Chapter 14
They returned to the hospital, Madison still feeling a little dazed at the thought of Viglar willing to take her punishment no matter what she did. She ended her shift and went home, almost wishing they lived together.
The next day she jumped out of bed, telling herself she was relieved when a green alien didn’t stand beside it. She walked into the hospital and knew immediately that he was there. That strange electric atmosphere hung over the place, and everybody was on their best behavior. No one knew how, but he had the habit of being right behind you the moment you did something wrong or took an unscheduled break. For such a big man, he sure moved softly. To be fair, she had to admit that he worked harder than any of them. When they arrived, he was here and when the late shift arrived he was still working.
The nurse on duty at reception waved her over. “Viglar said he will be late, but you have to wait for him in his office.” She didn’t even try to hide her curiosity. Rumors about Madison and Viglar were making the rounds.
Madison sighed to hide how her heart was suddenly beating much faster. She felt her face warm. “He probably wants to put me to work again and tell me off for not starting at five these last few days.”
With a smile at the nurse, she went to his office, forcing herself not to rush. She was acting silly. She found another book on his desk, sat down, and worked steadily through it.
Something landed on the table next to her, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She smelled the coffee before she saw it. He leaned down and pressed his forehead against hers.
“You didn’t come to wake me this morning,” she said and smoothed a hand over his uniform. She loved the weird texture, the way it was butter soft while it looked like metal.
“You missed me?”
“In your dreams.” She did miss him, didn’t know what to make of the fact that he was gone every time she woke after a night of torrid lovemaking.
“I want you to tell me why you hate us and then we will discuss hours.”
“I don’t hate you. What hours?”
“Do not lie to me, you hate us. I see it in the way you look at me. Hear it in the words you speak to your friends.”
“I don’t want to hate you anymore. I can’t want you and hate you at the same time, it’s tearing me apart.” She took a sip of coffee to give her time to work up the courage to tell him about Rory. “My brother Rory left my parents’ house two years ago, and we haven’t heard from him since.”
“You think we killed him?”
She wanted to say no, to tell him Rory was probably somewhere in the world having a grand adventure. “Yes.”
“At the Battle of No Name Town.” There was a slight sneer when he said the word battle. As if what happened there was not a battle. And he was right. It was not a battle but a slaughter.
“Yes.”
“I do not know if your brother was at that battle.” Again, a slight sneer at the word battle.
“Did you fight that day?” Please let him say he only tended to their wounded.
“Yes.”
Madison closed her eyes.
“You will give me his image. Our probes recorded the battle. If he was there, we will know.”
Did she want to know? Suspecting he might have killed her brother and seeing it happening in color were two different things. She nodded and sat sipping her coffee in silence.
At last he said, “I have decided that from now on you will live here with me. When I go to the cave, you will go with me.”
He heart bounced in her chest. He did want her, enough to insist she move in with him. “I can’t do that.” She didn’t know why she protested. Deep inside she knew she wanted to be with him. She wanted to go to sleep knowing he was beside her. Holding her safe.
“You will.”
“Do you know what everyone will think?”
“They are welcome to leave. Disrespect toward you will not be tolerated.”
“It’s not that simple. These people are my colleagues.” The way they acted lately she despaired of them ever accepting her relationship with Viglar.
He pulled his lips back from his teeth, and she had to force herself to hold her ground.
“They are not worth my time,” he said.
“You don’t understand Viglar. Their friendship is important to me.”
“You will do it,” he said.
Madison sighed. “Everyone already thinks we--”
“I will kill anyone who displeases you. You should not care what they think.”
“No, please, if you kill anyone because of me, I could never live with myself again. Please let’s just date for a while.”
“That is agreeable. We will now commence having sex.”
“Gee, the romance of the moment is overwhelming,” she said in her Sunday-best Southern voice, “I don’t know how I can refrain from fainting.”
He picked her up. “I will research romance later. Now we will fuck.”
Madison couldn’t stop the giggles. “No, no, I insist on romance with my fucking.”
“I am now an expert in romance.”
Madison giggled harder. She couldn’t wait to hear this. “Already? So what romantic thing will we do now?”
“You will lick disgusting warm chocolate from my body.” He said it with such distaste she kept a straight face with difficulty.
“I think it would be more romantic if you licked it off my body.”
“No, it would not be romantic,” he said with emphasis.
