Текст книги "Arrival"

Автор книги: A.G. Wilde

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Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 15 страниц)

FER’RO

The fire crackles under the morning star that blesses this planet.

Er’th they call it. Hyu’mans they call themselves.

Strange designations that Adee’ra exposed when I asked them of her.

They required the fire once more, though their star has risen.

I obliged.

I lit it for them on top of the embers that had died the night before.

I am as surprised as my brethren when Adee’ra pierces the sea creature with another stick.

At first, I think she is simply doing so to make it easier for her to tear into its flesh.

But then, she stretches it over the flames, turning it periodically.

Ga’Var bristles and I hear a few discontented clicks from the others.

They have gathered near to watch her…prepare the meal.

At the sounds we’re making, Adee’ra glances up at us and pauses.

She looks back at the meal then at us again.

“Do you want some?”

Not one of us moves.

We cannot respond.

She is asking…all of us this?

Every single hackle on me itches to rise.

For a moment, I forget that she is not Vullan. She has no idea of our customs.

But it seems Ga’Var has completely forgotten for he thrums and I hiss at him.

Adee’ra pales and I am immediately regretful.

I do not mean to scare her.

I scared her earlier too, while she hunted.

But that time, I was simply surprised by her battle cry.

I reacted involuntarily.

Ga’Var ignores me and takes a step toward her.

Anger flares within me immediately and my hackles rise.

“No,” I click.

He stares me down. “Why rekking not? She has offered.”

My teeth clench so hard I have to ball my fists to prevent my hackles from rising farther.

If Adee’ra sees me in my true fighting form, any progress I have made with her so far will be lost. And…I do not know why I care about losing this progress so much.

“She does not know what she offers. Stand down.”

Through the corner of my eye, San’ten steps closer. “It doesn’t matter. We cannot oblige anyway. Look at them. They are weak, feeble, beings. A mating with one would certainly break its bones and kill it.”

Ga’Var glances at Adee’ra and the mere fact he is looking her way, contemplating it, sets me on edge.

“She is not Vullan. She is not inviting you to her feathers.” I pause, waiting for my words to sink in. “Adee’ra does not know that offering you sustenance is an invitation.”

Why should I have to explain this?

It should be clear to him.

I sense that Adee’ra stiffens at the sound of her name.

She and the other female exchange glances but Ga’Var isn’t backing down.

“Um,” her voice seems to still the air around us. “We can share. It’s not a problem.”

My gaze falls to her then to the sea creature. Its outer skin is being roasted by the flames and I cringe a little at the loss of nutrients.

It is already dead.

Why is she killing it again?

But what I focus on is the fact the thing is so small.

It will hardly feed her and the two other females, yet she is innocently trying to share it with us.

I sense when Ga’Var backs down the moment his shoulders relax.

“It is fine, little female.”

Adee’ra pauses a little.

It is the first time someone other than myself has spoken to her. I hide my surprise. Ga’Var’s ba’clan have assimilated the language too. Shortly, the others will follow and we will all speak the language of this land.

“You eat, Adee’ra,” I say to her as I grip my womb mate by the shoulder and pull him away.

Chapter Thirteen

ADIRA

I don’t know what the hell just happened.

I stare at Fer’ro’s back as he almost hauls his friend toward the water.

The others still sorta hover around us but I am getting used to their presence.

Slowly.

It doesn’t seem like they want to share the fish. I never expected them to, but because they are hovering, watching, it was rude not to offer.

Either way, more for us.

The fish is small anyway, but it’s better than nothing.

“It looks so good,” Sam murmurs, her mouth practically watering.

Mine is too. I have to swallow several times so I don’t drool over myself.

“It smells even better,” I almost moan.

One of the aliens, the dark-eyed one, makes a click that’s sort of high-pitched and I’m beginning to sense it means disbelief.

I’d heard it when I offered them some of the fish in the first place.

I almost chuckle.

It’s obvious they think the fish is gross.

Well, their live spaghetti is worse.

“Think it’s done?” I ask Sam. I was never a good cook but the way I feel right now, I could have probably eaten the fish raw.

“It smells done.” Sam literally drools and a small laugh bubbles within me.

It withers on my lips.

When was the last time I laughed?

I freeze, staring ahead but not seeing anything.

