“I must free the human in the State’s captivity. She is valuable,” I said urgently. I had donned my pure white civilian clothes after leaving the girl in Arke’s care but had been unable to free my mind of her. Ariel was a wealth of information. Information that could mean the end to our secret opposition against the Verian government.
“Are you sure, Yul Pyre? They could trace it back to you, and then they will discover the opposition. It doesn’t seem wise!” Blaithe Corra said, his voice pleading.
“She’s got to come here. You know they’re going to mistreat her for information!” I insisted.
Ever since I had deposited the human with Arke and his crew, I had been battling with a sick feeling of foreboding in my stomach. The girl didn’t deserve to be left to the hands of the cruel men in charge. They had been chosen simply because they reflected the ruthless ideals of their leader. The master of the Verians, the current Doyan Yolatz, was taking the war in a dangerous direction. One that few Verians, let alone humans, would survive. We had to stop him.
But, I also felt that it was my duty to save the human as well. I had abducted her. She was my responsibility. This, I kept to myself. The members of the opposition simply wouldn’t understand.
“If you get caught, the opposition will surely go under. The rebellion has no legs without you!” Blaithe exclaimed. “Please, reconsider. They’re going about this war all wrong, Yul Pyre. It’s not moral!”
“Well, I can’t change how other people treat humans,” I said, throwing my hands up in the air. “But what I can do is save her.”
But Blaithe was right. It truly wasn’t the wisest course of action. The opposition was counting on me, and if I got myself caught or killed trying to rescue the human, they would surely flounder.
Regardless, I couldn’t stomach leaving the girl with the heavy-handed Arke Hatlir. He was a cruel, bitter man who was sure in himself and himself alone. He would do anything to lift the curse that the humans had plagued him with. We knew enough now to understand the origins of the disease that made it nearly impossible for the Verians to breed and zapped the typically powerful warrior men of their strength. But the only cure we had discovered so far was interbreeding, and some men who were too far gone in the disease weren’t even able to do that. Men like Arke.
“Actually, we have a real opportunity here, Blaithe,” Jae Gronda said. “We can use her to further our agendas! We can use her for the opposition!”
It was nice to hear somebody siding with me. For some reason, this mission felt imperative. Of course, I saw the sense in using the human’s knowledge for our own mission. But what I was mostly concerned with was her well-being. How could I explain that to my men? I probably shouldn’t. They would never understand. Most Verians would do whatever they could to rid the world of one more human; it would make no difference to them whether she was dead or alive. All they wanted was the information she might have to aid us.
“I know that,” Blaithe growled, doing his best to keep his temper under control. “There is opportunity in everything! Just as there is risk.”
It looked like things were finally leaning in my favor. The human wasn’t safe with Arke. That much was certain. But if I was going to break her out of that prison, it was going to take a lot more than good intentions. I could lose my job and be labeled a traitor. And for what? To keep a human I barely knew from suffering? It had to mean more than that. It had to further our cause. I couldn’t just go blindly into a mission like this, for the sheer sake of unwarranted attraction. It was against the law to love a human, and that probably extended to infatuation too. I would definitely be persecuted if I even considered it.
Still, the human had managed to linger in my mind the night they had met. She was something else, all right. No female on Helna would have ever dared to speak to me in such a manner. But this human was fearless and brazen. It made me angry, sure, but at the same time, it was refreshing. I was used to being in charge, and most people kissed up to me because of it. It was hard to find genuine people who would speak their minds with me. Those who did generally tended to be krachas. This female was different though. She wasn’t trying to be cruel. She was trying to be honest.
“We have to bring her here before they get too much information from her. They’re going about this war all wrong. And with the girl, they’re going to get exactly what they want. And you know that isn’t going to be a good thing,” I said as slowly as I could. I had to approach this from a point of view that would benefit the opposition if I wanted the team on board. And I would need them to rescue the girl. “The new Doyan is merciless. There won’t even be any vegetation left on the planet by the time they get through with it if they bully that human into giving them answers.”