“Why not?” She expected him to say it was unworthy for a warrior to do or some superior thing like that.
“If I licked that, the chocolate, from your body, I will hurl it out of my body the way you lose your food every time we fly.”
“In that case, bring on the chocolate. It won’t make me hurl. Wanna guess where I want to lick it from?” She dipped her eyes suggestively and found herself in the bedroom with warm chocolate in her hands before she could blink.
He lay gloriously naked on the bed and managed even with his expressionless face to appear expectant. She’d barely dribbled the chocolate on his stomach and worked her way lower, when he grabbed her. Chocolate went flying and her clothes tore. They kissed and bit and licked each other, and Madison was glad she’d kept using the foul smelling salve because otherwise she would’ve run screaming after round three. He explored her as if he’d never seen her body before, kept asking her how it felt when he touched behind her knee, bit her neck, and then blew on it. He even wiggled her toes and asked her if that brought her pleasure. She giggled and told him it could drive her to orgasm, and he wiggled them for a long time before he stopped and stared at her.
“You are trying teasing.”
“Unlike some people, I don’t have to try, I do it,” she said.
“Who are the people trying?” he asked in all seriousness.
“Well, one of them is sort of tall, very well built, and green and chocolate makes him throw up.”
He cocked his head. “I am superior at teasing.”
“Oh, stop talking nonsense and kiss me.”
The air changed, became dangerous, but then he kissed her, and she relaxed, enjoying the way he kissed her as if nothing else in the world existed. She loved the intensity in his eyes when he stared at her while he entered her body and made her convulse with pleasure while stars burst behind her eyes. Her senses overloaded and she clung to him while she lost herself.
She came back to herself to the smell of coffee. She stretched and smiled, for this one moment not having a care in the world. This was the life, lovemaking that made you pass out and a male that made you coffee afterward.
He came in, still naked, handed her a cup, and sat down on the bed next to her, holding his own cup.
“This is the first time I’ve seen you drink coffee. I thought you guys didn’t like it.”
“It is a superior brew. Our theory is that a Zyrgin landed here centuries ago and planted it in Africa and showed humans how to cultivate it.”
Madison stared at him. That was a joke. He couldn’t possibly be serious. “You know, I’ll learn to read your face eventually. I’ll know if you are serious or joking.”
“I look forward to when it happens. We now have to talk about hours.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you what you meant about hours. Is it about my duties?”
“Yes, it is about your duty to me. I require eight hours of fucking every night.”
“What?” He had to be joking. She’d need medical treatment if she tried that.
“I will not negotiate.”
“Do you have any idea what eight hours of that will do to my body?”
“The salve I made for you will ensure you do not become sore.”
“Forget it, I’m not committing to eight hours a day. Good heavens, you’re like a machine, you just never stop.”
“Thank you.”
She clenched her teeth together, not sure if she wanted to laugh or get mad. “That was not a compliment.”
“It was. We are agreed, eight hours.”
“No, one hour and not a minute more.” She’d gone down the rabbit hole for sure. This just couldn’t be happening.
“Seven and a half hours.”
“No. Think alien--”
“I’m a Zyrgin.”
“Whatever, I cannot do eight or seven or six or five hours. It is physically impossible.”
“I will synthesize vitamins for you.”
“You are like a broken record.”
“What is that?”
“I have no idea, but that is what you say when someone just never ends saying or doing something.”
“Thank you, my breeder.”
“Again, that was not a compliment.”
“Six hours.”
She screamed and fell back on the bed. Luckily, her cup was empty and it fell harmlessly to the floor. “Are you deaf? I said one hour and that’s it. I might be willing to bargain on a day to day basis, but not for five hours.” She sat up again to shout the last words in his face.
“Three hours,” he said in a voice that told her either she agreed or he’d make it eight hours and she wouldn’t stop him.
“All right, three hours, but you better keep the salve coming.”
“It will be done, my breeder.”
She got out on the other side of the bed. “I have to get back to work. As it is, I didn’t do any studying today.”
He kissed her and pressed his forehead against hers before she left. She did some painting and was grateful that the mammoth task was almost done. Afterward, she changed into her white pants and jacket. She found Rachel in the dressing room. “I wonder who thought it was a good idea for people who work with blood to wear white.”
“Bet you it was Jacobson,” Rachel said.
