Hunted By The Alien Assassin by Ella Maven

Six

Karina

I yawned and stretched my arms over my head, feeling a little chilly. I blinked my eyes open to stare at the patched roof of Bosa’s tree hut. I flopped my hands back at my sides and smacked my lips. I’d slept surprisingly well. No more dreams, thank God.

Looking around for Bosa, I realized I was alone. I sat up quickly as panic flared in my chest. “It’s okay,” I whispered to myself. “He’ll be back, right? Right. He’ll be back. He wouldn’t leave me here with those ape things lurking. No way.”

I crawled out from under the furs and grabbed for a canteen of water. After chugging some, I used the toilet, which was really just a hole in the floor with a pipe leading to the ground.

Still feeling cold, I once again retreated to the bed pallet. Outside the hut, the forest was waking up. Distant animals grunted and pawed at the ground. When I heard the familiar chirps of the orhanus, I threw the fur over my head and huddled into a ball against the wall of the hut. Seriously, where the hell was Bosa? And why was I already relying on him for my safety? I’d made it this far on my own.

Uncovering myself, I looked around for something to use to defend myself. Not that I had hope for a long-range weapon, but close range? For possible orhanus-human melee? Those things could probably rip my head off with one hand. But a least I’d go down swinging.

The hut was made of vines and sticks patched together, and a few sticks were loose. I extracted one from the wall with a tug and a grunt. Waving it around, I practiced some moves and jabs. Confident I could do nominal damage, I paced the hut. The sounds of the orhanus grew closer, and nervous sweat dripped down the back of my neck. I would have given anything for a shower.

A thump sounded outside, and the hut shimmied as the branch holding it bore the weight of… something.

“Oh shit,” I whispered as I readied my stick. “Fucking Bosa. Leaving me here. What a dick.”

The floor trembled as the footsteps grew closer. When a dark form filled the doorway, I lunged forward, jabbing at the intruder. When I felt the end hit a solid body, I nearly cheered, until the voice bellowed. “What the yerk, human?”

Dropping the stick immediately, I let out a gasp just as Bosa’s blue eyes glared at me. He held his side with one hand, and in the other dangled a bloodied feathered animal.

“I thought you were an orhanus.” I kicked at the stick on the floor. “You left without telling me and—”

“I don’t give a yerk who you thought I was. That was a weak effort.”

I stared at him. “Excuse me?”

He picked up the stick and handed it to me. “Try again.”

I held my weapon loosely. “Try… to stab you again?”

“There’s no again. You didn’t stab me the first time.”

Had he ever heard of white lies? “Then why are you holding your side?”

He shook the dead animal in his hand. “This yirpa bit me.”

Great, so the twenty-pound bird-thing got a better jump on him than me. I widened my stance and lunged again. The end of the stick glanced off the scales on his arm. He dropped the animal and ordered, “Again.”

So, I did. Again and again, I tried to injure him as he demanded, and every time my stick proved completely ineffectual. When I grew frustrated and began haphazardly slashing, he tore the stick from my hands and rapped my thigh.

“Ow!” I cried out, shooting him the most ferocious glare I could.

“You’re only tiring yourself out. In this galaxy, you are one of the weakest.”

“Thanks for reminding me,” I muttered.

“So,” he continued, ignoring my comment, “You won’t win with your strength on offense. You need to wait. Watch. Look for an opponent’s weakness. They will instinctively seek to protect their most vulnerable parts. You go for those.” He tossed me the stick and I caught it in mid-air. “Try again.”

This time, I held the stick defensively across my chest and widened my stance, watching Bosa. He advanced quickly, so quickly I nearly dropped my weapon, but at the last moment, I avoided his flying fist by inches. As he swung, I flicked the stick at his nose. Surprise lit his eyes, and he lifted his hands to protect his face. I kicked out between his legs. When my foot connected, I whooped just as he let out a pained howl.

Stumbling back, I expected him to come at me again with real anger, but he only straightened and smiled as a drop of blood fell from his noise. “Well done.”

