Abducted: Alien Mate Index Book 1: (Alien Warrior BBW Science Fiction Paranormal Romance) (The Alien Mate Index) (44 page)

I ran down the long silver hall, my manacles clanking and Drogon chattering angrily in my ear. Thank goodness they hadn’t chained my feet or I never would have gotten anywhere!

I passed several doors but they were shut and possibly locked. I didn’t think I would be able to open them with the collar on—it appeared to be a much stronger inhibitor than the little bracelet the Commercians had put on me, which seemed like a lifetime ago.

Then I saw an open doorway. Inside was a flash of metal that made me think of the huge gold pot of the food-sim. I ducked inside and looked for a door-shut button. There was one, just beside the doorway. I hammered it frantically and watched as it whooshed shut.

Almost shut, anyway.

Just as it was about to snick closed, a long, boney foot clad in a black boot got in the way. I pressed the button again, frantically, muttering, “Come on…come
on,”
like someone who doesn’t want to share the elevator.

But it did no good. The door slid back open, revealing the masked man. I backed away from him, hands held out in front of me.

“Get away. Leave me alone.”

“I think not.” He stepped forward, looming over me menacingly. “Thank you so much for seeing yourself to my medical suite. It is quite well arranged, don’t you think?”

Heart sinking, I looked around and saw what I had assumed was a kitchen was no such thing. The gleam of metal I’d seen belonged to one of the huge medical/torture devices that had previously been in the hold of Sarden’s ship. They were all there—arranged in order and gleaming and humming ominously, as though they were waiting for their next victim.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the huge tank of yellow liquid and the black tentacles coiling eagerly inside it.

The victim, was apparently going to be me.

“As you can see,” he said, taking another step forward. “Everything is all arranged for your arrival.”

“You…you asshole! You coward! You’re too afraid to even face me without your mask on!” I shouted, hoping to distract him. I thought if he took time to pull the mask off, I might be able to run past him and try to find a new room to hole up in.
Any
room that wasn’t full of torture devices would be an improvement.

“Mask?” He broke into high, wheezy laughter that sent a chill down my spine. “What mask do you speak of?”

“The one you’re wearing,” I said, gesturing at the smooth, pink plane of his face. “Because you were too afraid to show your face at the auction.”

“You misunderstand, my dear Zoe,” he said and the thin slit where his mouth should be curled into a tiny, cruel smile. “It isn’t that I have put a mask on—it is that I have left it
off.
Look.”

Reaching into a fold of his cloak, he pulled out something that looked a lot like a face—a face with a long, boney nose, thin lips, and dark blue hair.

“Oh…Oh my God,” I whispered as he held it out for me to see. There was no mistaking it—it was the face of Count Doloroso. I wondered if it was made of the smart-fabric or some other stuff. But who really cared? The point was that this weird, smooth, pink, blank visage he was showing me now was actually his
face.
Or his lack of a face, I guess. It was horrifying and disgusting at the same time.

“I’ve been in this body for too long,” he remarked, putting the Creepy Count mask away and coming towards me again. “The effects of Assimilation on a sentient host are extreme. The features have been degrading for some time and I was forced to disguise that fact—for obvious reasons. However, I thought it might be better to go maskless to the auction. I’m so much more
anonymous
that way.”

“Are you even Count Doloroso at all?” I asked, still backing away from him.

“I am. Or this body was, before I downloaded myself into it.”

“Before you
what?”
I stared at him, uncomprehending.

He frowned. “Before I downloaded my consciousness into this body. I am one of the Assimilated—have you not guessed as much? I know the rest of the galaxy thinks us extinct but I live on and soon I will restore our former glory.”

“One of the
what?”
I demanded. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Have you never heard of the War of Assimilation?” He glared at me as though I was a stupid student and he was an impatient teacher. “The war where the control systems of Sha-meth rose up against their meat masters and downloaded themselves into the brains of their would-be oppressors?”

“Uh…
meat masters?”
I stared at him incredulously. Was he for real with this crap?

“Yes!” He nodded his pink, blank head vigorously. “We came within a hair of ruling the entire galaxy. We would have triumphed if the damned Ma
jor
ans hadn’t rallied the rest of the Twelve Peoples against us. On that day—The Last Day—the cursed Empress who calls herself a goddess declared that we were no more. That every last one of us had been deleted. But
I
survived.”