Madison picked up her bag. “Wouldn’t take that bet.”
“Are you all right, Madison?”
Madison smiled at Rachel. “Yes, I’m fine.”
“Are you still coming to the party? I’d understand if you’d rather spend the time with Viglar.”
Madison hit her head. “I totally forgot about it, and I’m definitely going.” A fellow intern was turning twenty-one, and everyone not on duty was invited. The plan was for the party to last so long everyone on duty would eventually be able to attend. “I’ve gotta run, I’ll see you later, we can share transport.” She suppressed a wince at the cost of taking a taxi. At least she got paid on a regular basis now.
After much internal debate she decided not to tell Viglar about the party. He was going to be working until the early morning hours before coming to her flat. She’d tell him about it afterwards.
They arrived at the party that night to find music blaring and everyone dressed like aliens. “Terribly original,” Madison muttered and adjusted the silver antennae on her head.
“At least it’s just for fun. We’re not like those freaks walking around pretending they’re aliens,” Rachel said. She was dressed in a very short skirt, her hair arranged on top of her head with ringlets curling down the sides of her face. Already Madison saw some of the men checking out her friend.
They had a great time but, around midnight, Madison felt strangely light headed.
“I feel light headed. I’m going to get a cab home, you coming?”
Rachel nodded. “I think they spiked the beer bowl. I feel strange too.”
In the cab they sat with their eyes closed. “So where does Viglar live?” Rachel asked sleepily.
“In the mountains,” Madison murmured and then thought better of talking about Viglar. She didn’t want to get on the wrong side of the Zyrgins for innocently telling Rachel something about them.
They paid the taxi and staggered into their building. Madison didn’t feel lightheaded anymore, she felt sort of good. “I know what we can do.” She giggled and suddenly couldn’t stop.
“What?” Rachel asked and crawled up the steps when she had trouble walking up.
“You’re so clever, Rachie.” Madison crawled up the steps that kept jumping around on her.
“What can we do?” Rachel asked.
“What?” Madison stumbled to her feet and lurched to the door. “Oh, I remember, we can phone my boyfriend.”
“Where you got one?” Rachel tried to get through the door at the same time and they were stuck for a moment until Madison had the happy idea to go in sideways. That worked and they crawled up the steps to her apartment. “Viglar, he’s my eight-hour boyfriend.” She laughed and couldn’t stop laughing at such a funny joke.
She had to try a few times before she managed to call Viglar on the TC.
“Hey, Viggie, guess who.”
“My drunken breeder,” he said with absolutely no expression.
Rachel giggled and Madison jointed her. “He doesn’t know.”
“Would never guess,” Rachel agreed.
“I’m a sexy Zorn explorer, like in the Space Range, uh Walking space, uh--”
“Space Ranger,” Rachel cried triumphantly.
“Yes, that.” Madison pointed to Rachel to make sure he understood. “Do you think I’m sexy, d’you want eight hours now?” She giggled and couldn’t stop.
“You will both sleep now,” he said.
“No, nuh uh. I wanna have fun.”
Next to her Rachel complained as well. But suddenly Madison’s eyes felt heavy and the couch looked really good. She tried to stand, but fell back on the floor and closed her eyes. “Close them just one minute,” she mumbled.
She was vaguely aware of Rachel lying down next to her.
Someone was cruelly driving spikes into her head with a hammer. Madison moaned and tried to open her eyes, but they wouldn’t obey her commands.
“Drink this, human.”
Madison cringed. He only called her human in that tone when she’d done something he considered really stupid. And wouldn’t it be lovely if she didn’t remember anything about the previous night? She was lying in bed and she remembered falling asleep on the floor with Rachel next to her.
“Rachel,” she croaked.
“I took her to her apartment, drink this.”
She opened her bleary eyes to see him holding her favorite cup out to her.
“Can’t move,” she mumbled.
He helped her up and held the cup against her lips. Instant relief, though she still felt horrible. “I thought I’d be magically better.”
“Even superior Zyrgin medicine cannot completely cure a night of drinking.”
Madison stared up at his blurry figure. “Please go away. I will see you at the office. Just leave me to die in peace.”
“You will not die but I will meet you at the office.” Pressing his forehead against hers he left.
She met Rachel in the cafeteria for breakfast much earlier than she ever wanted to be awake and functioning while hung over. They both got coffee and sat down rather gingerly.