I panted, still waiting for another attack, because this Kaluma was unpredictable. “Um, thanks?” I took a tentative step forward, still holding the stick in front of me. “But, um, you’re still standing.”

He sat down on the floor next to the feathered animal and began plucking it. I slowly relaxed in an assumption we were done with the fighting lesson for the day. He glanced at me and gestured for me to sit down next to him. “Of course, I’m still standing. I’m a Kaluma. Most others would be incapacitated for at least a little while. Enough time for you to run away or call for me.”

I began to help him pluck feathers. The animal reminded me of a feathered capybara. It was very round with a big head, snout, and small hooves. “Call for you?”

“In a fight, I’ll be around even if you don’t see me.”

“For how long?”

He frowned at me. “For the whole fight. No one’s taking me down.”

“No, I mean, how long do you expect to always be at my side?”

His fingers paused before he continued plucking. “I guess until you tell me to get lost.”

My heart soared at the idea of having someone at my side. Watching my back. And that worried me. I wasn’t sure it was a good thing to rely on him this much already. But also… How could I be so sure that I could trust him? “So, it’s up to me?”

He lifted his gaze to mine. “Yeah, human, it’s up to you.”

I fussed with my small pile of feathers. “Well, I haven’t actually thought much of my future since I was taken from Earth. I focused on fucking with Frenz as much as possible until I got caught.” I glanced at Bosa. “And now because of you, I feel a little like I cheated death.”

Bosa knelt around a stone fireplace filled with dried twigs and began to strike two rocks together as sparks flew. “Well now you have more time to make Frenz’s life miserable.” He sank back on his haunches and watched me as small flames flickered. The smoke floated up through a vent in the top of the hut. “And then what?”

I shrugged. “I’m surprised I’ve lived this long. I don’t have a home in this galaxy. I’ve never settled anywhere. My home is—was—on Earth.”

“And you won’t go back even if you could.”

“No.”

He lifted the plucked animal and placed it on a spit over the fire.

So, this must be breakfast. I’d had worse. “What about you? What’s your home like?”

He stared at the flames for a while and poked them with stick. “I am from Torin. We Kaluma have several settlements there, but my people were isolated for a long time.”

I sat cross-legged and sniffed as the smell of cooking meat filled the small hut. “Why was that?”

He seemed to be weighing his words. “We had a leader who led us astray. Abused our females. Kept us from growing and building.” He tossed his head, so his braid whipped his shoulder. “He’s gone now, killed by a Drixonian in a battle over a female. Sherif is in charge, and we’ll return to glory again.”

“Are the females healthy now?”

He swallowed heavily. “They are recovering. I wish we had done something sooner, but us warriors had convinced ourselves loyalty to my pardux was what mattered the most…” he tossed a stick into the fire, and the flames hissed in response. “It doesn’t matter anymore.” He stood up and wiped his hands. “That’s why I work for the council. Any czens I make go toward purchasing supplies for the tribe. We spoil the females now since they bore the brunt of our inaction.”

The vehemence in his tone stirred something within me. He sounded like he was about to march into battle, and I wondered how he walked around so well with the weight of guilt on his shoulders. “Do you have a mate?”

“No,” he answered quickly. “We don’t have many females left, and they choose their mates. I was chosen to work off planet rather than mate.”

He didn’t seem angered by it.

“Are you okay with that?”

His eyes turned toward me with a fierce, defensive glare. “I will do whatever is best for my Kaluma.”

“So, if they are the priority, why are you helping me?”

His gaze hardened for a moment before his expression went slack. He tilted his head back to gaze at the ceiling of the hut. His throat worked as he swallowed before he lowered his chin to meet my eyes once again. “I already sent home the czens I earned. They are taken care of.”

“But why—”

“If you keep asking me, maybe I’ll decide to take off back home and leave you at the mercy of Frenz,” he growled, irritated. “Quit prodding.”

I rolled my eyes. “Look, I need to be sure you’re not going to stab me in the back or betray me. I’m asking you questions to know you better—”

He jabbed a finger in my direction. “I promised you’d I’d fight at your side, and that promise means something from a Kaluma. I’ll prove it with Babe next time we encounter an enemy. Until then, you need to eat because you seem too skinny.”