It almost feels…wrong to feel happiness.

“—dira. I think it’s burning.”

Sam’s voice snatches me from the void I was entering and I pull the stick back.

The fish is smoky and I cough as I try to blow on it and breathe at the same time.

Sam had found a big leaf earlier and I put the fish on it.

We both lean over it, staring at it.

It’s even smaller than it was before.

It seems to have shrunken in the fire.

“Well…” Sam begins, “it’s better than nothing.”

We wait for the food to cool and slowly pick at it with our fingers.

I keep my bad hand tucked toward me as I eat, and my eyes close as the flavor from the fish bursts across my tongue.

I can almost forget the aches and pains in my body.

The source of my injuries seems like it happened so long ago now but the events replay in my head as I watch Sam crush some of the fish and hand feed Mina.

Mina swallows and grants us a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes.

She’s in pain. I just know it.

But either she’s hiding it from us, or she’s hiding it from the aliens around us.

There’s movement on the shore and I squint at it.

Fer’ro is rising from the water. Funny how I know it is him now without seeing his eyes. The water sluices off his suit like the material can’t get wet, but that’s not what causes me to stare.

He’s carrying something.

Over his shoulder, in much the same way he carried me, he’s carrying the biggest catfish I have ever seen.

It is still alive too and it struggles, its tail slapping against Fer’ro’s back.

“Oh…wow,” Sam breathes.

Wow, indeed.

He heads straight toward us and all I can do is stare at him.

“Sustenance,” he says before his gaze drops to the fire.

His nostrils twitch.

The fire isn’t big enough, is what I assume he is thinking but all I can do is stare at his catch.

“Y—you caught that for us?” How the fuck?

He glances at Sam then, as if she was an afterthought.

“Yes,” he says. “Food. You must eat.”

His gaze moves to Mina then, and I stiffen a little.

“She must eat too,” he says, and his nostrils twitch again, the ridges above them folding a little. “I will kill it then make a bigger flame for you so you can kill it again.”

FER’RO

The sea creature is much too big for the females to finish on their own and after they’ve had their fill, Adee’ra once again suggests that we share.

“It is not an invitation to mate,” I growl at my brethren, annoyance riding all along my back.

I do not like that she is offering.

It is innocent but it annoys me just the same.

“The hyu’man does not wish to breed.” I meet their gazes and some of them flatten their ears, signaling shame…signaling they were considering it.

I growl at the thought.

Even as I speak, Ga’Var is leaning against a tree, his ba’clan bristling almost unnoticeably as they sense his annoyance too.

Annoyed at me, perhaps.

Too bad.

Even if Adee’ra wants to invite a male to her bedding feathers, the thought angers me.

I do not know why.

I do not care to know why.

We are not here to mate.

Though, I am not sure if that is the true source of my anger.

That is something I will have to contemplate later.

In private.

When the females are resting and most of my brethren return to the ship.

We have almost completed dismantling the Scrit.

We won’t stay here much longer after that.

One of my brethren, Fi’rox moves forward toward the sea creature meal.

The others bristle as he stops and glances at the females.

Adee’ra looks from him to me and then back. “Go ahead,” she says. “It’s still warm.”

Fi’rox is the bravest of us all.

Once we intake sustenance, we do not have to do so again for several days.

So I know he is not hungry.

I watch as the others glance from one to another.

The sea creature does not look delicious at all.

Its flesh is white. Bloodless.

I imagine it tastes like water.

Fi’rox pokes the flesh with one of his claws and his ba’clan shiver a little.

I can sense he wants to retreat and not eat the thing, but he’s gone too far. Turning back now would be cowardly.

So he picks a part of the flesh and lifts it into his lips.

We all watch him with bated breath.

For a moment, he does nothing, he simply freezes, his gaze on the females.

And then, his ba’clan bristle again.

I can tell their movement alarms the females, Adee’ra, when she stiffens a bit, her eyes going wide.

Then Fi’rox chokes. Somehow, he manages to swallow the thing.

He slaps a hand against his chest as he rises, his gaze darting to me for a second.

“So?” Ga’Var clicks. He’s leaned off the tree now, his focus on Fi’rox.

Fi’rox’s lips pull back a little before he answers.