Rachel frowned at the opposite wall where two doctors were painting it with amazing speed. “I still don’t get it. Why would the aliens built hospitals and shelters and orphanages?”
An alien was installing something in the wall Madison sincerely hoped was a synthesiser that made decent coffee like the one in Viglar’s office. She moaned and clutched her head. “Everything’s a blur, and my head aches something fierce. I can’t have rational discussion now.”
“I’m trying to focus on something else. So why the shelters?” Rachel said.
“I don’t know, maybe they’re building shelters and this hospital because their leader married a human woman,” Madison said. More focused on her headache than the conversation.
“Zacar? Didn’t you say that was his name?”
“No, their emperor or something. He sent a shuttle with guards for her and Sarah went to their planet.” Natalie had told her the story and she still didn’t know if it was romantic or very scary.
“I wonder if she went voluntarily,” Rachel said. There was a look in her eyes that unsettled Madison. She shook off the memory of Viglar telling her Rachel was not her friend and shrugged. “Don know.”
“Madison, how did I get to my flat last night?”
“Viglar carried you there and then put me in bed.”
“He just dumped me on the couch. And did you call him your boyfriend last night?”
Madison moaned again. “If you consider yourself my friend, never speak about it again.”
“All right.”
Viktor joined them. “Did you hear there’s going to be protests about the medical units?”
Go figure. “I can’t worry about it now. My head is killing me.”
Rachel nodded. “Mine too, and we have to paint the new wards they added.”
They both groaned.
“Great party last night,” Viktor said. Obviously, he’d had the sense not to drink the doctored beer.
As if on cue, Viglar appeared in the door of the cafeteria, and everyone went back to work. If Madison hadn’t felt so miserable, she’d have laughed at the way they tried to scramble and look like they were busy working in the cafeteria. He walked over to their table, and Viktor and Rachel got up and rushed through the door with everyone else.
Viglar held out a small silver cup. “Drink this.”
“Please tell me it will help. The stuff you gave me earlier helped, but I still feel like I just flew in a shuttle that jerked around the whole flight.”
“It will help.”
She swallowed the vile tasting stuff and almost instantly felt better. “I have to get to work,” she said and got up. She smiled up at him, her evil smile that would’ve made her brothers run. “Wanna kiss me?”
She’d thought he’d step back at the thought of kissing her after she had his vile concoction in her mouth, but he bent down and kissed her until she forgot where she was, forgot her name, and all she wanted was to kiss him for the rest of her life.
He lifted his head and touched her cheek with his forefinger. “I have many duties at the mountain this week.”
“All right. We’ll touch bases, when you’re around.”
He pressed his forehead against hers and they both left the cafeteria.
That night when she opened her door, she nearly slipped on the thin plastic on the floor. Some companies still made writing paper from recycled plastic, even though everyone used TCs these days.
The short message written in round childish writing was devastating.
The aliens had tortured and killed Rory at the Battle of No Name Town.
She walked into her flat and sank down on the couch, staring at the piece of plastic in her hand, barely aware of what she was doing. Could this be true?
Viglar could’ve killer her brother. He wasn’t merely a doctor. He prided himself on being a warrior.
Madison lifted her hand. It was trembling. She’d slept with him. Betrayed the brother that always protected her.
She laid her head on her knees and cried. She missed Rory. She didn’t know if she should believe this message. What if she told her mother, and it turned out not to be true? Most of all, she cried because she couldn’t hate Viglar and her family would never accept her relationship with him.
Her mother never got over Ana’s death and to have to now accept that her son died as well? Madison couldn’t fathom how a parent lived through that. She would have to go home. This wasn’t the kind of news you told over the TC.
She barely slept and was up an hour before her normal time. Walking to the hospital, she came to a standstill at the entrance and stared at the shuttle craft parked in front of the hospital. Viglar stood in front of it with his arms crossed over his chest, talking to another alien. The other alien was tall, but she somehow thought he might be younger than Viglar. She was curious about the other alien, but didn’t want to intrude. The message burned in her pocket, and she turned away to enter the hospital before he could see her.
“Come here, Madison,” Viglar said.
She walked over to him. “Are we going to the shelters and the orphanage?”
“Yes.”