“I know,” Blaithe said. “You don’t have to spell it all out for me. The Doyan is bad news. We all know that much. When Helna is gone, we don’t want to invade a half-dead planet and have the same thing happen all over again later. If the human can help, then maybe…”
They had finally been worn down, and I almost grinned in relief knowing that I had gotten my way at last. I knew exactly what the men needed to hear in order to back me up on this mission. What I didn’t know was whether or not the human would even give them the answers they wanted.
Again, my mind wandered back to my first few moments of seeing the human at work; the remarkable focus and the fearless attitude she displayed, even in the face of the males who outranked her in the laboratory. I had truly never encountered another soul quite like hers. One would imagine that she was made of steel underneath that soft, ruddy skin.
And judging by the hardness in her gaze, she would easily keep her mouth shut when others would give in and betray her people. How long would she have to be tortured by Arke and his men before she broke? I couldn’t let it get that far.
“We’re willing to help however we can,” Blaithe finally said quietly, gesturing to the other seven men who had gathered in his small home.
They nodded eagerly. We had been meeting here for nearly six months as a secret opposition against the Doyan’s regime. We were all comfortable here now, but it was far too small to house a human prisoner. There would have to be some other way. If the Doyan and his men knew about our plan, it could mean the end of the line for all of us. We would have to be careful.
Ever since the position of Doyan was succeeded by the cruel Doyan Yoltaz, nothing had been the same. There were secret groups forming all over Helna in opposition to the regime, and for some reason, they were looking to me as their leader. I was the only man living on Helna in a position of power in the Doyan’s military. And as such, it was up to me to see to it that the opposition’s goals were met in a way that would provide the maximum benefit to everybody involved.
“All right then,” I said, setting my jaw. I just couldn’t bear the thought of the human’s spirit being destroyed by a man as petty and cruel as Arke. He was bitter that he hadn’t been able to spawn a child with a human female in order to regain his strength, and every year he continued to become weaker and crueler. It was a sad case in a way, but it was his choice to handle the situation poorly. I couldn’t pity him for long. All men made their choices.
I thought again about the intriguing human; her eyes seemed to hold galaxies, even if her spirit was strong. She was an incredible specimen to be sure; all the more reason for Arke to treat her harshly. I had nearly lost my mind when I had seen Harlow electrocuting her for his own sick pleasure. It took everything that I had to refrain from tearing him apart from the inside out right then and there. But I had a different punishment up my sleeve for Harlow. One he wouldn’t soon forget.
“Have you all heard about Sect 12 of the opposition?” an older man named Gark said, clearly hoping to change the subject. He spoke as if he had been sitting impatiently on his news, his eyes shimmering. “They’re planning a demonstration. They want the doyan to know that we’re here and we’re angry. It’s important that they know we’re on to them and we’re not just going to accept anything they throw at us. We have to hold true to our values as Verians. Otherwise, we might as well die out with the planet Helna.”
The group was quiet for a moment as the news sank in. A feeling of trepidation consumed me, but I held my tongue for the time being. It would be better to know what the others thought before I spoke.
“Isn’t it dangerous to show that there is opposition before we have any advantage over the government?” Blaithe said. “We don’t have any knowledge they don’t have. Right now, it’s a race that we are losing. There aren’t nearly as many of us as there are of them. And they have the super soldiers!”
I cringed. I had fought alongside battalions of super soldiers a few times, and they were merciless and cruel. They didn’t even care much for each other, and tore the enemy to shreds, delighting in every second of their fight.
“Well that’s not going to matter very much longer if we get the scientist,” Jae Gronda said decidedly. I nodded enthusiastically. Anything that I could do to convince them to help me save the girl, I would do. “If we find out what she knows, then we’re going to be able to fight our way to victory. That way, once we get to Earth, we know it will be exactly as it should be.”
I listened carefully, contemplating all sides as the room erupted into a heated debate. The only thing that anybody seemed to agree upon was that they needed the scientist.
And I was sure they were right about that. Even if it wasn’t for the opposition’s strategy to work, I knew that the female from Earth was special. I couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was about her; all I really knew was that I needed her to be mine. And I would stop at nothing until that’s exactly what happened.
***
“Glad to see you here, Commander Juno,” Arke said, a smug grin on his face. My eyes immediately searched the small shack for the human, but she had her back turned to me, lying on her side and shivering on her cot.