“It’s…disgusting. How can they eat such a thing? Even now my innards are trying to expel it.”

His back arches a little as he says this.

I believe him.

But…

“We should not anger the females.” My gaze moves over my brethren. “They are being generous.”

Our gazes flick back to the “meal” and an audible groan leaves one of us.

“Fine,” Ga’Var clicks. “For the females then.”

Chapter Fourteen

ADIRA

They have settled around us in much the same way that Sam and I have stooped on the ground.

One by one, they reach forward and take a piece of the fish and though they all put it into their mouths and chew, I get the sense they think it is awful.

I watch them for a few moments.

None except Fer’ro have removed that strange suit from over his face. The others have simply removed the part where their mouth holes are and it amazes me that this suit of theirs is so reactive.

Fer’ro is to my right and I watch him with guarded eyes.

I don’t want him to know I am staring, but I can’t help it.

Now that it’s clear they don’t mean us any harm, I have even more questions.

“That thing…” Fer’ro stiffens at the sound of my voice as if his focus had been on me the whole time, even though he strangely hadn’t been looking my way. I gulp and continue. “That thing by the water. The alien…”

I lick my lips when his lava gaze meets mine. They’re aliens too. That probably wasn’t the right word to use. “That thing that was controlling the machine…”

They all stiffen now and I realize every single one of them is listening to me.

Gathering my courage, I push forward. “What is it? What does it want from us?”

Fer’ro’s mouth moves as he forces down the fish and the ridges along his cheek contract and expand with the movement.

His suit bristles as he swallows as if a bunch of sharp knives just went down his throat.

“They are called the Gryken,” he finally says and I am hushed. I wait for him to continue and after a few moments he finally does.

“They are from a world far away. One that was destroyed eons ago.”

I blink at him. “Their world is destroyed? Is that why they are here. They want to capture ours to make it their own?”

Fer’ro stares at me. He doesn’t blink. “No,” he says.

“What?” Sam speaks up. “What do you mean?”

“They are here to harvest and move on.”

I glance at Sam then, the dread of the past few months still too vivid in my mind.

“So there is hope right?” Sam asks. “When they take what they want then they’ll leave. Then we can start over. Rebuild.”

The burgundy-eyed alien steps forward and I notice the blades on his arms have risen a little. “There is no rebuilding once the Scrits land.”

His voice is so harsh, Sam jerks back. But the alien continues. “They destroy everything. Your world will be barren before the Gryken leave. They will destroy your planet as they have done Edooria.”

There is hissing from the others and my gaze flicks around the group.

They all seem bigger somehow. Agitated. And I realize it’s because the blades on all of them are risen slightly.

“Edooria?” I whisper.

Fer’ro finally pulls his gaze away from mine. “Our home.”

I glance at Sam.

These…Gryken destroyed their home? Even though they seem so much more capable of fighting than humankind is?

“That is why we came,” Fer’ro continues. “To warn your kind. But…we were too late.”

My eyes widen at this and I sit up a little bit straighter. “You came to warn us? So you are here to help.”

Fer’ro clicks and I assume that means “yes.”

“But…why?”

Don’t get me wrong. Humanity needs the help. But even though they’ve been kind to us, their motive is still unclear.

“Why come to warn us?”

Fer’ro doesn’t respond. The one with the burgundy eyes does.

“Because if Edooria had been warned, maybe we would have been able to save our species.”

We fall into silence after that.

Even though they don’t say it, it’s as if I can feel their anger writhing underneath their skin, so I don’t ask any more questions.

One by one, the aliens move off, back to the water to finish dismantling the machine.

Fer’ro goes too and every now and then I look up to see them bringing pieces of the machine up from the lake.

My questions seem to have created a dark cloud over us all, for I do not hear them speaking even among themselves in their language.

Thinking on what they disclosed is also bringing me down, so I try to keep busy.

Taking what’s left of the fish, I mash it as much as I can.

While I work, Sam heads to the lake with a broad leaf and brings some water back. She uses it to wash Mina’s face while I turn the fish into a paste as best as possible with the tools I have—my one good hand, a stick, and another leaf.

More of the Scrit is slowly removed from the lake as we work. I recognize bits of the huge walking legs and I shudder and turn away, choosing instead to focus on feeding Mina the pulp I made.

