Zhadra Read online

  ZHADRA

  Obosian Warriors: Book One

  Sabine Ferruci

  Copyright © 2019 Sabine Ferruci All rights reserved.

  Dedication

  Thanks, Mom, for your belief in family, hard work, education, and humor.

  Chapter One

  Commander Grace Summers woke up at a zoo. But last time she'd checked, her space vessel, the Defiance, did not have a zoo. And if it did, surely the zookeeper would not allow six-foot lizards with dilithium shock sticks.

  Grace closed her eyes and shook her head. Holy hell, but did her head feel like an earthen volcano about to erupt. She fought back the nausea and dizziness and opened her eyes again.

  The walking lizards weren't behind bars. She was.

  She pushed herself to a sitting position in her -- yep, a cage -- and took inventory. Her head pounded, her stomach roiled, and her dark green flight suit had tears and ragged holes surrounded by smoked fragments. Her body felt as if it had been exposed to a G-force of thirty and barely lived to tell the tale.

  When she looked beyond the tusniam metal bars again, she studied and finally smelled the musty, brown-black lizard guards. There were two of them, each weighing in at a good two hundred pounds.

  In addition to the shock sticks, they carried laser pistols. They had two webbed feet, four clawed hands, and a nasty blue tongue constantly slippin' and slidin' around their snouts. When she looked further up, both guards had bright red eyes focused on her. Holy crap.

  She lurched back and heard snorts and hisses of presumed laughter. Grace was aware of exactly two other species in the universe, and these guys were not on the list. Note to self: first contact is overrated.

  When Grace checked out the other nearby cages, it was a relief to see Captain Keri Hampton curled in a ball in a cage next to her. The red-headed captain, she-who-did-not-move without a Plan A through E, was in a for a reality check when she awoke. Grace hoped Keri had a Plan F, for really fffffed-up-situation.

  Across the corridor in another cage, she caught the dark hair of Science Officer Tina Russell, also out cold. Maybe Tina could get another publication out of this little side trip -- if they survived. The Consolidated Planetary Union, or CPU, loved that kind of publicity. Which meant that their little science officer must have really screwed up to get banished to the Defiance.

  Grace was so glad that the women were still alive and she was not on her own. The last thing she remembered was standing on the bridge and sending an S.O.S. as their vessel came under attack by an unidentified ship.

  Well, as the security officer, it was going to be up to Grace to get them out of this mess. And she would do it.

  Grace scooted closer to the front bars. "Do you speak Intergalactic?"

  The guards ignored her.

  "Excuse me." She cleared her dry throat and spoke louder to the larger guard. "Mr. Godzilla. Can we communicate here?"

  In answer, Godzilla-One stomped over and inserted his shock probe through the bars and Grace had to do some fancy scooting to avoid it. She did catch the tip on her left leg, though, and that sucker was not set to bee sting. It burned like the fires of hell.

  Momentarily defeated, she curled up in the back of her cage and closed her eyes. Live to fight another day, Summers.

  Before she could doze off, however, a commotion near the entry to the room grabbed her attention. Godzilla One and Two held on to galitron chains and leaned back into the corridor, grunting and hissing as their webbed feet slipped along the metal floor. An enormous roar coming from outside the room made the bars of her cage vibrate.

  The Godzilla twins suddenly fell back into the corridor and the chains they were holding fell slack. A huge, silver humanoid creature lunged through the door and stomped on the first guard. Ooooh. Squish went Godzilla Two.

  Two more guards leaped in after the behemoth and lit him up with their shock sticks. Another roar shook the room before the guards prodded and pulled the creature into the large cage on the other side of Grace.

  As he crashed to the floor of the cage, Grace judiciously slid to the far side and looked him over. One of his silver-gray horns stuck between the bars. It was . . . interesting. Almost stunning.

  Since he was lights out now, she scooted closer to study him. He was scarier than the lizards, but she wasn't repulsed by him. In fact, his bare silver skin stretched taut over broad muscles on his chest beneath an open vest.

  His legs were covered by conforming gray pants that ended in huge boots. Long black hair parted around two dark gray curved horns and ended mid back. And what a back it was. The guy had lats that made Olympic swimmers look like heroin addicted anorexics.

  Grace herself was no slouch in the muscle department. She had an Amazon warrior's body and she kept it in good shape.

  But this guy? He had to be nearly seven-foot-tall and approaching three hundred pounds. And just because Grace had never settled down didn't mean she wasn't capable of enjoying a healthy male body. Usually it was from afar, but on a few occasions, it was up close and personal.

  Hey. She was thirty years old and had been traveling through space for twelve years.

  His body twitched and she reminded herself to get back to the problem at hand. The goal was to escape. With this gargantuan guy, she could get it done. She reached her hand out between the bars of her cage.

  Chapter Two

  Zhadra Savo, an Agra-Obosian and brother of the Precep of Agra-Obos, maintained his prone position in the cage, willing his body to stop twitching. It was difficult for two reasons.

  One was that the lightning bolts from the shock sticks still had his muscles jumping out of sync. The second reason -- ah, gods -- the second reason was her.