“Glad to be here,” I lied. The sound of my voice made the human’s head tilt a little toward the bars of her cage, and a feeling of pity swept over me. The girl was pathetic, trapped in here with these krochas. They wouldn’t do anything to help her and probably delighted in causing her harm. I had half a mind to destroy them all right then. But if I did, I would lose the one advantage I had over the mindless followers of the Doyan.
“The girl is even more knowledgeable than she appears,” Arke said, grinning cruelly into the prison cell, where the human refused to turn to face us. All we could see were waves of golden hair shimmering under the bright heat lamps aimed at her cell. “But it’s not quite as easy to get her to talk as it was with some of our other prisoners of war.”
“There are rules about the conduct of war prisoners,” I reminded him, casting a distasteful glance around the shed. “They used to mean something.”
“Yes,” Arke agreed jovially. “Thankfully the new Doyan changed all of that. Wouldn’t you agree, my dear?”
Still, the human faced the wall, though I could see her delicate shoulders tensing up under the sound of Arke’s voice. Even though he was speaking our native Verian tongue, she seemed to understand all too well what he was saying to her. I could only imagine how much worse that made her feel; it was a terrible situation. I needed to get her out of there. But how?
“Well she’s not going to talk,” I said with an unkind laugh. “At least not right now. What did you guys end up finding out about her?”
“She’s a smart human, that much is true. She knows things about energy that most humans never get around to learning until they’ve been abducted. She figures things out right in her brain, Pyre, isn’t that interesting?”
“Well, isn’t that what most scientists do, Arke?” I asked, reluctant to agree with anything that came out of Arke’s mouth. He was the biggest sleazeball I had ever met, and I couldn’t wait until the opposition took hold and dethroned the doyan and his corrupt lackeys once and for all.
“You don’t get it, Yul. She’s a female. That means that there are Earth humans who are males that her knowledge surpasses. And she should be able to rid me of this blasted curse once and for all. At least, she will once we really get her talking.”
“Yeah, we been sweet to you so far, human, but it isn’t going to last,” Lors Grefnod said with a shit-eating grin. I nearly punched him in the face right then and there. But how could I explain my behavior? It was against the law to love a human, even if love was the explanation for the peculiar thing I had been feeling. I couldn’t just go off on a whim and declare to everybody that the warrior inside of me had claimed the human as his own. She hadn’t even told me her name yet, and by Verian custom, without a formal introduction, all I could refer to her as was yula or human.
“Lors is right,” Arke said with a heavy sigh. “The kindness can only last so long, really. We’re going to have to amp things up if we’re going to get any real information out of her.”
“Wait,” I said, startling everybody in the room, including myself. “Why don’t you let me give it a try. It’s not fair. I brought her in, and I don’t get to have any of the fun because I’m stuck on guard duty?”
“The yul has a point,” Arke said. His eyes glittered with mirth. He liked having a companion to share his bloodlust with. little did he know, I would be far more likely to shed his blood than the female’s. But that would have to wait. My revenge would have to be well-timed.
“You all had your fun with her, on your own and behind closed doors. I would like to do the same,” I said, cringing inwardly as I did so.
The men all cheered and jabbed at me with their elbows. They thought I meant to violate the prisoner or something. They were heathens, and I couldn’t wait to be rid of their presence in the small shack that served as this beautiful human’s prison. Even if I couldn’t save her yet, I could at least learn to speak her name. Human dialects could be very difficult for a Verian’s tongue, just as Verian dialects were difficult for humans.
“Yula,” I whispered once everybody had left the room. I knew they were probably all peeking in at us, but it was the best that I could do. I couldn’t stand the thought of having them near her for one more minute.
“Go away!” the human hissed. “Can’t you see you’ve done enough? You left me here with these…these barbarians!”
She sounded betrayed, though the idea that she had trusted me at all in the first place was baffling. Still, I couldn’t blame her for her anger. I was angry with myself as well.
“Come,” I said quietly, wishing with all I had that we hadn’t been able to find this human, even if it meant a victory for the opposition. It would have been better to know she was safe and sound at home on Earth, in her own bed, and with her own people. They wouldn’t hurt her. Not like this. “I have news for you that may bring you peace.”