She’s so exhausted, weak, that it’s hard for her to swallow.

But she tries.

She even smiles at me bravely even though I know she’s in pain.

She doesn’t complain.

There’s fear in her eyes too. I see it whenever she meets my gaze…whenever she looks at the aliens around us.

I can’t imagine the terror she’s feeling inside.

“It’ll be okay, Mina.”

A blatant lie.

She knows it.

I know it too. But I swallow hard and continue feeding her anyway.

I’m feeding her when her eyes widen and focus on something behind me.

That’s when I hear a hiss that sends a shiver down my spine.

When I whip around, the dark-eyed one is there.

His blades have risen, his teeth are bared, and his eyes are on Mina’s midsection.

Dropping the fish pulp I made, I scramble back on my elbow and put myself in front of Mina, meeting the alien’s gaze in the process.

I don’t know what’s gotten him so worked up, but out of all of these aliens, he’s the one that makes me the most uneasy.

And even though I’ve placed myself in his view, he’s still snarling. He hisses again and his blades rise even higher.

I feel the blood draining from my skin.

Had I said Fer’ro was adorable?

I was wrong.

His kind is utterly terrifying.

There are now so many blades across his body that I’m pretty sure he’s slicing the air itself with every heave of his chest.

He looks as if he’s about to launch himself at us, but he’d seemed fine just a moment before.

What has cha—

And then I feel it.

Against my back.

The part that’s pressed against Mina’s belly.

I feel it under her skin.

It writhes against me and I freeze, a gasp lodging in my throat as I try to remain frozen while I face the alien in front of me.

That thing inside her…

He’d seen it moving.

Chapter Fifteen

FER’RO

I’m under water when I hear the shrill sound.

Dampened by the liquid around me, but shrill nonetheless.

I don’t know how I do, but I know it is her.

My ba’clan activate, pulling me through the water to the surface, even before I can send the mental command.

Adee’ra’s fear scent almost knocks me over when I break the surface and my gaze finds her immediately.

She is so small, San’ten’s large body almost blocks her from my view.

She has her back to the infested female, her thin arms splayed as she projects herself as a shield.

And San’ten…even to a Vullan, he is a terrifying sight.

He is in full battle form.

His ba’clan have extended from his body, hackles rising everywhere.

A deep hiss and a roar leaves my lips as I shift into battle form as well, the ground beneath my feet disappearing as I launch myself from the shore toward him.

He only has a second to turn before we collide.

In a cloud of dirt and dust, we roll a few lengths away.

Adee’ra’s fear scent intensifies and I am only dimly aware that she is scrambling away and trying to take the other female with her.

My whole focus is on San’ten.

He roars, struggling to get away from me and I realize in horror that while my focus is on him, his focus is still on the retreating females.

“Release me!” San’ten’s roar echoes across the Er’th trees. “We must kill it!”

He speaks in the hyu’man language and I am sure the females hear.

“Not until you regain control!” I twist my body into his, pinning him down and San’ten hisses. But instead of yielding, he claws at me.

He only misses because I release him.

But now we are crouched, facing each other.

His eyes have bled to black and I know he is crazed.

“Control yourself!” I repeat and he hisses in response.

I sense my brethren approaching but they keep enough distance to not get into the fight.

From behind, I sense my womb mate, Ga’Var, but San’ten does not realize he is approaching. His complete focus is on me.

“We must kill it,” he repeats.

“I agree,” I say. “But not yet.”

San’ten bares his fangs even more. “You will let it grow?”

I am disappointed.

San’ten knows better than to react like this.

His hackles rise even more as he prepares to launch himself at me and I know that if I allow him to, we will fight to the death, or until one of us yields.

I am bigger than he is. Stronger.

But I know, without a doubt, that San’ten is not in the frame of mind to yield.

He will die.

“Now!” I shout and there is only a moment of surprise on San’ten’s face before Ga’Var crashes into him.

The force sends them backward and Fi’rox joins in to restrain the crazed male.

San’ten is struggling and cursing in our native tongue but my focus is no longer on him.

Instead, my gaze sweeps toward where the females were resting.

We had tumbled quite a bit away from where they were, but even with the star going down and visibility lowering, my ba’clan bristle.