  He'd only caught a glimpse of the little alien next to his cage as the slavers rammed him inside. He'd never seen her species before, but she smelled like the flowers that bloomed once a year in the mountains of Bora-Obos. His body wanted to leap up and make sure she was real.

  But that was not why he was here.

  As he rested and waited for his body to come under control, he suddenly had to stop breathing. Someone had just stroked the tip of his horn. By the Goddess Gaana. No one touched his horns.

  In a sudden movement, he rolled and grabbed the offending appendage, only to find himself looking into deep blue eyes, the color of the diplasium purple blossoms of Obos. Her limb was so soft. And by Kheanar's balls, he could have snapped it right off if he'd extended his claws.

  Her little pink mouth was in a perfect "O" as she met his gaze, but she didn't look frightened. And the slip of a woman wasn't struggling out of his grip. Interesting.

  "Uh. Hi there, big guy," she said.

  She was clearly like his own species in that she only had two eyes, arms and legs, but a single nose and mouth. Her hair was a color he had never seen on his planet or any of his travels. It was yellow, and yet some of it was creamy white, like the smallest moon of Obos.

  She finally turned those vivid blue eyes and stared at the large silver hand that was still grasping her arm. He didn't want to let her go, but this was not the time, if ever, and certainly not the place.

  When he let go and began to turn back to watch the guards, she spoke again.

  "Do you speak Intergalactic?"

  He did, but something told him he was better off not sharing that little secret.

  She huffed out a little breath, and he could see her disappointment. But it didn't shut her up.

  "Guess I'll just have to mastermind my own escape. If by some remote chance you have any intelligence hiding in that big head of yours, maybe you'll jump in when I need some heavy lifting done."

  He narrowed his eyes at her.

  "I mean, that would have been too easy, right, to be able to communicate?" She laid back supine, h
ooked her feet in the bars of her cage, and began some kind of exercise, sitting up and down. And up and down.

  "The big guy could probably knock those tusniam bars apart with a flick of his finger."

  She grunted as she sat up. Then down. It made interesting things happen to her mammary glands, which were much larger than those of his own females.

  "I mean maybe not far enough apart for his fat ass to fit through, but he could at least offer to bend my bars a smidge so I could slip out."

  She began to perspire, and her flowery fragrance wafted over his way. Zhadra himself began to sweat.

  "Then good old Grace," she puffed out, "could save the day. Grab Keri and Tina. And maybe give the incredible silver hulk a shot at freedom if he's not too stupid to live."

  Too stupid? Zhadra shook his head. No one spoke to him like this. Staying silent through her little rant was more difficult than during his torture by the Telosians.

  She finally stopped bobbing up and down. But she turned prone and began to push herself up with her arms. And down. Then up. Despite himself, he was mildly impressed.

  The females of his planet were not physically strong and, to his knowledge, had no interest and did nothing to change that fact. This female was actively working her body for strength. He became more curious what her muscles would look like beneath that . . . male attire hanging loose on her body.

  She sat up again, her arm leaning over one bent knee. Breathing heavily, she stared intently at the guards. She licked her lips and narrowed her eyes in study. Then she gave a decisive nod of her head.

  Oh, no. Don't.

  She crouched up on her feet and worked toward the front of her cage. "Hey. Godzilla One!"

  The Vermian pirate near her walked closer.

  "Do we get any food in here?"

  He just stared at the female.

  She began to motion with her hands near her mouth, miming eating.

  Again, nothing from the guard.

  She grabbed the bars. Zhadra steeled himself for what was coming.

  The guard brought his shock stick down upon her cage and the charge lit up the bars. The female pushed back with a cry, clutching her hands to her chest.

  The Vermian pirate hissed, then reached into his pocket and tossed a water capsule at her, which she let drop in front of her.

  Godzilla One, as she had dubbed the Vermian, was now at the top of Zhadra's list of people to take out when the time was right.

  But damn the woman. What in the gods' names did she think she was going to accomplish?

  Locked cells. Check.

  Guards with weapons. Check.

  Sealed door to this holding area. Check.

  Not to mention they were in the middle of the cruuking Theta Star system. He would bet this female had no idea how to fly this ship or where to navigate if she ever did get free.

  He would ignore the confusing little alien female and focus on his mission. He did not need another female distracting him from his responsibilities. Ever.

  Chapter Three

  The last of Grace's water capsule was gone, but it had refreshed her enough to get some rest and dab a little of the precious liquid on her hands. Grace heard a feminine groan on her other side.

  She felt more relief than she'd ever associated with her aloof captain. Keri Hampton was a by-the-book hard ass, which was a cosmic joke since the Defiance did not carry a by-the -book crew.

  "Captain Hampton?" she whispered.

  The woman with the short, red hair labored to a sitting position using just her right arm. She held the left one cradled to her chest, but then moved the wrist around slowly and seemed to be satisfied it was not broken.

  Keri looked around the holding area. Grace now noticed the cut on her captain's forehead and the old dried blood on her face. There were also several spots on her fragmented flight suit.

  Keri blew out a long breath. "So. We're not in Kansas anymore."

  Grace snorted. "We've also managed to encounter close relatives of flying monkeys. Ma'am."