The human sat up, abruptly and rigidly, her deep blue eyes boring into mine and making my heart thud dully in my chest. I had to keep it together.
“There is nothing that you could ever say that would bring me peace. I won’t tell you anything you want to know. I will not betray humankind.”
“Maybe not,” I said. “But isn’t it true that you want to get out of here?”
“What prisoner wants to stay in the confines of her cage?” the human demanded.
Now she was back on her feet, the fire in her eyes that had first drawn me to her captivating me and holding me still where I stood once again. There was no doubt in my mind. This was the female for me.
“No, no prisoner wishes such a thing for themselves,” I agreed, moving slowly, carefully to the door of her cage and letting myself in. She moved as far away from me as she could, pinning her back against the far corner of the cell. I held my hands up as if to show her I meant no harm, and she relaxed a little, but only slightly.
“You have no business in here with me,” she said darkly.
I opened my mouth to respond, but all I could manage to do was look at her. I studied the golden cascade of hair that fell on her shoulders, and the blue eyes that stared at me with anger and trepidation. She had such small, unremarkable features compared to the females of the Verian species, but somehow, they brought all of my senses to life. Everything from her arched brow to her full lips made me awaken with a longing to have her closer to me: to feel what it meant to earn her trust.
But that was ridiculous. She wanted nothing to do with me, and I couldn’t blame her in the least. I was the enemy, pure and simple. I had abducted her. I had stolen her away to a foreign planet and subjected her to the cruelties and abuses of the insecure Arke. And that was something I would have trouble forgiving myself for the rest of my life. I could only imagine how the human might feel about the whole thing.
“My business is not with you personally, but with the people of Earth,” I said quietly. “No, I do not intend to hurt you, and neither shall you be hurt with me present. I will take a post here to protect you from the cruelties of interrogation.”
The human’s eyes studied me, skepticism, and something else, something much harder to read, dancing in her beautiful eyes.
“It isn’t because I wish to help you,” I said quickly, though obviously, I knew that this was a deep, dark lie. “It is because I wish to help my people to move forward in their evolution as a species. And I feel that neglecting the rules of conduct for prisoners of war is a blight on our moral potential as Verian men.”
“I really don’t give a damn what kind of crusade you think you’re on, man,” the human said darkly. “You’re not going to get anything out of me. Even if you did stop these men from coming into my cell and seeing what it takes to make me bleed with those dull knives of theirs, I’m not going to tell you anything.”
“What if I promise to protect you? Here, every day. To keep you out of harm’s way,” I said, desperate to see her relax a little, for her to feel safe despite her situation. I knew it was a lot to ask, but it was all I wanted for her.
“You can’t promise that, and the only reason you would is to get something from me. I don’t want to owe you anything, so spare yourself the trouble.”
The human’s face was black, brown, and teal colored, and I frowned and touched it. She flinched away from me and turned her back.
“Please just get out of here,” she said quietly. “I don’t want anything you think you can give me. I don’t know how to make that any clearer to you.”
I sighed and stood. “Whether you tell me anything or not, I do want to protect you. It is upon my honor that I vow to do so, whether you want me to or not.”
The human turned to face me, and I flinched away in surprise. This time, her face was no longer angry, but afraid.
“Please, just let me go home,” she whispered, her marble-like eyes filling with tears. “I just want to go back home. There is something I need to finish. Something so important…”
I could still hear the men outside the shed cackling and making lewd jokes about what I might be doing with the prisoner inside of her cell, so I knew it was about time to bring the conversation to a close.
“I will consider your requests if you cooperate,” I said, my voice low enough that nobody on the outside would overhear me. “I ask only one thing in return.”
The human clearly didn’t know whether or not she could trust me, and she blinked her thickly lashed eyes slowly at me as we stared at each other—me doing everything in my power not to give in to my impulse to touch her again, and she probably doing her best not to give in to her impulse to smack me. Still, she mustered up enough courage to stare me in the eye and face the proposition head on.
“What would you want from me?” she asked, her chin high in the air, even as her voice wavered in fear and defiance.
