Alien Freak - Calista Skye Page 0,74

claimed to be nice. And like I said, it could be worse.”

“Koyanara, tell him to stop,” I plead.

The casing remains silent.

I take a deep, trembling breath. “Well, you had me begging. I will beg no more. And I do appreciate that you’re not selling me to my certain death. I know what a sacrifice that must be for you.”

Turning sharply, I make my way down to the cabin to pick up… well, nothing. All I own is what I’m wearing. That other set of clothing with the jeans-like stuff is unworn.

The ship jolts as it lands, and I slap the hatch release. There’s nothing more to say.

I step out onto the soft ground of a forest. Three small, brown aliens are waiting for me outside.

“Greetings, Lady Averie,” the middle one says. “Welcome to Xrarar.”

The hatch closes behind me, and the ship zooms up to the sky, scorched, dirty, and broken.

I blink away stubborn tears.

“Greetings,” I manage, wiping my face. “Take me to your leader.”

28

- Zaroc -

I collapse in the pilot’s seat. “It’s the only right thing.”

“It is, if you’ll excuse my language, the most fucking wrong thing I’ve ever seen,” grandmother seethes. “And I lived a pretty full life before I died, and an almost as eventful one after.”

My hands are shaking so much I have to switch the autopilot on as the ship leaves the Xrarar atmosphere. Everything is going blurry.

“I’m death to her,” I whisper. “With me, she won’t make it. Without me, she might.”

Grandmother scoffs. “Together, you will both be happier.”

I close my eyes. “I attract the Gurandu, and she attracts the Bululg. Those two working together is the worst nightmare for both of us. Now, they won’t. The Bululg will give up after a year of half-hearted effort. The Gurandu will never give up. When their hunting license expires, they will have another one issued. And there’s nothing half-hearted about them.”

“You think you know your fate, Zaroc. I’ve tried to tell you before that you can’t. Averie gave you hope. To her, that’s the only way to live. And you know, she’s right. You should try it. For real.”

Please. I have no one.

“There is no hope for me,” I wheeze, my throat sore.

“The past does not equal the future. You could be the first to survive the Gurandu hunt. You could.”

You made me believe that we had a future.

“I’m not willing to stake her life on ‘could’. When it comes to that, I need certainty. I need will. She will be safe with the monks. Cursed Fate, I should never have brought her into my desperate shambles of a fugitive life. She’s so soft…”

“Only on the outside, grandson. She has a good head on her, and she does what needs to be done without hesitation. You two would be stronger if you worked together. But I know my opinion counts for nothing.”

It’s not right.

“I can’t bear the thought of her hunted by the Gurandu as well. I just can’t. I’m like a permanent target on her back. They will happily use her to get to me. Now, I will attract their attention, get IruBex to follow me away from here. Away from her. It’s the best thing I can do for her, staying as far away as possible.”

The control room is quiet for a long time while the stars shine steadily outside.

“Well, I’m going to really miss her,” grandmother finally sighs. “It was nice to have another girl to talk to.”

“It was nice,” I agree, wiping moisture off my face. “It was... wonderful.”

29

- Averie -

“Now, this was a lack of both focus and intent,” says the abbot and catches the pebble in his hand. “I’ll use a bigger rock. Wait.”

I take a deep breath and look up at the sky. It’s blue like on Earth. And there are no ugly, beaten-up spaceships up there. I know because I can’t stop looking for one.

The monks aren’t just monks, they’re warrior monks. In the past they were fanatical fighters who would go on crazy suicide missions because their only god was War itself. Then they got tired of their king using them for purposes that they didn’t agree with, so they left their home planet and settled on Xrarar. Here they practice their war-like skills, but they don’t actually fight wars anymore.

They’re about four feet tall, and they remind me a lot of Yoda from the Star Wars movies. Except they’re brown, not green, their ears aren’t pointy, and they speak in understandable sentences. Also they have one