The females are not there.

“Restrain him and head back to the ship. We are done here,” I say as I head toward where the females had been.

We had finished scavenging the Scrit earlier. The plan had been to leave anyway.

“Where are you going?” Ga’Var clicks, and that’s when he realizes too. “Where are they?”

“Gone,” I say.

No one was guarding them.

There are a few concerned clicks as more of my brothers rise from the water and head toward us.

But the females couldn’t have gone far.

“I will find them.”

ADIRA

I have one of Mina’s arms draped across my shoulders while Sam has the other.

Together, we support her weight as we hobble away.

I’m still aching from all the injuries I’ve received. I don’t think Fer’ro and the others realize just how wounded we are. We hide it well. But, supporting Mina’s weight, we’re feeling it now.

Sam winces as much as I do as we try to hurry under the cover of the trees.

“Shit. They’re going to find us aren’t they.” Her voice comes out with a hiss of pain.

I grunt before answering. “Most definitely.”

I don’t have any doubt they will. “But maybe we can buy some time while we come up with some sort of plan.”

I glance behind me but there’s only the growing darkness and even though we’re supposed to be in a forest, we’ve already ran into two spots of trampled trees from where the machine had walked.

I’m just lucky I’m wearing boots.

I’d found them in that same cellar I’d been hiding in when the machine had taken me. They’d been better than the running shoes I’d been wearing on D-Day.

Mina and Sam aren’t so lucky.

They’re both wearing flats.

I glance behind me again as we try to hurry away. That dark-eyed one had scared the shit out of me and if Fer’ro hadn’t appeared when he did, I shudder to think what would have happened.

“He said he wanted to kill her,” Sam said, glancing behind her too. “We have to find somewhere to hide her at least.”

“No,” Mina croaks. “You don’t…” She takes a breath. If not for me and Sam, she’d have collapsed already. “You don’t have to do this. I’ve accepted my fate. I did so a long time ago.”

There’s that tone in her voice, one I’ve had many times.

That tone you get when nothing matters any more.

But I refuse to let her give up.

I don’t know if that makes me selfish. If I was in her shoes, I’d have wanted her and Sam to allow the dark-eyed alien to kill me.

I gulp as I force my gaze forward and scan what’s left of the forest around us.

I’d felt the thing against my back.

It’s grown so much in just over a day. No way is that normal.

Before, in the machine, the others didn’t grow so fast.

Or did they?

I never touched their stomachs to find out.

Mina shudders against us and we stumble.

She pulls her arms from our shoulders and braces on the ground as her body heaves.

She’s going to throw up, trying to at least, but nothing is rising from her stomach.

“Let him,” she says between breaths, “let him kill me.”

No.

I stare at her stomach before my wide eyes find Sam’s.

Something unsaid passes between us.

Understanding. Realization.

“We could try and take it out,” I blurt. My own chest is heaving with the rough breaths I’m taking but now with the words out my mouth, my heart is hammering for a whole other reason.

We could.

We could take it out.

“We have to at least try.” I stare at Sam.

Her dark hair is curly and a hot mess on top of her head. She nods, her hair bobbing and her eyes wide as she stares back at me.

It’s a ludicrous idea. A dangerous one. But I think I can do it.

My gaze drops to Mina and she lifts her head to meet my gaze.

There’s hope there. Hope that hadn’t died.

“Are you sure you can do it?” It’s Sam that’s asking that instead of Mina.

For as I hold Mina’s gaze, I know she knows the risk.

She’s just hopeless.

And…she believes in me.

“I’m a vet. Was a vet,” I say, but it’s more for my own benefit than theirs. As if I’m convincing myself that I can do this. That this isn’t a crazy idea. “I’ve never operated on a human before, but I’ve done surgeries.” My voice quivers a bit as I take a breath. “I can do it.”

Mina’s body heaves once more as her stomach tries to expel nothing.

“I can do it.” My voice is surer this time and I glance at Sam, unable to meet Mina’s gaze for what I’m about to say next. “But there won’t be any anesthetic…she’ll feel everything.”

I wait for Mina to protest. To tell me this is a bad idea and that she’d rather not.

But she doesn’t.

“Do it,” she croaks as she slowly raises her head to look at us. “Do it.”