“Of course, I’m too skinny,” I groused. “I don’t eat regularly.”

He tore a hunk of cooked meat off the spit and shoved it at me. “Eat.”

I snatched it from his fingers with my teeth and chewed. The meat was a little tough, but it had a decent taste. He watched me chew with a satisfied look on his face before he helped himself.

* * *

Bosa

I’d just finished eating when a zap echoed in my ear, and I winced at the shock.

“Bosa?” the human asked. “Are you okay?”

I tapped my earlobe. “What?”

“Is that how you greet me?” Gurla’s voice shrieked. “I called the council to confirm we received payment and they had no idea what I was talking about. Where did these czens come from? Where’s the human?”

“Calm down.” I sank onto the bed pallet while the human watched me with wide, wary eyes. “The job wasn’t ordered by the council. Turns out Frenz paid a member to contract me for a personal job. The human wasn’t betraying her kind; she’s been destroying Frenz’s cargo ships and he’s eager to catch her.”

Gurla let out a low whistle, and I heard her muttering to someone next to her. Probably Wensla. Finally, she came back on the line. “The human is with you now?”

I glanced at Karina. “How did you know?”

“Wensla.”

That female knew everything. She was one of the few Kaluma who had visuls since birth. “She’s with me now.”

Greta hesitated before speaking again. “Is she unharmed?”

“She’s fine. I just fed her a yirpa.”

“So, what are you doing with her?”

I was so tired of questions about my plans. My motivations. Couldn’t I just do what I wanted to do? “I’m going to do a few things here in Gorsich and then come home.”

“A few things?”

“Yes.”

“Like…”

“Like none of your business. If you hear anything about me, just tell everyone I’m home and injured, so I can’t possibly be causing mayhem in Gorsich. They must have the wrong Kaluma.”

“I don’t like the sound of this.”

“I’ll take a higher risk mission next time to make up for not working right now.”

“Bosa,” Gurla sighed. “That’s not what I care about. I’m worried about you. And the human, honestly. Can I talk to her?”

“Talk to her?”

Karina had crept closer and was studying my face, probably trying to figure out where my comm was. Her face lit up at my words, and she held out her hand with a greedy smile. I glared at her, and she pulled my braid. “Ow.” I smacked her hand away. “Sit down.”

“Who are you talking to?”

“No one.”

“No one?” Gurla laughed. “And did she just … hit you?”

“No,” I half-lied. “I stubbed my toe.”

“Bosa.”

“I have to go. Remember to lie for me.”

“Bosa!”

I hung up and considered tearing the comm out of my earlobe. But that would have made a bloody mess and Wensla would yell at me when she had to stitch it back in.

“Hello?”

I turned to find another annoyed female speaking to me. I questioned many of my life choices at that moment. “Yes?”

“What…? Who…?” She stomped her foot. “What’s going on?”

“I have a comm in my ear so I can speak to Gurla at home.”

Karina plopped down on the bed pallet next to me. “Gurla?”

“She’s in charge of accepting which jobs I take and making sure I get paid.”

“I see. But she’s not your mate?”

“She has two mates. Wensla and Bruk.”

“Oh.” Karina picked at the edge of a fur. “She wants you to come home?”

“Yes. She also doesn’t want me in trouble or dead.”

Karina was quiet for a moment. “Maybe you should just go home. If you get me out of this forest alive, I can do everything else on my own—”

“I’m not going to have this discussion again.” I kept my voice firm. “I’ll help you because I want to.”

She let out a long sigh. “Fine, I’m not going to bring it up again then.”

“Good.”

“Great.”

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest as she looked away from me with her chin in the air. I never thought I’d like the fire in a human’s eyes. No human females had ever made me glance twice at them. In fact, I found most of them annoying and a burden to their mates. Then again, the Drixonians were a different breed—catering to their every female’s whim. Did human females like that? Maybe Karina was trying to get rid of me because she found me unbearable. “Do you want my help?” I asked.

