In Enemy Territory - Shannon West Page 0,60
of it in the air. The jungle foliage encroached restlessly on the courtyard, moving in the wind like a living thing, waiting for them to turn their backs so it could leap on them. An abrupt sound startled him. Off to the right he heard it, and his ears, experts in such matters, could not be mistaken. It was the sound of a tiger.
When Ryan first came to live on Tygeria, he’d been frightened of the tigers. He still was, if the truth was told, because the Tygerians rarely were lucid when they transformed. They were almost totally in their beast, and their human minds were buried deep inside them. There was some evidence that they knew their own mates, but there was also evidence that they did not. Most people thought it depended on the person and his strength of will. The tiger's range of sound, Ryan knew from living on Tygeria for so long, was quite wide and varied. They could grunt and make a type of woofing noise, called a chuff. They could even, on some occasions and with someone they were fond of, purr and make a sound almost like a very rough meow. On Earth, a tiger's roar wasn’t the same as the roar of a lion, but was more snarly and full of sounds, almost like they were trying to make words. A Tygerian tiger’s roar was like this too, but even louder and more powerful.
Again he heard the roar, and again. Somewhere, off in the blackness, someone fired a disruptor three times, the whining, popping sound easily identifiable, even from this distance. Out of the darkness this time came a high screaming sound, the sound of a person in an extremity of anguish and terror. Ryan whirled around to glare at the commandant.
“What was that? Was that Mikos?”
“No, don’t worry. It was another prisoner, trying foolishly to escape. My people have killed him. Don’t worry. That wasn’t your Bloody Prince, though it soon will be.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I was trying to show you. Come over this way,” he said, gesturing to some large outbuildings nearby. Ryan walked in the direction he indicated, moving faster when he heard a chuffing sound close by. He rounded the front of one of the buildings at a run with the Gatifreyans right behind him and saw something that made the marrow freeze in his bones. Behind a wall of glass stood a magnificent Tygerian tiger, huge and fearsome, standing at least two meters tall at the shoulder and perhaps five meters in length. The tiger was pacing back and forth in the confined space, making distressed and angry noises. Ryan knew immediately that he was looking at his husband, Mikos. He pressed his hands to the glass, but the tiger kept pacing restlessly.
“What have you done?”
“You reacted badly to the injection my people gave you to sedate you, so your mate was fully awake long before you woke up. We had a discussion then, and I gave him a rather limited set of options. Once he heard them and contemplated his choices, he shifted into his tiger soon after.”
“What options? What are you talking about?”
“He woke up inside the cage. I told him he could either shift into his tiger and stay shifted, or I would simply kill you before you ever woke up. I explained my plan to him, and he heard me out. Once he saw that I meant what I said, he transformed right away. All I had to do was wait for you to wake up so we could begin.”
“Begin what, you crazy bastard? I’m warning you again that if you harm either of us, Davos will raze this entire shithole planet and parade you around in a cage before he cuts off your fucking head!”
“Davos would have to find me first, and after I’ve killed both you and your husband, I won’t be staying around for long, I can guarantee you.”
“After you’ve…killed us?” Ryan asked softly, every muscle in his body tensing for action.
“Yes, I have a plan, you see. Quite ironic for a Tygerian, actually. But very appropriate.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Do you know the story of the Hunt on Tygeria? It was quite well known in its time. Surely you’ve heard of it.”
“I’ve heard about it. But that’s old history. Over a hundred cycles ago.”
“Yes. But all that time ago on Tygeria, humans were hunted for sport. One of my ancestors was one of the captives hunted