Alien Warrior’s Second Chance by Sue Mercury
Chapter 8
As Zorras guidedhis Vaxxlian cruiser toward the Eshunna Passage, his thoughts remained on Karla, and he regretted that warrior duties would keep him away from New Vaxx for a while. Possibly for a whole moon cycle. How could he go that long without seeing her? Fluxx, he didn’t know, and his heart already ached with the missing of her.
He growled and cursed his impatience. He’d recently lost control when he’d spotted his sweet beauty walking through the settlement. Eager to claim her, his blood had heated with savage lust, and he’d been close to carrying her away to his home.
Only his desire to prove to her that they were soulmates had held him back. Surely if she received confirmation about this from Vaxxlian Matchmakers, she would open her heart to him.
He could have easily stolen her off the street, carried her home, and mated with her before anyone could’ve stopped him. But he didn’t wish to frighten the pretty female, nor did he wish to cause her any emotional pain.
Her reluctance to admit her true reasons for leaving her home planet reinforced his suspicion that something bad had happened to her on Earth. He sensed she was running away from something. But what?
Perhaps the secret mission he’d just been assigned to would help calm the storm of impatience and lust brewing within him. He hoped that when he returned to Starzzia he would finally succeed in courting Karla.
But the farther he traveled from planet New Vaxx, the deeper the ache in his chest. Would Karla feel it too? Would she endure emotional pain and loneliness during his long absence? Or would she experience nothing but relief?
He aimed his cruiser at the swirling colors of the wormhole up ahead. He glanced at the radar screen and spotted ten vessels maintaining speed directly behind him.
A sense of responsibility swelled inside him—this was an important mission and his commander had asked him to lead the small unit of warriors as they attempted to discover the source of sabotage affecting the Vaxxlian Alien Mail Order Brides program.
The VAMOB website, which was the number one method prospective human brides used to sign up for the mail order bride service, kept getting attacked. It would seem someone on Earth—or perhaps even a group of people or a government agency—wanted the VAMOB program to fail. Almost every day the website would come under attack, sometimes going down for several hours at a time.
Vaxxlian forces on Earth had received several leads, but every time they were close to pinpointing where the hacking originated, the path would grow cold. Zorras hoped the warriors under his leadership—all highly skilled computer scientists and cybersecurity specialists—would have more success than the warriors currently stationed on Earth. In any case, he believed a fresh pair of eyes was always good for solving a problem, and a dozen fresh pairs of eyes would be even better.
Zorras only wished he’d had a chance to say a proper goodbye to Karla before leaving New Vaxx. He’d stopped by her home and tried to see her, but she had refused to come to the door and Axall had sent him away. He’d returned just before the hour of departure to drop off a letter, which he’d entrusted to Amie, who’d seemed eager to deliver the missive to Karla, particularly after Zorras insisted it was a very important letter.
His fleet entered the Eshunna Passage without any issues. There were no other ships showing up on the radar screen that would need to be avoided. Typically, only Vaxxlians and humans used this newly discovered wormhole, though sometimes other alien races who were friendly with Earth countries would pass through. The sectors around this passage were heavily monitored with Vaxxlian probes, however, to ensure the Irrcons or the Errullssians didn’t venture close enough to discover the wormhole.
“It’s time to cloak our ships now,” Zorras said into the comm. “Keep a visual on my cruiser and follow as close as safety permits.” Though Vaxxlians were welcome on Earth, he wished to keep his mission a secret. If a specialized force of Vaxxlians landed on Earth, it might tip the hackers off and result in them covering their tracks even better, and that was the last thing Zorras wanted.
One by one, the vessels disappeared from the radar screen, though Zorras was confident his men were still following.
They reached the VAMOB headquarters in Canada without incident, and the warriors all got to work analyzing the most recent evidence. The VAMOB website was down again after another attack, which meant human females couldn’t visit the site for more information or to sign up for the matchmaking service.
Someone wanted to sabotage the VAMOB program on Earth and Zorras was determined to discover the culprit or culprits. Since the wait time for unmated warriors signing up for VAMOB was now years-long, it was imperative that the program always run at optimal efficiency.
The last thing his people wanted was for the rate of sign-ups among the human females to decrease. If the website was frequently down, that could very well happen.
Zorras supervised the investigation and offered his expertise when he could. Eventually, he discovered a pattern in the hacking, as well as a specific code that had gone undetected until now—evidence that pointed toward the Americans. To a government organization known as the Central Intelligence Agency.
A growl emitted from his chest as he studied the information on the screens before him.
“It would make sense that the American government is involved,” Director Yorrsan said as he peered over Zorras’ shoulder. “Thousands of human females from America sign up for Vaxxlian Alien Mail Order Brides every moon cycle. This has angered many human males, particularly those in the areas of the country that are seeing the most unrest or are experiencing supply shortages or natural disasters—human females from these areas of their country are more likely to sign up for VAMOB than in the parts of the country that are more peaceful and prosperous.”
“If the male humans cared about their females, they would work to make this planet a better place,” Zorras said, not feeling sorry for the males.
“Marriages and birthrates have significantly declined in the parts of the United States that have more females signing up for VAMOB,” the director said. “We should have anticipated more resistance from the Americans.” Anger threaded his voice, and Zorras suspected that Yorrsan, who was the newly appointed Director of the VAMOB program, was angry that his predecessor hadn’t expected such underhanded defiance from the humans.
“Pardon the human saying,” Zorras quipped with a snort, “but perhaps we could fight fire with fire.”
A curious expression crossed the director’s face and he nodded. “I think I understand your meaning, but nevertheless, you will explain your idea to me. I am eager to fix this issue as quickly as possible. I fear our unmated warriors will grow restless and start kidnapping human females from Earth if there is a huge decline in willing mail order brides. This would anger many countries on Earth and possibly lead to a conflict with the humans. While we would undoubtedly conquer the humans in a war, war would be a foolish course of action. Too many human females would perish.”
“We will target all CIA offices and the personal computers of individual agents. It is my hope that this will prevent any attacks on the VAMOB website in the near future, and if we are given a respite from the attacks, we should have enough time to relocate our website to a more secure server. While this is happening, a team of our most skilled warriors can confront the Director of the CIA and use any means necessary to get him to talk.”
A pleased look entered Director Yorrsan’s eyes. He slapped Zorras on the back in a rare show of comradeship that left Zorras startled. “I am shocked that you are not a commander of your own unit yet, Warrior Zorras, though I think it was wise of your current commander to ask you to lead this mission in his place.”
Zorras gave a wry smile. “I have been offered command positions several times over the years, but I have always turned them down. I prefer working with my fellow warriors side by side, doing the physical fighting and behind the scenes work. It helps me feel younger,” he said with a chuckle.
“If you ever change your mind,” the general said, “your service in command would be a great help to our people.”
