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HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? All distress messages were to the Human Colony Alliance and in the standard human language. How did this Korthan ship find her? It hung in the atmosphere above the planet, a great shadow announcing her doom.
Hot wind whipped her face as Tessa aimed her cannon and took a shot at the transport shuttle that raced towards her. Nothing happened. The shuttle must have had shields to absorb any damage. Or was the targeting off? How did Britt say to do that?
Blowing out a breath, she fumbled through was she hoped was the correct way to recalibrate the targeting. Repositioning the weapon for a better shot, she took aim at what she figured was a more vulnerable section of the hull. There was one round left—
The sound of depressurization filled the air, along with a thick fog. Tessa lowered the weapon, wishing to run through that white mist. She could practically feel the cool temperature.
A ramp lowered, two very large heavily armored, silver-skinned Korthan men ambling down as if they were on an evening stroll. But it was the four-legged beast ahead of them that had her attention.
She’d never seen one in real life, but she knew what it was immediately: a Hellhound of Korth. The beast was huge, its claws clicking against the metal of the ramp.
Great. Could this get any worse?
"Alliance," one of the men, the biggest, announced in Standard. "We will not harm you."
"As if I could trust the word of a liar," she called back, immediately regretting it when both soldiers' heads swung in her direction. Damn. Stupid, stupid.
"We are not here to fight you," the larger Korthan said, taking several steps towards her, the other following.
She snorted. They didn't have to fight. They could easily kill her without a fight at all. "I can read between the lines," she said.
There was a hesitation, then a gesture from the smaller man. Neither was speaking out loud, but the larger man nodded. Were they communicating through internal comms?
"We are not here to kill you either, with or without a fight."
Tessa had heard about the battles with the Korthans to have serious misgivings with that statement. She looked around for more weapons. Only one more round in the cannon. She wasn't going down without a fight.
Somehow, the prospect of fighting for her life was a relief. At least she wouldn’t be dying alone on this forsaken planet, of starvation, exposure, or injuries from some stupid accident she was bound to have sooner or later. Her only regret was that she wouldn't see her fiancé, Rod, ever again. Would he ever learn what happened to her?
"We got your message," the large Korthan said. "We know you're stranded and alone. Might as well come with us."
"You must have misinterpreted the Standard," Tessa said. "I'm not stranded. Or alone.” Grabbing a metal bar from the ground beside her, some remnant of the crashed ship, Tessa gripped it tight, calling loudly. “I'm on vacation."
The two Korthans looked at each other.
"Yup," she continued. "A whole battalion of us are here on vacation and we'd rather not fight today. Just go ahead and get back on your ship. Delete that distress message."
Wait, what was she saying? Did she really want them to delete the distress message? Then no one else would ever come. Well, flip—
“You are alone,” the big Korthan said. “We are not going to harm you. It has already been thirty minutes. We know you can’t be out here for much longer.”
Well, damn it all. How did he know that? It took the death of one of her crew to learn that the beating UV radiation from the planet’s three suns was fatal after two hours.
***
“WE COULD JUST LEAVE her here,” T’ren said from beside L’Den as the mogha snuck behind a pair of boulders. “It’s definitely a human.”
The Korthan commander pursed his lips in thought. The situation was perplexing. The distress message they received was in non-Standard Korthan, so finding a human was not expected. He’d never met a human that knew their language. How did this human woman know it? Did she know she was stranded in Korthan space? How did she even launch a distress beacon from this mess? The wreckage of her ship was unrecognizable—
Better yet, how did she survive? First the obvious crash, then the unrelenting planet itself.
T’ren barked a sardonic laugh. “Ironic, isn’t it? The humans invade our worlds, driving out the inhabitants in some misguided notion that everything we touch is poison or, my favorite, evil. I say this planet is available. Let the Invader have this place.”
A human, trapped in Korthan space. They could just leave her here. They should. Any other circumstance and they would, without hesitation. But her voice—
It composed a song in his heart, a pull he couldn’t ignore, a draw that demanded further exploration. Getting her onboard his ship was the first step.
“We will return her under Civilian Order Treaty 217. Call it an act of goodwill diplomacy,” L’Den said.
“You know goodwill diplomacy doesn’t work with the humans,” T’ren countered. “They can’t be reasoned with. They don’t negotiate. We’re better off leaving her here.”
L’Den turned hard, silver eyes on his 2IC. “The female comes with us.”
T’ren simply stared at him, as if the second-in-command was looking at a stranger rather than a commanding officer, a stranger rather than someone he shared years of friendship with.
“Are you drawn to her?” T’ren said, gaze measuring.
L’Den felt his eyes widen. “Don’t be idiotic.”
***
A’RCH STALKED LOW TO the ground, inching forward ever so slowly, his prey directly in front of him. The human continued to talk to the Korthans, head turned away as she called over some sort of rubble.
The mogha despised humans. This would be an easy kill. He could be upon her, snapping her neck before she even knew what hit her.
If you act upon these thoughts, you will answer to me, L’Den’s voice cut into his mind.
A’rch curled his lip in irritation, pulling himself forward along the ground. We could be rid of one more human right now, his own voice took on an edge.
Do nothing. The alpha left no room for argument, pushing an uncontrollable urge to do nothing through the bond.
The mogha backed down, laying on his belly, the motion of which must have caught the human’s attention, because she looked his way.
A’rch took great satisfaction in watching her eyes grow wide, the scent of fear filling his nostrils.