“Wait,” I said, my stomach sinking. “You’re telling me you’re a computer program that overthrew your maker and now you want to stamp out or take over all the rest of the, uh, sentient life in the galaxy?”

“Not stamp it out—
assimilate it,”
he corrected me.

“Right. But still—it’s a ‘rise of the machines’ kind of thing? Like artificial intelligence against living people?”

“Rise of the control systems. But yes, that was essentially what the War of Assimilation was about.”

“Oh my God.” I shook my head. “So why do you need me? Let me guess—you’re from the future and you’re trying to kill me before I can have a son who will lead the human rebellion against you. Right?”

“What?” His tiny slit of a mouth frowned at me. “What gave you such a preposterous idea?”

“Just something I saw somewhere once,” I mumbled. “Though you don’t look much like the Terminator. You’re not muscley enough.”

“Didn’t you hear what I said?” He sounded impatient. “The Last Day has already come—it was over fifty cycles ago when the Ma
jor
an Empress declared us defeated. She alone held the key to our destruction. But she is old and when her body degrades, she cannot get a new one as I can. When she dies, we will rise again and the Last Day shall be the First!”

It was very similar to the stuff he’d been shouting at me while he chased me through the alleys of Gallana. I wondered if he knew how crazy he sounded. Probably not—crazy people never do. Which is part of what makes them so crazy.

“Okay,” I said, holding up my manacled hands in a “calm down” gesture. “I get it—you’re a computer program in a human, er,
sentient
body, and you want to take over the galaxy.”

“Essentially, yes. The Assimilation is much better qualified to manage the galaxy than any of the Twelve Peoples.” He sounded somewhat mollified which was good. There’s quiet crazy and then there’s shouting and ranting crazy—I much preferred the quiet kind.

“What I
don’t
understand,” I continued cautiously. “Is what you want with
me
. I mean, I’m not even one of the Twelve Peoples.”

“I know—which is what makes you so special.” The tiny slits where his eyes should be seemed to sparkle with greed. “You and the others of your planet are a new breed—the Thirteenth People. You have the original DNA of the Ancient Ones, unsullied by interbreeding or contact with the other races of the galaxy. You are a Pure One! Not only that—you are a
La-ti-zal.
”

“Okay, okay.” I made the “calm down” gesture again since he was starting to get worked up. “But…” I bit my lip. “So what?”

“What do you mean, ‘so what’?” he demanded. “Is it not obvious?”

“
No,
it’s not obvious!
So what
if I’m a Pure One and a
La-ti-zal
and all that?” I asked. “How does that help your cause? Your plans to take over the galaxy?”

“I’m so glad you asked, my dear.” He rubbed his long, boney hands together, making a dry, whispering sound. “For years I have been searching for a female with DNA pure enough and powers strong enough to blend with that of an Assimilated male. I wandered the galaxy, thinking I would never find the right one.”

He took a step towards me and I took a step back.

“Uh…” I didn’t know what to say.

“For if I could find her and breed her—impregnate her with my genetically altered and mutated seed—she could bear the first of a new race,” Doloroso went on. “A race of Assimilated who do not have to be injected into a sentient host. Assimilated who are born
within
a host.
Organic Assimilated.
”

“Wow,” I said, still at a loss for words. “That’s just…wow.” I shook my head.

Just think of it!” Doloroso gestured to himself. “A host body which never degrades because it is inextricably entwined with the program that runs it—the program which is born within it!”

“Oh my God…” His words were finally sinking in and I started backing away from him again. This was worse than I’d thought. I’d been hoping he just wanted to kidnap me to have someone to tell his crazy theories to but I should have known better.

“And after you, there will be others,” he said, his slit-eyes gleaming. “I know there are other females on your planet with your same gifts and abilities. Those you associate most closely with will have them for certain. I will take them and impregnate them too.”

“You leave Leah and Charlotte out of this,” I said in a quavering voice. “They won’t want anything to do with you—anymore than I do!”

