Rax Read online

  “We are not splitting up. We will do this together, or we will not do it at all,” Keldon Marcsu said.

  It was the first almost noble thing that I had heard him say, and I had to admit that I was briefly surprised by it until I realized that he was afraid. He wasn’t doing it for the good of the group. He was doing it for the good of himself. He knew that I had the weapons, and the most power. He knew that without me, he might never make it back home. And so, he was going to stick close. At least, until he knew that he was going to be rescued.

  As for the human, I couldn’t figure out why she might reject my idea, until I saw the fear on her face. She didn’t want to be alone with Keldon Marcsu, and I suddenly felt very stupid and ashamed of myself for even suggesting it. I didn’t want her to be alone with him either. The way he treated her was despicable.

  “Well then, you are going to have to stay close. There is no telling what kind of dangers may lurk out beyond the forest. There certainly will not be as much shelter, and there may not be as much food either. Remember, creatures from all walks of life tend to end up here. All with different dietary and environmental needs. This prison planet is versatile, and we are about to leave the habitat that may be comfortable to us biologically. Are you sure that you are okay with this?”

  I had to make sure. If the human was subjected to any danger because of my choices, I realized that it would be very difficult for me to forgive myself for it. Even if it seemed to be her own doing that got her into danger in the first place. And, of course, I had to protect Keldon Marcsu.

  “I know for sure is that you are not leaving me alone with this guy,” the human said, fixing a revolted look on Keldon Marcsu. Her revulsion didn’t seem to faze him though, and he stepped forward as if he hadn’t even heard what she had said. Maybe he was getting used to her insults.

  “Like I said, we will stick together. That is final.”

  It seemed that I had no other choice, and gave a grim nod. Hopefully, the others wouldn’t be too far away, despite the appearance of their location on my tracking device. What would be worse is if we found them, but found them dead.

  Still, such was the nature of my mission, and it was up to me to retrieve them, alive or dead, so that we could return home as quickly as possible.

  We began to make our way tentatively forward, ill at ease without the cover of the forest to protect us. The last thing I wanted was to take unnecessary risks, but there was no other way to do my job, and even if the others found the rescue ship without me, they would not allow the human or the son of the Emperor upon the ship without my clearance. There were many creatures out in the prison planet that were capable of shape shifting, and it could easily become a nightmare.

  “Is it just me, or did it just get really cold?” The human asked, shivering suddenly.

  “No human, I do not think that it is just you. We are going to have to be strong. We are much closer to the next target, so just be patient. They should only take another two days. Then we will probably come back into forest area.

  “I don’t see my any of our kind would want to come out here voluntarily,” Keldon Marcsu said, glaring at me. “Are you sure that thing is right? You know that have sensors here that scramble all of the technology that makes its way onto this planet. I heard my father speaking about it once.”

  “I can assure you that this was designed by the Resha Federation with that little nuance in mind. Nobody is going to be left behind.”

  Keldon Marcsu seemed satisfied with my answer, and we continued on in silence.

  Suddenly, the ground beneath us began to quake, and my heart lurched.

  “Look out!” I shouted, turning toward the human and grabbing her just in time for her to avoid the huge, groping hand of a Hercha.

  “Shit!” The human exclaimed, gaping up at the huge ugly creature. It was at least 10 feet tall, with a long, ugly, humanoid face. But there was definitely something monstrous about it. It was oversized and longer than seemed proportionate, and its body was lanky and covered in a thick black fur.

  “What will we do now, commander?” Keldon Marcsu demanded, gazing up at the creature with fear and grim determination in his eyes. “That thing wants to kill us. And we have nowhere to hide.”

  I released the human from my grip and immediately went to the belt around my waist, grasping for the small baton that the Federation had equipped me with. This creature was oversized and massive, and I found myself feeling nervous.

  The baton was electrically charged, and powerful enough to give a dangerous jolt to any creature. Still, they had cautioned me that it was not entirely foolproof. Some creatures have resistance to this type of attack, while others might be very vulnerable to it. It was a gamble.

  As soon as I was sure that the human was out of the way, I charged at the creature, knowing fully well that this could be my last attack.

  “You’re insane!” Keldon Marcsu shouted after me.

  But I ignored him, my mind racing as I began to analyze everything that I knew about this creature. They were generally very slow, but very strong. It was dangerous to assume that they would be too slow to avoid an attack, because despite their horrifying appearance, they were also extremely strategic. This usually had to do with the fact that they were very in tune with the environment around them, and whether they had the sophistication to strike true or not, they were very aware of everything that was going on around them.

  “Please, Rax, be careful,” the human called.

  But hearing her voice only made me more determined to attack. If anything happened to her, I would be at a loss. I had to make sure that I took care of her, even if that meant I wasn’t able to return the Emperor’s son back home.

  I furrowed my brow, leaping out of the way of the creature’s other giant hand and reaching its ankle, where I knew it had a tendon that, once severed, could render its body and mobile. I couldn’t sever it, but maybe if I electrocuted it, it would give us a chance to get out of there.