“Just one simple thing,” I said quietly. “Please, just tell me your name.”
The human looked at me as if I were mental, but then her face softened, and she looked down at her hands.
“My name is Ariel,” she answered. “Doctor Ariel Landon.”
I could feel my body grow light with elation and I smiled broadly at the human, bowing deeply at her.
“Thank you,” I said. “My name is Commander Pyre Juno.”
And with that, I left her cell, determined that from that moment onward, I would do everything within my power to protect the human at all costs.
***
“Human, it is meal time.”
Ariel refused to look at Arke, and I frowned. It had been three days into her captivity, and yet this was the first time they had offered the human any sustenance. If they chose to starve her rather than to allow her a meal, I wouldn’t be able to bear it. It took only seven days on Earth, roughly the same amount of time on Helna, to kill a human, and she already looked like she was in rough shape.
“You must eat,” I said firmly, ignoring the sour look on Arke’s face. He was always over the top when it came to punishments; he had a lot to prove to himself since his masculinity had been all but robbed from him. My disease for some reason was very slow-moving, and because of that, I had maintained a very powerful position both within the Verian government and among the opposition.
“How do I know I can trust any of the food you jerks bring me?” Ariel asked, her eyes flashing out at me. I would get her out of there as soon as I could. I had to. She wasn’t doing very well in there at all. I could sense it. It was impossible not to pity the poor human.
“I suppose you can’t trust anything of the sort,” I said, looking out the window coyly at the short, long-haired Pelin men standing outside with trays of food over their heads. “But maybe you can trust these men.”
I snapped my fingers, and soon, a small parade of Pelin was marching to the cell, depositing trays underneath the bars of the door. The small shed was filled with the appetizing scent of Pelin cooking; as far as the Verians were concerned, they were the best in the galaxy. Unfortunately, the resources of Helna were severely limited and, day by day, our ability to vary the dishes we ate and served dwindled drastically.
I could tell by Ariel’s face that she was also affected by the scent of the food as it filled the space around us, and glanced down at the trays with longing and apprehension etched clearly on her face.
“What do you expect me to do?” she asked with a sigh. “Trust that you’re just going to feed me after all you’ve already done?”
I looked her in the eye. “It’s the least we could do. And we do the same for the other prisoners as well. You just happen to be a special case.”
She glared at me as if she wanted to say something else, but instead seemed to think better of it and hesitantly lifted the lid of one of the silver trays on the floor of her cell.
A funny little gurgle came from the human’s stomach, and she swallowed hard.
“I promise you,” I said firmly. “No harm will come to you from eating that food. You must be well-nourished. The knowledge you harness is valuable. We would be foolish to let you waste away.”
Arke nodded in agreement, and upon seeing his movement, Ariel clamped the lid of the tray back down and backed away from the food.
“I would rather die than help you!” Ariel shouted.
“Leave us,” I commanded, turning to face the small group of Verians and Pelins in the building. Arke opened his mouth, blubbering in disbelief, but I couldn’t have him risk dealing with the human any longer. “You’re clearly doing no good with her here. I would like to take full command of the prisoner.”
“You don’t have the right!” Arke shouted. “We’re doing just fine here without you!”
“I don’t have the right?” I demanded, arching my brow. I opened my vest and pointed to the official crest on the badge I was wearing inside. “I out-rank you, Arke. And if you’d like to dispute my authority, we can see what the Doyan has to say about this. But for today, it is your job to respect my orders, and I want you and your men out of here so that I can deal with the prisoner myself. I’m tired of you krochas messing everything up! Tell me, what have you learned? Absolutely nothing. The cause is still lost and will stay lost if the task stays in your hands. Now leave!”
“The Doyan will surely hear about this,” Arke said darkly, motioning for his troops to follow him out the door. “By this time tomorrow, you had better believe that you aren’t going to be allowed to set foot through these doors.”
“We will see about that,” I said, refusing to take my eyes off of Arke. He knew that I was stronger than he was. There was no reason to fight any longer. Even pride could only go so far in a battle such as this. Still, he was right. The Doyan had put Arke and his men in charge for a reason. He wasn’t going to like me changing the rules on him.
