-and-down he went; his hips swayed with him as he fucked me. As he made love to me, slowly, then hard and fast, pounding me. I pressed my fingers into his back, feeling the muscles that were there rippling underneath his soft skin. He moved harder and faster, growling and groaning as he fucked me. And as he moved and I moved my hands all over his back, I knew what I wanted to experience as my fingers searched for the source of his wings.
"Eniv, stop. Will you stop and transform for me?” I said to him, begging him practically.
"Are you sure? You want to make love to the weredragon?” he asked.
"No, I want the weredragon to make love to me,” I said playfully.
"As you wish, Detective Katiama,” he said to me. I felt the tingling sensation as he pulled his long cock out of me. He stood up and backed away into the corner of the room. I sat up, ready to watch him transform into a beautiful creature.
"Are you sure about this?” he asked me, smiling at me with that beautiful grin.
"Absolutely,” I said to him.
In a flash, he shifted. Suddenly, beautiful, silver wings spread out behind him. They were metallic and delicate looking, and very large. The shiny silver skills that were once tattoos had now come into material existence. The dim light in the room reflected off of them. They were on top of his right shoulder and moved diagonally across to his left hip. He was absolutely stunning to me. He folded his wings behind him and walked over to me and said, “Now where were we, Detective Katiama?"
I laid down on the floor on my back and opened my thighs wide. He let out a growl and in dragon form it was deeper and more dangerous. My heart skipped a beat at the danger and unusual experience I was about to have. He pushed the tip of his long, thick cock inside of me once more.
“Oh yes, take me, my weredragon,” I whispered. He spread his wings out to the full length, startling me. I look up at them as he pushed himself inside of me hard and fast. I shouted in ecstasy. Then he pumped his hips, rocking them faster than he had before, back-and-forth, back-and-forth, pounding me. It was fast and slippery and delicious. I was on the brink once again as he moved in and out of me.
“I am going to come again! Shit! I'm going to come!” I shouted to him.
"Good, come for me, my human female. I want you to come and I want you to feel the pleasure that I am feeling inside of you,” he whispered to me.
He moved faster and deeper inside of me. I could hear the whoosh sound of his wings as he moved. It was enough to set me off. I was at the point of no return. I let go and released into an abyss of pleasure. My whole body tingled and I felt the vibrations go from my toes all the way to the top of my head. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced.
This is why so many women have given up their lives on Earth; I now understand to the full extent that this delicious, unearthly orgasm is worth giving up your life for. It made my toes curl and I had to bite onto his chest to keep me from screaming so loud that the rest of the crew would come running.
My whole body relaxed underneath Eniv and he felt it because he looked down at me and said, “How was that?”
"It was exceptional. It was damn fucking good,” I said in between heavy breathing.
"Good,” he said as he slowly moved his cock in and out of me very, very slowly. Then he continued to say “Do something for me?”
"Yes, what did you have in mind?” I said to him. He pulled out of me completely and then he pulled me up from the floor. He effortlessly picked me up and turned me around onto all fours.” I want to fuck you like this,” he said to me. I looked back over my shoulder and smiled at him. He put the tip of his cock in my wet center, but just the tip. He left it there while his hands massaged and squeezed my ass. He spanked me with one hard spank and I felt my ass jiggle. “Damn, you should see how sexy you are. I cannot keep my eyes off you."
"I feel the same about you,” I whispered to him. He put his hands on my hips and then pulled me back toward him. As he did so, his long, thick cock entered me inch by inch as he pulled me toward him. I moaned with each inch and he growled like a wild beast.
“Oh damn, that feels good,” he said. Then he pushed me forward a little and his cock pulled out of me slowly, then he repeated again and pulled me back toward him. It felt so good, and I wished I could see exactly what we look like together, especially with him and dragon form. Then he began to move in and out of me faster and faster, pounding himself against my ass. And then I felt his fingers pressed into my flesh on my hips and I knew he was on the brink. He growled the words, “I'm going to come! I can't hold on any longer. Oh fuck, I'm going to come,” he said.
I braced myself, ready for him to explode inside of me. He pounded harder and harder against me until finally he let out a growl and the dragon released inside of me. “Oh, oh fuck, oh yes…” he said over and over.
"How does that feel?” I asked him.
"Too good to be true,” he said.
He moved slowly in and out of me, savoring the orgasm he was experiencing, and his hands moved up and down, rubbing on my back. Finally, he pulled out of me and got up to his feet. I watched as he shifted back into normal form. I laid on the floor amongst our clothes and he laid down next to me. We were both at a loss for words.
I could not believe that I had done it. I had allowed an alien Drackon warrior to weredragon to be inside of me, and what is more is that I enjoyed it more than any other sexual partner I have ever had. It was unlike any experience I had ever had.
I looked over at him and he smiled. I placed my arm across his chest and rested my cheek on his belly. I could have stayed like this forever, but I knew deep down that I could not. I knew that this was very, very wrongbut I did not want to admit it to myself, at least not in the moment. I would ignore it. For now, I would indulge myself as my body continued to pulsate with the pleasure that he had given me. We stayed intertwined until we finally fell asleep. I had never felt so satisfied in my entire life. It was a very delicious experience, and one that I had been wanting since the first time I laid eyes on him