  It was the only choice I had at the moment, and I thrust the baton into its soft, fleshy leg and unleashed a powerful bolt of electricity. The Hercha let out a blood-curdling shriek, but didn’t fall. I was dismayed by the strength it still had left and cast a glance toward the human. She was staring up at the beast, her eyes round, her manner petrified. If I didn’t act soon, it could mean the end of us all.

  I looked around quickly, wracking my brain. Suddenly, I realized that my weapon was more or less useless and that the best way to get to a creature like this was through fire.

  I had been equipped with a torch and ran behind the creature, climbing quickly up one of the large trees. They were growing more sparsely the further out we traveled, but we still weren’t fully out of the forest and I was able to leap up a tree, glaring down at the horrendous creature. As it turned slowly to face me, I aimed the torch down at its face.

  It let out a cry of anguish as the flame licked its bulbous eyes, and sank to its knees.

  “Run,” I commanded down to the human. I had to make sure that we weren’t going to be followed. The last thing we needed was a monster with a grudge after us. And yet, the human remained, her eyes wide and fixed on us. She was frozen in fear. I had to get her out of there.

  But just as I hopped down from the tree and went after the creature, raising my torch to try to burn its neck, it struggled to its feet, groping the air in front of it until it caught the edge of Keldon Marcsu’s tunic. He let out a yelp unlike anything I had ever heard before, and if it weren’t so horrifying, I probably would have laughed.

  He scrambled out of the tunic and took off running, full pelt, back in the direction of the forest. I sighed heavily, turning back to the beast. It was in agony, and some small part of me actually felt bad for it.

  “Look away!” I shouted to her.

  She finally seemed to realize where she was and what was happening, because she leapt backward just as the beast began to fall. I was ready, holding a sharpened stick of wood that I had
pulled from my belt. I stood below the beast, waiting for it to land, and held the stake above my head so that it impaled itself.

  I somersaulted out of the way as it landed heavily on the ground, taking one final shuddering breath before growing still.

  I waited a few moments before approaching it, just to make sure that it was really dead. Once I confirmed it I turned back to the human, who was watching with a grim expression on her face.

  “Are you okay?” she asked softly.

  “I’m fine,” I said, stepping toward her. “You were my concern.”

  “Well I’m fine too,” she said, glancing around, furrowing her brow. “What happened to Keldon Marcsu? Do you think he’s coming back?”

  I sighed, taking out the small computer to see how far he had gotten. But he had torn his blazer off and left it lying on the ground, not far away from the body of the beast I had just finished slaying.

  “I don’t know,” I said with a sigh. “I don’t have the time nor the patience to look for him any longer than a day or two.”

  Zina nodded. “We should see if we can find him, but if we can’t then I guess you can just go look for the rest of your crew.”

  “We can talk about that when it comes time,” I said, cringing at the thought of having to part ways with the human. “As for now, the son of the Emperor would want me to make sure that his claim is safe as we search for him.”

  The human gazed at me, a strange expression etched on her beautiful face. I couldn’t help but stare at her for a moment, and then tore my gaze away, ashamed of myself. This was no time for me to give in to those strange feelings of attraction that I had been feeling toward the human. She wasn’t there because she was interested in me. She was there because she had been claimed by one of my fellow Raithers. She probably hated us all. Many of the human women who had made it to my planet had been known to talk about how difficult it was to be in such a situation.

  And yet, the human didn’t protest when I led us forward, urging her to take Keldon Marcsu’s tunic and lay it around her shoulders so she wouldn’t get chilled. We moved forward together, each of us still slightly dazed by the confrontation. I was lucky that the Resha Federation had equipped me with the tools that they had, but I was beginning to fear that the things they had sent with me were not going to be enough should we encounter more danger.

  That might not have bothered me so much if I had been traveling alone, or in the company of the other Raithers that had been stranded on the prison planet when their ship had crashed. But I wasn’t alone or in the presence of other trained warriors that had managed to survive the encounters they had had. I was with a human; one of the softest and most vulnerable races in the universe. There was no telling how little force it would take before she was lost to me for good.

  I couldn’t let that happen. She was mine to protect. Whether Keldon Marcsu had a claim on her or not, it was my job to see to it that she survived this planet. I just had to remind myself that no matter how strongly I was pulled to claim her, a claim had already been made. There was nothing I could do about it now. Keldon Marcsu’s claim was final, and if I went against it, it could mean my death.

  “Come on, human,” I said, sighing. “Let us try to find Keldon Marcsu. If I return to my planet without him, there will be hell to pay.”

  Chapter 4

  Dr. Zina Smith

  I felt terrible. There had been a moment back there, during the heat of battle, when I had genuinely believed that Keldon Marcsu was going to be killed. And a knot in my stomach when I realized that he had survived.

  I had felt relieved to believe that he was going to be out of my life. It would have been the easy way out of a horrible situation. I would have no longer been expected to live with him and in order to escape the planet Hexa, only to be deposited on another planet where I would be treated as a prisoner of a different type.