***
A SECOND JOLT STRUCK Tessa’s heart as gripping pressure landed on her shoulder, weightlessness following as she was pulled into the air and turned, somehow landing on her feet, face to face with the large Korthan. This close, he was even bigger than she first thought—
And handsome. Briefly forgetting about the Hellhound, this man could haul her around any time—
Eyes wide, Tessa couldn’t blink. She was stranded on this planet for too damn long if her libido could overtake her fear so readily, and over a Korthan at that.
***
WITH THE WOMAN DISTRACTED by his mogha, L’Den easily walked up to her, grabbed her by the shoulder, and hauled her to her feet. A startled squeak escaped her, the feel of her shoulder beneath his hand and the sound escaping her lips igniting a fire within him that shook him to his core.
He released her, looking first at his hand and then anywhere but her lips.
What was that? A’rch said.
Snapping his hand down to his side, he looked the human in the eyes. The jolt that raced down his spine was the first warning of what a mistake that was.
What is happening to you? A’rch stood straight up, sand squelching beneath his weight.
Eyes darting to the mogha, L’Den hoped the surprise wasn’t showing on his face, relieved to see that the human female was distracted by A’rch’s movements rather than what expression he might have lost control of.
The woman stepped closer to him as she watched the mogha, seemed to realize what she was doing and stepped back.
Her face was getting red. L’Den had to force himself not to touch her skin. “The sun is damaging you. This exchange has taken too long. We must seek shelter.”
“I’m getting a tan,” the human female said, head turning towards him, her matted sun-bleached hair bouncing with the movement. “That’s what people on vacation do.”
L’Den blinked, deciding to play along. “Not the best vacation spot in the universe.”
Flipping her hair, the human didn’t miss a beat. “Oh, I disagree. Except for the occasional Hellhound spotting, this is a pleasant place.”
Hellhound? “You mean my mogha.”
“Sure. I have a Hellhound too. He’ll be along in a minute. So, you better watch out—” The woman’s voice trailed off.
“Or?” he prompted, amusement turning his lips. L’Den fought hard not to look at hers.
“Else,” she stomped a foot, standing tall with raised eyebrows.
L’Den had no idea how long this female had been stranded on this desolate desert planet, but she was fierce.
Leaning close, he detected an elevated heartrate and a slight quickness of breath. Whether it was because she was afraid of him or something else, he wasn’t sure. Interesting how fear and attraction could feel the same way.
“No one on my ship means to harm you. I swear by my being that I will let no harm come to you. Please, woman—”
“Tessa,” she said.
He smiled. “Tessa. Please let me help you. I will return you to your people by Civilian Order Treaty 217. You and your crew are no longer stranded.”
She deflated a little. What did he say?
“Right,” she said, eyes seemingly focused on something far away. “Well, yes. I’d like to expand my vacation to other places. Broaden my horizons. This place was getting boring anyway.” Those brown eyes focused on him. “Okay, I’ll get my things.”
L’Den watched her walk away, unconcerned she could cause harm, having already detected no weapons besides the inferior cannon in her makeshift shelter, his mogha giving her a wide berth.
A’rch circled back, sitting on his haunches at L’Den’s side. I don’t like it. I don’t like this one bit.
Noted, L’Den said.
“Sir!” T’ren called from a position north of the wreckage. “We found something.”
While L’Den and his fellow Korthans could withstand the suns longer than a human could, he could already feel the start of damage to his skin. His cyborg components were quick to mitigate, but it wouldn’t be long before they’d succumb to the elements.
Approaching his 2IC with A’rch at his side, his eyebrows knitted at the sight of disturbed ground arranged in mounded rows. Further inspection revealed eight individual disturbances.
The mogha circled the mounds, his steps cautious and uneasy as he sniffed the dirt and the air around them.
I don’t like this. We should leave, A’rch said.
T’ren knelt next to one of the mounds. It appeared to be freshly disturbed ground. Sweeping his hand over it to take some readings with his enhanced sensors, the Korthan cyborg paused as he processed the data.
“Biological components,” T’ren said.
A moment of clarity interrupted L’Den’s usual level strategic thinking. “Burials,” he breathed.
“Sir?”
“Humans bury their dead.”
T’ren stood, both he and the mogha taking a few steps back. Unease crossed T’ren’s features, queasiness entering the bond from A’rch.
Korthans burned their dead, freeing the souls into the atmosphere. Only humans would trap souls beneath the surface of a planet.
L’Den should have been just as appalled as his comrades. Instead, he was shaken by the amount of compassion pouring from his heart.
“We should leave this place,” T’ren said.
Stop, A’rch said through their bond.
Stop what? L’Den knew exactly what his mogha was demanding, but it was easier to deny what was happening.
These feelings you are having towards the human, A’rch continued. You must quell them. She is the enemy, nothing more.
L’Den was thankful that his second-in-command wasn’t privy to the conversations he had with his mogha. No one outside of the bond was.
“Ready the ship,” he said, ignoring A’rch while directing T’ren. “I will get the female. We leave after the suns set.”
“Yes, sir,” T’ren said, rushing to complete his task.
A’rch simply stared at him with sharp eyes, that mogha judgement ramming his soul. As L’Den approached the wreckage, his mogha chose to continue to glare. He was happy to allow it. It was easier to grasp than acknowledging what he knew to be a fact about this human woman.
L’Den just found his life mate.