Marauder Cygnus: A Scifi Alien Shifter Romance (Mating Wars Book 1) (10 page)

T
he nerve
! Does he really think I’m going to have sex with him after pulling a stunt like that?

Just when I thought that the insufferable alien had learned his lesson, he shoved me into a cargo hold. It’s much worse than when he locked me in the airlock. At least that was on my own ship, and it was well lit, and there was enough space that I didn’t have to curl up into a fetal position.

I’m back on the buggy now, and the cold Martian air is biting into me as we bump up and down along the lip of the crater. I’m in the backseat with Jin, and Cygnus is trying his best to slouch down in the front seat. He looks like Olympus Mons trying to pass as Mount Everest.

He turns back to speak to us. “Jin, please trade places with me. I will sit beside my lifemate.”

Jin nods, and jumps into the front, and Cygnus takes his old place beside me. He looks at me, but I can’t see through his faceplate. Does he know I’m mad at him, or is he oblivious? Which is worse?

I nod to him, and he reaches into his coat. He removes a few sticks of jerky and holds them out to me.

I take one and lift my facemask just long enough to eat it.

Cygnus takes five sticks and munches them down before I can even finish one.

He puts an arm around me when he finishes eating, and I lean into him. It’s hard to stay mad at him. I know he’s just trying to protect me, and if we keep at it the way we are, I really will be pregnant with his child before long if I’m not already.

“Sorry you didn’t get to sample any of the food in the city,” I say to him. “If we can stop the war, things will cool down and we’ll be able to try it.”

“Of all human things,” Cygnus says, “you are my favorite, Aura. Human food, however, is my second favorite. I look forward to this.”

* * *

W
e switch
to the hidden buggy and part ways with Trang, who continues back onto the road alone.

Cygnus falls asleep sitting up, so I move to the front with Jin and let Cygnus sprawl out along the back bench to get some real rest.

Jin drives along in what feels like a random direction. There are no roads or tire tracks, and it feels as if he’s simply driving us into oblivion. I keep waiting for him to stop and tell us that we’re lost, but every time I ask him, he says we are on track.

I finally give up worrying and try to catch some shuteye myself.

I wake up to find the buggy slowing down by a heap of rocks.

“We’re here,” Jin says.

He jumps off the buggy and hits Cygnus on the shoulder.

Cygnus jolts upright and removes the gun from his coat. He points the gun at him, but then remembers who he is and lowers the weapon.

“The entrance to our base is through these rocks,” Jin says. “I didn’t want to risk sending even an encrypted message, so no one knows yet that Aegus’s brother is here. They’re going to be pretty excited, so brace yourselves.”

He pulls out a small device, presses a button, and a rust-colored tarp explodes outward. Cygnus grabs the other end, and the two of them put the tarp over the buggy, and ruffle it around until it looks somewhat like the natural surroundings.

“It’s mostly to throw off the satellites and habitats, but now with pirates coming into orbit soon, it will do double duty.”

“Is my brother seen as a criminal by the habitats?” Cygnus asks.

“No,” Jin says. “He’s been smart. He doesn’t have us attack anyone, raid anything...he just slowly recruits people, and most outsiders think the Prophet isn’t even real. The only real indication he’s real is when people suddenly disappear to go join us here.”

It sounds great: being tucked away safe underground with friends and keeping a low-profile. I wish we could do that so that I could have some quiet time together with Cygnus.

“He’s smart,” Cygnus says, “but no coward. We will need to take action soon, and that may mean revealing ourselves.”

Jin nods.

“Do we?” I ask. “What if we just lay low? They have a bounty out on Cygnus and me, but if no one sees us for over a year, surely interest will die down.”

“No,” Jin says. “They want to kill him to silence him. If he disappears and our message grows and gets louder, they’ll know he’s involved. We were getting ready to ramp up, and Cygnus’s arrival only gives us more reason to do so. The Marauder fleet is only ten years away now. We have little time.”

I sigh. It was a tempting thought, to live a quiet life in hiding, but if I’m really going to have children with this alien, I need to think about giving them a real future. Cygnus is in a unique position to stop an invasion and a war, and I need to help him achieve that.

Jin pulls back another rusty tarp, and there in front of us is a metal airlock door. He slams it with his fist in staggered rhythm, and a few moments later the hatch wheel starts to turn.

The hatch pops open, and a woman in a long coat and facemask nods to Jin.

We step down a few stairs onto a clearing with another hatch, and Jin shuts the outside hatch.

Jin jumps down the steps, then leans in close to the woman. “We have a visitor, and everyone will want to see him. Have everyone gather in the dining hall. I’m bringing him in for introductions.”

Cygnus nods to the woman. He throws back his hood, and his purple ears perk up. Then he pulls off his facemask.