  “Human, what is wrong with you?”

  I laughed at the sudden question, phrased so callously but spoken with the best of intent.

  “I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head. There was no way that this alien would ever be able to understand the complexities of my feelings. What it was like to be treated as a currency or a breeding machine. How guilty I felt for being so hopeful that I was going to watch Keldon Marcsu be killed right in front of me, and the crushing realization that I was still stuck with him, even if he was lost out in the forest somewhere.

  “You haven’t eaten much today. Let us take a break for a meal. That may help to lift your spirits.”

  I nodded, following Rax silently through the thick foliage until we finally stumbled upon one of the many fruit orchards. They were plentiful on this planet; the people who curated the place made sure that the creatures trapped here had their best chance of survival, with or without technology.

  “Here,” he said, reaching above my head to pick a supple red fruit. “You like these ones, right?”

  I was startled by the observation, and nodded dumbly. I hadn’t made a big deal of it or anything. I had eaten anything that I was able to find on my own, and since being with Rax, anything that I was given. . But it was true, I particularly enjoyed these red fruits.

  “Yes, thank you,” I said, avoiding his eyes and taking the fruit, he was offering.

  He didn’t acknowledge my thanks and wandered deeper into the orchard, his vibrant, multicolored eyes scanning the hanging fruits.

  “I think I want to try this one,” he said finally. “Have you tried it yet, human? I do not want to eat something that is too sour.”

  “No, that one is more bitter. And a little sweet after you get over the bitterness.”

  “Ah,” he said, nodding sagely, examining the fruit in his large, cupped hand before making his final decision. “I will give it a try then.”

  He plucked the fruit and walked back to me, sitting down beside me in the soft grass and examining the fruit for bugs. He found none, and wiped it cautiously with a small cloth. He offered the cloth to me and I nearly laughed. I had been on this planet for so long that I had gotten used to eating things right of the vine, sometimes even when there were bugs.

  “So, do you really think you will be able to find all of your missing crew members?” I asked, peeling the fruit cautiously, trying to ignore the heat that having Rax’s body so near to me introduced to my senses. I wanted to be closer to him, despite my better instincts, and I had no idea why.

  “I believe that my mission will be successful,” he said, taking a cautious bite of his own fruit. “As long as I am able to return to the planet Yala with Keldon Marcsu in tow. He is the whole reason that I am here, and if he is not returned safely it is likely that the mission will be considered a failure.”

  “That’s bullshit,” I said, biting into my fruit and chewing it quickly in irritation.

  “It’s what?” Rax asked me, eyeing me curiously.

  “It’s bullshit! Just because that asshole is the son of the leader of your planet, that means his life is more valuable than the lives of the other Raithers who have been trapped here? I don’t think so.”

  I knew I should probably shut my mouth, but I was pissed off. Not only was this Raither royal a pain in my ass, but he was considered to be more valuable than others, when it was possible he was the most despicable being I had ever met? No way.

  Even still, Rax was the one responsible for ushering us both to safety, and if I insulted him rather than staying compliant, who knew what harm might befall me? But I couldn’t stop the flood of words coming out of my mouth. It was almost as if I was hoping to provoke him; to test his limits and see just how much power I held with him.

  “The system as it is now is very corrupt, from your point of view,” Rax said, peering at me thoughtfully as he toyed with his fruit. “Does this surprise you? Isn’t the same thing just as likely to happen on Earth? Or any other planet for that matter? Power is what all men covet, and once it has been obtained, it seems to be all they can think about. In order to continue
to possess it, they must wield it.. And Keldon Marcsu was born in just such a situation. All he has ever known is that he has power, and of course he is going to utilize that to his fullest advantage.”

  I glowered. “You sound like you’re perfectly fine with that arrangement. Why is that? Aren’t you a powerful Raither man too?”

  He opened his mouth to answer and I held up my hand. “Don’t bother. Spare me. I just want to be free of this whole situation. I don’t need to hear about your privileged little lifestyle and how you grew up knowing that you were going to one day be some powerful army guy and save people from certain doom. It’s gross.”

  “Actually, human,” Rax said, his voice hard. “I was not a privileged child. My family was born in the lower rungs of society. We were not granted the things that we had simply because of our rank. There was no privilege in our lot in life. I simply joined the army as all young Raither boys do, and I thrived. I had to excel because that was the only way to give the rest of my family a chance to amount to something. You do understand that Yala is an economic hub, right? Well, who do you think benefits from all that money and power? The people who produce the goods or the people that organize their production and do nothing but count money all day? I will give you one guess.”

  I looked down at my hands, suddenly feeling very ashamed of myself for my presumption. Of course, he had the right to be upset about what I had said. Who did I think I was, trying to act like I knew where he came from and what his life had been like. If anybody had ever said something like that to me, I probably would have gone off on them. There was nothing more aggravating than encountering somebody who thought they knew more about you than you knew about yourself.