  Keri turned her green eyes to Grace. "I think under the circumstances, Grace, you'd better call me Keri."

  Grace was surprised. She wasn't certain the captain even knew their first names. "Yes, ma'am -- I mean, Keri."

  "I see Tina across the way. Injuries? Any other crew here?"

  So, you could take the military formality out of the captain, but not the command and control. Grace liked it.

  "I haven't seen Tina awake, " Grace reported. "I don't know the extent of her injuries." She hesitated. "And I haven't seen any other crew members."

  Keri's eyes were filled with sorrow, but then she shook her head. "How much time has passed? What kind of shape are you in?"

  "Not sure about the time, but I'd guess we've been here a full twenty-four hours."

  Keri leaned forward and picked up three water capsules that had been tossed into her cage while she'd been out. "How are you for rations?"

  Grace hesitated.

  "The truth, Grace?"

  "I've only had one water capsule."

  Keri threw one of the rations to her and steeled her gaze. "Why?"

  Grace sat up straighter. "Well, I might have pissed them off. A little."

  "And?"

  Grace tipped her head toward the guards. "They refuse to answer to Intergalactic, but I get the sense they understand. And they seem to discourage talking."

  "Discourage, how?"

  "The shock sticks. No permanent damage."

  "So. They have plans for us."

  Yep, Grace thought. Preserve the merchandise.

  Keri sipped on some water and looked around the rest of the room. "What about the other prisoners?"

  Grace knew what her captain saw. On the other side of Tina, there were three cages. Each held aliens who had large brown shells on their backs and eight tentacles instead of legs.

  The one closest to Tina kept reaching a tentacle into her cage but couldn't quite touch the little science officer. Thank the gods.

  On the other side of Keri, there was a green skeletal mega-praying mantis who had to weigh seventy pounds. It sometimes split into two creatures, then fused back into one.

  The problem was that when it was one form, it stared at the sleeping Tina and fondled a very non-skeletal erection with great vigor. Yuk and double yuk.

  Then there was the silver hunk next to Grace.

  "The only one I've had any interaction with is the silver guy next to me. He won't answer to Intergalactic. And he really didn't like it when I touched his horn. Don't know if there's much help -- or intelligence -- coming from that quarter."

  Keri studied the silver male appreciatively and Grace felt a little annoyance she might have called jealousy if she were inclined to that sort of thing.

  "He looks like an Obosian." The captain pursed her lips. "At my last briefing, CPU Command gave us a rundown on rumors of two more species. As I recall, the inhabitants of Obos are sentient, sophisticated, and peaceful, unless provoked; then they're lethal."

  Just then, the door swished open and a larger lizard creature stepped just inside. The guards seemed to trip on themselves attending to him. He grunted, pointed at her and left.

  The other two moved to her cage and pulled her out.

  Keri began to object, but Grace gave a quick shake of her head. The captain might as well let Grace figure out the score and let Keri be in reserve for Tina and any other crew who might be somewhere on the ship.

  Keri just muttered. "Remember SERE."

  Right. Long ago training in Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape. She recalled being somewhat dubious of a few recommendations: remain professional, have faith in your government, yada yada yada.

  Each guard grabbed an arm and roughly prodded her down the hall toward the exit. As she passed the cage with the silver hulk, his golden eyes met hers and they no longer looked dumb and empty. She could see they were filled with concern.

  Grace scanned the ship as they muscled her down to a
small cabin on the left. She wasn't familiar with the type of ship, but it didn't look shiny and new.

  It also didn't look shipshape. There was an unsecured weapon next to a half-eaten plate of food and the guards had to maneuver around random cargo containers cluttering the hallway.

  The creatures pushed her down into a seat in front of a table where the big lizard dude sat on the other side.

  "What are you?" His speech was thick and guttural.

  "So, you do speak Intergalactic."

  He leaned forward with menace. "You will answer."

  Hmmm. What to say. " I'm an officer from the Consolidated Planetary Union. And you are violating our rights." And she seriously doubted CPU would care that an insignificant and rather troublesome vessel in their fleet had gone missing.

  "No rights." The lizard's red eyes got a little brighter. "What are you?"

  "I'm Commander Grace Summers from Earth. Human. And part of the planetary alliance with the Viri and the Lao." And they'll be so happy I am no longer going to be flooding them with legal briefs and appeals.

  "This means nothing to me."

  "Who are you?" Grace tried to remember her training. She was certain she'd barely passed the quiz on de-escalation strategies with captors. As she recalled, telling them to go fuck themselves had not been the right answer.

  "You've got a really impressive ship," Grace said. Lying seemed a better strategy.

  "We are Vermian. I am Captain Thain'a. The Kruvon is my ship."

  Okay. Flattery seemed to be working. So perhaps a little challenge was in order. "So. Captain Thain'a. You fired on our ship."

  "No." He flipped that blue tongue of his around his snout. "We find abandoned ship for salvage."

  Okay. Pointing out the captor's violation of all known planetary conventions had probably not been the right answer on the SERE test, either.

  "And," his eyes flashed, "aliens not of our space sector we take for valuable slaves. I ask again. What are you? How strong? How often babies?"