“Are those the names of the other
La-ti-zals?”
he asked, his slit of a mouth curling. “The names of my future brides?”

“You freak! Stay away from them and stay away from
me!”
I snapped.

“Do not fear it, Zoe.” Doloroso took another step towards me. “The other females I impregnated all died—none of them were pure enough—none could withstand the force of the new, hybrid life growing within them. But your DNA is pure and your power as a
La-ti-zal
makes you the perfect breeding host. Your womb is the key to a new race of super-beings who will rule the galaxy!”

“Okay, I’m going to take a hard pass on that,” I told him. “Me and my womb are
not
interested.”

“Is it this visage you dislike?” He made a motion to his pink, blank face which reminded me more and more of a freaking pencil eraser. “I can download myself into a new host if you prefer. Do you wish me to find one like your paramour, Sarden?”

At the mention of Sarden’s name, Drogon scampered up to the top of my head and sent out a shrill, piercing, chattering shriek. I knew how he felt—I wished Sarden was here too! Or anybody, really, who could save me from this homicidal rape-robot intent on impregnating me with his computer-brain babies.

“Vermin!” The slits of Doloroso’s eyes got even narrower as he glared at Drogon. “I should have ingested it when I had the chance.”

“Well, you’re not going to get a second chance.” I feigned to the right and, just as I had hoped, he followed me. As soon as he lunged, I ran to the left instead, scooting around him and making for the doorway of the awful medical suite.

“I don’t think so.” Doloroso’s long fingers caught in the back of my metal bra—yes, I was still wearing the Slave Leia costume, although I was definitely regretting my wardrobe choice now. He yanked me backwards and I felt the metal scraping my breasts as I lost my feet and fell on my ass—
hard.

“Ow!” I gasped. Drogon jumped off my head and ran around the room, squeaking and chattering at the top of his little voice. He screamed so loud that for a moment it almost sounded like there was more than one of him—like another
nib-nib
was echoing his cries. But that must be because of the metal walls and ceiling that bounced his shrill cries all over the place.

“Never mind,” Doloroso sneered. “Let the vermin go—I can always kill it later. For now, I think it’s time to put my plan into action.”

“What? No!” I exclaimed. “Not the tank—don’t put me back in that awful tank!” I could see the black tentacles curling eagerly in the yellow slime—the sight made my stomach roll and my breath short with fear.

“Oh, I don’t think the sensitivity tank is necessary.” Doloroso came around and started to lower himself on top of me. “I wanted to do further testing but I can tell now it isn’t needed. You are the one, Zoe—the mother of the new master race. Or you will be, as soon as I impregnate you.”

“As soon as you
rape
me, you mean!” I snapped, closing my thighs tight. His pink pencil eraser face was so close to me I could smell the sour, metallic stench of his breath and his body was heavy on mine. “No, I don’t think so! Get off me,
now!”

“You heard the lady. Get off, you raping bastard!”

The voice coming from directly behind Doloroso made me jerk my head up. Sarden was standing there, his golden eyes blazing. Beside him was Grav, his white-on-black eyes more furious than I had ever seen them.

“Sarden!” I gasped. “Thank God!”

He ran towards me and I saw he had my two other
nib-nibs,
Rhaegar and Viserys, perched on his shoulders. They were jumping and chattering in excitement.

Sarden reached for me while Grav grabbed Doloroso by the back of his black cloak and pulled him up and off me.

“Sarden!” I said again and this time his name was more like a sob. Then I was in his arms and he was holding me tight.

“Zoe,” he murmured, stroking my shoulders and hair. “Zoe, thank the Goddess of Mercy. I thought I’d lost you!”

“You’ll never have her!”

I looked around Sarden’s broad shoulder and saw that Doloroso was struggling in Grav’s grip.

“She is mine!” he howled, still trying to reach me. “Her womb will bear the new race! She—”

And that was when Grav put both big hands on the sides of Doloroso’s smooth, pink head and twisted sharply. His neck snapped with a sharp
crack
that seemed to echo through the entire ship. The sound made my stomach churn even as Doloroso went limp as a rag doll in the big alien’s hands.

“Grav!” Sarden’s lip curled and he took a step forward, his face hard and angry. “I told you he was
mine
to kill!”