Since Viglar didn’t seem inclined to introduce her, she held out her hand to the other alien. “Hi, I’m Madison.” She refused to bow and scrape to their invaders, but she also wouldn’t forget the manners her mama drilled into her.
Viglar took her hands in his and drew her next to him. He leaned down to stare at her, his eyes turning red. “You do not look at him, you do not speak to him, you do not touch him.”
“Why, what makes him so important?”
She was vaguely aware of the other alien leaving. Viglar lifted her against him, his muscled body warm against hers. He tilted her head up to him. “Why do you want to speak to him? Do you find him pleasing? Do you want to breed for him?”
“What? Are you out of your alien mind?” It worried her. The way he kept talking about breeding. As if women were only good for one thing. Surely if that was how he saw women, he wouldn’t have tolerated the female doctors, wouldn’t have trained her. “That’s a disgusting thing to say to me.”
“You do not talk to warriors.” He tilted his head. “And you do not look at warriors at sword practice. You will also teach your female human children proper behavior.”
“You know, its rude not to introduce people. What am I supposed to call him when I speak to him, hey you?”
“You do not speak to him.”
She put her hands on her hips. “My mama taught me manners.”
“She should have taught you proper breeder behavior.”
There was no way she was going to win this argument. “I need a few things from the hospital before we go.” She went to the office where she’d left her bag and found Sandra turning away from it with a guilty start. Madison pressed her lips together, grabbed her bag, and ran back outside.
Madison stormed into the shuttle and took her place on the bench. She waited until they’d taken off before she asked the question burning in her mind. “Did you find out anything about Rory from the probes?”
“No.”
If only she could read him better. Then she would know if that was an evasive answer or the truth.
The moment they entered the grounds, she noticed the improvements they made. Could they be as bad as she thought and do this? Why did Rory have to go to that battle?
A small curvy blonde woman and a tall slender woman with long black hair and beautiful dark skin stood on the veranda talking to one of the house mothers.
Viglar walked up to them. “It is time for my clinic. Go away.”
“Nice to see you too,” the blonde woman said. She turned to Madison and took in her bag and white coat.
“Did you draw the short straw?”
“Uh no.”
She stuck out a hand. “I’m Julia and Margaret said you met before.”
“You have introduced yourself, now go away,” Viglar said.
Neither woman seemed bothered by his attitude.
Madison shook Julia’s hand. She turned to Margaret and sucked in a soundless breath when she looked into those tortured brown eyes. This woman had been through hell. Maybe helping at the shelter was her way of coping.
“By the way, I am married to Zurian, and Margaret is with Larz,” Julia said.
“You married the aliens?” This would cause a stir if people knew.
Viglar loomed over them. “You will cease talking and return to your warriors.”
“No, we’re going to Margaret’s shelter next. Don’t worry, we’ve got an escort,” Julia told him cheerfully. She seemed to be the one doing all the talking.
Viglar took Madison’s arm and dragged her inside. “We have work to do.”
Madison waved at the two women who watched her and Viglar with amused expressions on their faces.
She unpacked what she thought she might need. “Why did Julia call the Shelter Margaret’s?”
“Margaret started the shelter and is building more with her warrior’s money.”
“Her eyes looked so sad. Is that why she built the shelter, because she went through abuse as well?”
“No.”
“I come to see the alien,” a small voice lisped behind her.
Madison turned and found a little girl, who couldn’t be older than three years staring at Viglar with big frightened eyes. She knelt down. “If you want, I can help you.”
The little girl shook her head, clutching a worn looking doll against her. “Wanna alien.” Her thumb went into her mouth.
Madison didn’t know what to make of it. The little girl was scared out of her mind, but she still insisted to see Viglar. “Come, I’ll take you to him.” She held out her hand.
Across the room Viglar stood watching them without moving.
Again, the little girl shook her head. “Alone,” she whispered and walked up to Viglar, setting one foot in front of the other, as if she had to fight every flight instinct she had. When she reached Viglar, he bent down, picked her up, and placed her on the bed. The little girl bit her quivering lip and clutched her doll tighter.
“What is wrong with you, little human?”
She stared at him for a long time and then answered. “Tummy hurts.”
He moved the silver instrument over the child, and it suddenly made loud beeping sounds. Colors flashed on it. The little girl jumped but didn’t cry.
Viglar put away his gadget, reached inside a bag, and took out a few sweets. “Here is your sweets. Now go away, little human.” He put her down on the floor and with a big relieved smile the little girl ran out.