“Fine,” Arke growled, slamming the door open and marching outside. “But this isn’t the end. You’re going to regret this, Yul Pyre! And mark my words…”
Arke’s voice grew muffled as I slammed the door in his face and the human let out a quiet laugh.
“Really,” I said, turning to her. “You must eat.”
Ariel cut her laugh off, and I gazed into the perfect roundness of her mysterious eyes. Never before had I felt such a thing for a female before. Now I could understand the thrill that many Verian warriors described in regard to their females. I had to admit: it was both distracting and intoxicating. But I had to keep the task at hand in the forefront of my mind if we were going to succeed.
“What do I eat with?”
I was surprised, and we spent the next few minutes undergoing an impromptu lesson in Verian dining etiquette. Ariel got the hang of it much faster than I anticipated, and soon she was slowly eating the food that the Pelin had left out in front of her, closing her eyes in appreciation every so often. I wondered if it was simply because the food was very good, or if she wanted to avoid looking at me. Either way, I could tell that she enjoyed it.
“What did you think?” I asked when she finished, clearing the dishes away and stacking them near the door for the Pelin to retrieve.
“I have never tasted anything like it,” Ariel said, still refusing to look me in the eye. But at least she was talking to me. I took it as a good sign.
“Well, the Pelin feel indebted to the Verian race. They like to do things like cooking for us.”
“Good for you,” Ariel said bitterly, her beautiful face creased with resentment. “You have slaves all over the galaxy, don’t you?”
“Slaves?” I asked, frowning. “We don’t have any such thing.”
“Oh, you just call them prisoners, then,” she grumbled.
I shifted on my feet. I certainly took offense to her words, but unleashing my terrifying temper on a small female seemed in poor taste.
“You are doing no good in making an enemy of me,” I warned her, doing everything possible to keep the fury out of my voice. But she was walking a fine line.
“Really? Because last I checked, you were the enemy,” Ariel said, her deep blue eyes piercing into mine. I sighed deeply, doing my best to even my breathing before I said or did anything I would regret. I did not want her to compare me to Arke. I wanted to claim her, not kill her.
“It would be nice if you knew as much about things as everyone seems to think you do,” I said darkly instead. “But you need to guard your secrets from these men. They are not going to do you or me any favors if they get any information out of you. What do they know?”
The human blanched suddenly and averted her eyes away from me. So she had told them something. But was it enough?
“Ariel, this is important. I can find out on my own what you’ve said if you choose not to tell me.”
“It’s just obscure data,” she whispered. “I don’t know what they injected me with or what I told them afterward. All I know is that I was in pain the entire time.”
I frowned deeply. It might already be too late. If we were going to give the opposition an edge in this race against time, then we would have to act fast.
“Do you think it was enough that the Verians could win the war against the humans?” I demanded, slamming my fist down on the small wooden table across from her cell. Arke’s small saucer full of oka rattled fiercely, and the human flinched away from me, fear and resentment flashing in her eyes.
“I don’t know!” she exclaimed. “Why do you guys keep pestering me and asking me questions that I just don’t know how to answer? Can’t you just leave me alone?”
I stood my full height, at least a head and a half taller than the human, and studied her coldly. “The time is not yet right for us to let you go. And when we do, all that will happen is that you will be taken to a camp and bred like all the other females of Earth. Is that what you want?”
“You’re such an ass!” she exclaimed, kicking weakly at the bars of her cell.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Fighting with the human because I was agitated about my situation wasn’t going to help anything. It would be better to just give her some space and go collect my thoughts. I was the strongest man left on Helna currently; as far as the men who hadn’t regained their strength through breeding were concerned, anyway. All of the Verian men who were born or had become super soldiers were stationed in the war zone.
I, however, was needed on the ground of my home planet and forced to continue enduring the strains of working as a double agent of the Verian government and of the opposition. It was a difficult position, and if the Doyan ever found out about my place among the rebels, I would be imprisoned and tortured for life. Death would be a welcome release if that were the case. It would make it especially dangerous to free her.
But none of that mattered. I had vowed to myself, and now to my men, to rescue the human, and that was exactly what I was going to do.