Page 45 of Kazzon's Human Bride
“What is happening?” she demanded.
He shook his head. “I am not certain, but your room—Ambassador Kazzon’s room—is the safest, most fortified area of this ship.”
“Okay, I’ll go there,” she said, then watched him run off.
She started heading for Kazzon’s quarters but veered into another corridor when she spotted figures moving on the landing platform outside the viewscreen. Shock swept over her at the sight. Several Tarrkuan guards were locked in combat with over a dozen massive green creatures.
The Xollnaxians, she realized.
She hadn’t asked Kazzon what they looked like. Their skin was the same shade as the trees. They were beautiful, but they were frightening.
Transfixed, she stood for a few moments, watching the fight unfold. The Tarrkuans possessed blasters and managed to take many of the Xollnaxians down with the deadly fire, but the green aliens had pointed spears, which they hurled through the air at the guards.
Two Tarrkuans collapsed and writhed on the ground in an unnatural manner, their blue skin quickly fading to a sickly gray shade, making Caylee think the spears contained poison or some other incapacitating agent.
Her heart lurched at the sight. Were the guards going to die? She thought about Kazzon and wondered where he was, praying he hadn’t run into these murderous Xollnaxians. She hoped he wasn’t anywhere near the smoke she’d glimpsed in the distance.
Please stay safe. Please come back to me.
A red flash soon filled the corridor, and she glanced up to notice light strips running along the corners of the ceiling. The flashing continued, joined with the intermittent blare of an alarm. In between the blare, a recorded voice resounded through the corridors.
“Warning: the ship has been boarded by enemy aliens.”
The recording was in the main dialect of Tarrkuan, and for a moment, she almost wished she couldn’t understand the language, because the message sent a chill of fear straight to her bones.
Boarded. Holy shit.
The Xollnaxians had boarded theCorrannelia. And she wasn’t in Kazzon’s quarters, hiding in the safest area of the ship, like she was supposed to be.
Up ahead, she spotted a tall Tarrkuan guard tearing blasters and other weaponry from a cabinet in the wall. She paused and stared as he tucked over a dozen weapons into his belt, then took off down the corridor, rushing in the opposite direction. He hadn’t even noticed her.
She gazed at the cabinet, which he’d left open. She’d walked down this corridor many times since her arrival on theCorranneliaand she’d never known a cabinet filled with sophisticated Tarrkuan weaponry was apparently hidden in plain sight.
A couple of weird looking knives and smaller blasters remained, and she stepped forward and reached out to touch the weapons, her pulse pounding in her ears alongside the continuous blare and the repeated warning about alien intruders. She grabbed a knife and a blaster, then took off down the corridor, in the direction of Kazzon’s quarters.
If the Xollnaxians bothered her, she would be ready.
* * *
Kazzon staredat the bloodied outcast, the last one alive. The huge green male had dropped his spear and held up his hands in surrender after the remainder of his companions lay dead on the cavern floor. The exile trembled in the restraints that were now secured around his wrists and ankles. Though quite large, he was smaller than most Xollnaxians, making Kazzon suspect he was younger, perhaps barely an adult.
“Where is Ambassador Stonnas?” Kazzon demanded in Xollnaxian, crossing his arms as he stood over the green alien.
“He’s dead. I didn’t kill him though. It-it wasn’t my idea.” No black mist appeared around his face.
“Where is his body?”
“What’s left of him was burned,” the alien said, pointing toward a firepit in the center of the cavern. “Some of the other outcasts ate him.”
Alarm shot through Kazzon, though he was careful not to allow his surprise to show on his face. But he did walk over to the firepit, where he knelt to inspect the ashes. Indeed, bones that were distinctly Tarrkuan were scattered amongst the ashes.Fluxx. Rage simmered in Kazzon, that the Xollnaxian outcasts had treated one of his comrades, a fellow ambassador, in such a barbaric manner.
Kazzon nodded at a few of the guards. “Collect any remains you can. Stonnas and his crew deserve a proper burial on Tarrkua.”
As the guards rushed to comply, Kazzon returned to the Xollnaxian.
“Did your people have anything to do with the decimation of Ambassador Stonnas’ ship?” Kazzon asked. “Keep in mind that if you are cooperative and answer my questions, I will be more apt to show you mercy.”
The green alien appeared confused. “If you are referring to the technology that has been stripped from his ship, yes, we are responsible for that. We captured the ambassador and his men, then took the weapons and technology from the ship. We forced Stonnas to contact the Tarrkuans to request help, hoping it would bring more ships that we could raid. I believe he claimed his ship was inoperable when he requested help, though I do not know the details.”