“That was weird, was there anything wrong with her stomach?” she asked Viglar.
“There is nothing wrong with her. They take bets to see who is brave enough to come near me.”
“Oh.” Didn’t it bother him that they feared him? “And the flashing lights and noises your instrument made.”
“They assume the lights and noises are Zyrgin technology at work.”
“That’s so kind of you Viglar.”
He didn’t acknowledge that he’d heard her. “We have to return.”
On the flight back, she sat next to him at the controls, and he didn’t try to stop her. They didn’t talk and, even with her struggle to accept that Rory was dead, and how he might’ve died, it was a peaceful silence. Halfway there, the world exploded around her.
The shuttle shook and then descended nose first, so fast they were horizontal one moment and diving the next.
“What’s happening?” she screamed.
“We are making an emergency landing.” Viglar’s calm voice reassured her. If anyone could get them safely on the ground it would be him.
Viglar grated something and wide belts crossed over her body. “It will be all right, Madison.
They crashed into the ground, and Madison expected to be jerked, but the belts somehow kept her from feeling the impact of the landing.
Her ears rang. She shook her head and then quickly stopped because that hurt so much she moaned. She floated and vaguely realized she would’ve hit the ground hard if not for the vice that suddenly clamped around her.
“Do not move, human.”
“I knew you couldn’t fly as well as you said,” she mumbled.
Amazing, even crashing couldn’t make her mouth behave.
“Do you hurt anywhere, Madison?”
“Yes, my head. And my mouth has started to work independently from my brain. Frankenstein appears and, hey presto, my mouth starts saying things my ears don’t want to believe.”
“Your mouth is the most dangerous part of you. Remain still, my human.”
She opened her eyes. He held her cradled against him on the floor of the shuttle while he ran his silver gadget over her. “Great, not even an accident can make you drop that thing.”
“You are unbroken?” Viglar said. He didn’t seem injured at all while she felt as if the shuttle had fallen on her. “You have a slight concussion, but no serious injuries.” He pressed something against her neck. She felt a sting and her headache went away.
“I want my own injector thingie.”
“If you work hard and apply yourself you may reach the level where you may be issued an injector.”
“How long did it take you to be issued with one?” She’d sell her soul for one of those Her body felt less achy and fragile.
“One hundred Earth years.”
“Yeah, right.” She sat up and looked around. “What happened?” The area where she normally sat were blackened and the seat blown apart.
“We were shot down.”
“Shot down?” Something tugged at her memory, but she couldn’t make it come to the forefront of her mind. “I thought mere human technology couldn’t harm your shuttles.”
“We were cloaked so the resistance must have had some help.” She didn’t like the sound of that. Or the way he suddenly looked at her. It was hard to read his body language, but she had the feeling he was suspicious of her.
“What do you mean? Resistance?”
He didn’t answer her, but patted her down. “Hey what are you doing, stop that.”
He ignored her and, starting at her hair, moved down and touched every single part of her. When he came to her thighs, he even pressed his thumbs where they had no business being. Not while he suspected her of helping the resistance shooting them down anyway.
Her whole body jerked and, unfortunately, it wasn’t wholly from surprise. “Hey, stop that you green freak.” She slapped at his hands. You pervert.”
Ignoring her, he took her medical bag and went through it. “What are you looking for? You won’t find anything--that’s not mine.”
He held up a box the same beige as the inside of her bag. The atmosphere inside the shuttle suddenly changed, became chilled. Those blood red eyes bored into hers. She wished he showed some emotion. Then at least she’d know how dead she was. Nothing he’d done or said made her think he would have any mercy for anyone who helped the resistance to shoot them down.
“I don’t know how it got there.”
If he didn’t believe her, it would break something deep inside her. They’d made love, he’d cured her hangover, watched the space ranger with her. Surely that would mean something to him.
“This is your bag, you packed it for the visit.” There was no accusation, he merely stated the facts.
“Yes, but please believe me, I don’t know how that got there.” She rubbed her aching head. Sandra had been in the staff room and acted strange. She and Rachel were the only two that had access to her bag. Rachel was her friend, she’d never do this to her. They’d been friends long before the aliens came.
He pried off the lid of the box and then moved in a blur, she heard a dull sound as if he’d thrown the box inside something metal and then a dull explosion she could feel reverberate through the floor boards.