She turned her head slowly to stare at me. “I thought we weren’t having this discussion again.”

“I asked you a question.”

“Of course, I want your help. I’d be stupid to turn down a capable partner.”

But did she want my help? Would she have gladly accepted the aide of any alien bigger and stronger than her? I opened my mouth to ask but then quickly shut my jaw. Ridiculous. Why did I care about that? She should be thankful for me. I didn’t need to beg her to let me help her.

I rolled away from her, annoyed at myself just as a loud whoop rent the air like a siren. Immediately the forest came alive with the war cries of the orhanus. That meant Nomera was being invaded. And I could only guess the reason. Us.

I snatched my ready bag of supplies, Babe, and hauled Karina to her feet. She came willingly and without question as the danger in the air was tangible. “What’s happening?”

“Someone’s here. The orhanus will likely kill them, but they’ll know we’re the reason for the attack. And no matter how many gifts I give the orhanus, they’ll come for us next because we brought danger to the forest.”

“Oh shit,” she whispered as we burst out of my hut. Halfway across the branch, laser fire pierced the dried wood of my makeshift home, and the entire structure caught fire. Karina screamed as flames raced toward us. Grabbing her around the waist, I snatched a dangling vine and leaped off the branch. She pressed her face into my chest and her hair flew around us as we soared through the air. Letting go of the vine, I grabbed for the branch of another tree, spinning us under and around until I flipped so my feet landed on the branch. The tree shook, and leaves rustled, but it held us for now.

I didn’t have time to rest. Orhanus war cries were mixed with Gattrix clicks. Frenz had found us and sent a small squad to take us out. “Yerker,” I muttered to myself as I leapt from branch to branch, Karina still in my arms. She didn’t speak, and when I glanced down, her face was a pale white. I shook her in my arms. “You’re safe with me.” She nodded, and her throat bobbed as she swallowed.

Laser fire shot up from the forest floor, and while the Gattrix couldn’t climb trees, they were deadly with their aim. I could see arrows sailing in the direction of the laser fire. The orhanus were even more accurate. If they were firing their arrows at us in the trees, we’d be dead already. I had to get us out of the forest and away from the orhanus before they defeated the Gattrix. Because the orhanus would absolutely win. No doubt. This was a suicide mission for the big insects. Frenz was a fool.

I was always more comfortable in the trees, as it reminded me of my home, but I didn’t have time to mourn my safe haven on this planet. When I reached the outskirts of Nomera, I reluctantly leapt to the forest floor, as the trees here were younger and the branches wouldn’t support my weight. I would have blanked, but Karina would still have been visible to our enemies.

I raced toward where I hid the hover vehicle, but just as we burst out from behind a dense patch of bush, two Gattrix slid to a halt in front of us. The larger of the two peeled back his mandibles, and before I could move, spit a wad at Karina. She ducked, but a spray of venom hit her shoulder. Immediately, her skin sizzled into boils, and she screamed at the pain. The sound wrenched from her throat tore into me like a knife blade. I would not fail another female in my life. With a roar, I didn’t even bother reaching for Babe. This was going to be a hands-on job. I went for the larger one first. Before he could spit more venom, I reached for his first set of legs. With a yank, I tore them out of his abdomen. Blood spurted as it let out a screech of pain. I kicked out, catching it in the thorax and sending it slamming into the trunk behind it. Swinging Babe, I took out the smaller Gattrix with one slam to the head.

The bigger one was still alive, crawling toward me on its remaining four legs, leaving behind a trail of venom and blood as it spat in my direction. Lifting Babe high over my head, I slammed it down onto the Gattrix’s head. The crunch was satisfying.

Karina was panting as I picked her up and raced for the hover vehicle. No more Gattrix nhuNomera. The orhanus wouldn’t leave the forest. I glanced behind me to see a few peering at me through the trees, but no more arrows came our way. I was getting a reprieve, but I knew I wasn’t welcome back. I gave them a salute over my shoulder and sped off.