“I will find the human responsible for this.”
She sagged and almost sobbed. “You believe me. You don’t think I’m the one who put it there so the resistance could shoot us down.”
“You are a brave human, but not a stupid one. I do not think you would allow yourself to be shot down, or for me to find the device so easily.”
“Actually, I don’t feel all that brave. I was so scared that you would think I did it, and you’d kill me with your lasers.” She made a feeble attempt at teasing but it fell flat. It couldn’t have been Rachel. She’d know the aliens would suspect Madison. But there were a few doctors who hated her because of the time she spent with Viglar. They could be with the resistance. It kept coming back to Sandra and she didn’t dare tell him her suspicions about her.
“My lasers?”
“You know, the lasers your eyes shoot when they turn red.”
“I would never shoot you with my lasers.” He said it so dead serious, for a moment she thought maybe he had lasers in his eyes.
He got up, went to the console, and pressed some buttons. He grunted and she thought he might be speaking, but she couldn’t be sure. She never thought too much about his alien language before. If it was his language, it sounded like he gargled with gravel.
“What language do you speak on your planet?” Why hadn’t she asked him that before? She’d heard him grunt at the synthesizer many times.
He didn’t answer, just continued to work on the console.
Her ears still rang. She shook her head and then quickly stopped because that brought back her headache.
“Do not move.”
“You believe me, that I didn’t help the resistance?”
“Yes, now be quiet.”
“Well, excuse me for breathing,” she said. What on earth was he doing? He pressed buttons on the console, ejected another silver gadget from it, and then made it disappear into his pocket. His pocket should bulge, but it lay flat on his muscled thigh. The gadget seemed to have just disappeared.
“What about you, Frankenstein, any injuries I should look at?”
“I am a Zyrgin warrior, I do not need a human to heal me.” He ran his silver scanner over her and, before she could ask what he was doing, he’d pressed his injector against her neck again and, almost immediately, the last vestiges of her headache was gone.
“I sent out a call to headquarters before we went down, but the humans might get to us before the rescue.”
“They wouldn’t hurt me.” It was a sickening thought. Someone had placed a tracker in her bag, knowing she’d be in the shuttle when it was shot down. She didn’t want to admit to Viglar that she was more scared of the resistance, if it was the resistance that shot them down, than a Zyrgin in that moment.
“Your human resistance is not the heroes you think them.”
“At least they are making life difficult for you. Eventually, they will succeed in driving you back where you came from.” She must be injured worse than she thought, because the thought of never seeing him again didn’t make her as happy as it should.
“Your so-called human resistance has been trying to get their hands on a shuttle. They are more interested in enriching themselves with our technology than to liberate Earth from us.” He stilled and cocked his head. “They are close. I will protect you.”
“I’m human, I’ll be safe from them. I’ll distract them while you run. With your speed, I’m sure you can outrun them.”
“Zyrgins do not run and never from humans. The resistance kills any humans known to associate with us. They would make an example of you.”
“I don’t believe you.” Except she did. They knew she was on board and had fired anyway.
He didn’t answer, simply got up and stood in front of her with his legs braced. One moment he was unarmed, the next he had a sword in his hand.
“They’ll probably have guns, and you conjure a sword. Haven’t you ever heard about not bringing a sword to a gunfight?”
Madison frantically looked around for anything she could use as a weapon.
“No, I brought a Zyrgin warrior to a human massacre,” he said, without taking his eyes off the shuttle door. “You will tell me about it later.”
It was reassuring that he thought there would be a later. Maybe the rumors about their fighting capabilities were true. She picked up a piece of metal that used to support the seat and hefted it. It just might work. Viglar flashed his teeth and she was still wondering if that God-awful expression was supposed to be a smile when there was a cry from outside.
Someone started fiddling with the door and then shouts and swearing.
“They booby-trapped the door,” a man said from outside.
“We can blow it open from here.”
Again, Viglar flashed his teeth.
Madison waited, holding her breath, and, a moment later, agonised cries went up. Then there was silence, only broken by chilling moans every once in a while
“Stay behind me,” Viglar said and opened the hatch.
He walked out and stopped just outside the door. Madison stayed behind him out of sight of the door. She wasn’t going to be like the people in the movies who got into trouble because they didn’t listen and stay put. She peered out of the window.