The woman jumps back in surprise, and takes her mask off as well.

She has dark features and short-cropped hair, and her dark-brown eyes are wide. “It’s...it’s not the Prophet!”

“I’m his brother, Cygnus.”

Cygnus reaches a hand out, but rather than shaking his hand, the woman falls to her knees and bows her head.

“Mira,” Jin says. “It’s fine; stand up.”

Jin looks back at me and whispers, “She’s one of the more religious ones.”

She stands slowly, but keeps her head bowed. It seems as if she’s afraid to make eye contact with Cygnus.

“Welcome...brother of the Prophet,” she says.

W
e’re standing
in the kitchen, and all of my brother’s followers are gathered just beyond the door, waiting to see me. To hear me speak.

I decide that I will just introduce myself and Aura. I don’t know what Aegus has planned, and I don’t think it wise to risk contradicting him. My first concern is protecting Aura, and if I upset these people, I can’t risk that they throw us out onto the surface of the red planet.

“All right,” Jin says, coming back into the kitchen. “They’re ready to see you.”

I take Aura by the hand and walk through the door into the large dining hall.

There are over one hundred people gathered around, and at least half of them fall immediately to their knees. They bow to me like Mira did. I can’t imagine that Aegus would have encouraged this kind of behavior, but if he thought it necessary to exploit the humans’ religious nature to help prevent the war...then maybe he would have resorted to this.

“Please stand,” I say. “I am Cygnus.”

They all look to each other, and I can hear them saying my name, whispering it across the room.

“Cygnus…Cygnus...Cygnus
…,” they chant.

Odd indeed. Before I found my lifemate, I might have basked in such worship, but now I live only to please her and our future children.

“I am a simple warrior,” I shout, cutting them off. “Whatever my brother has taught you holds true. I come here to support him, but I bring with me my lifemate. And she is pregnant with my child!”

I shove her forward. “This is Aura. Welcome her. Please!”

They all start cheering and clapping, but Aura looks up at me with a bright red face. This is not the shame debt color of red, but rather the color of anger. I think hard, but cannot understand why she would be angry with me.

“Aura...Aura...Aura…,”
they whisper in another chant.

“The introduction is over now,” I say. “I look forward to meeting the rest of you one by one. I also kindly ask that you be aware of my increased caloric needs as my bio-suit grows. Aura also will require extra food as she is eating for two. Please!”

I nod my head and pull Aura away with me. I want to go back to find Jin, but we are soon surrounded by people.

“What will you name the child?” a woman asks. “Do you have any cousins on the fleet? Do you think they’d like me?”

I’m tempted to shove everyone out of the way. To clear a path like I did back in the city, but those were strangers. These people are meant to be our friends, so I know I need to be less aggressive. Shoving will not do.

I grab the woman, lift her up, and place her down behind me. “Come, Aura.”

I whisk her through the door of the kitchen, and the kitchen door acts as a chokepoint, which Jin thankfully blocks off for us. He puts his back to the door and faces us.

“Okay,” he says. “Good job, I guess. Aegus had the same awkward and terse style when we first woke him from hibernation. You probably reminded everyone of that, which can play in our favor. Was that intentional?”

I feel very confused, and I tilt my head and waggle my ears.

“No,” Aura says. “He’s naturally abrasive and terse and awkward.”

I look at Aura, a perplexed frown on my face. Now I’m even more confused, but Aura won’t look at me, so I look to Jin for clarification.

“Aegus’s travelling to Earth,” Jin says. “He left me in charge of the Mars operation.”

“I trust his decision,” I say. “You seem to be a good leader. I ask for no special treatment aside from the extra rations for our child.”

“Cygnus,” Jin says. “I can’t be leader now. Not with you here.”

“I don’t understand,” I say.

Aura scoffs and rolls her eyes.

“Did you see how they reacted to you? If I make a tough decision, or have to do something unpopular, they will go to you.”

“If I’m to lead,” I say, “it will be because I’ve earned it. Not because of my brother’s actions. I refuse. The Marauders do not have royal bloodlines.”

“It’s not your brother,” Jin says. “It’s your race.”

“Oh, that’s a whole lot better,” Aura says sarcastically.

“The whole point of this,” Jin says, “and the thing they all believe in, is peaceful co-existence with your race. Humans have been alone in the universe for our whole history. We’ve lived alone on one planet for tens of thousands of years, and only in the past few hundred years have we expanded to three planets—four if you count the moon—but we’ve still been just one lonely race. And no matter how far we expand, we’d still feel alone.”

“As soon as we fired our drives to break, you knew you weren’t alone,” I say. “It’s not logical to place greater importance onto me when there is a fleet of millions coming toward you.”

Aura cuts in. “Look, Cygnus. When those drives turned on, we were terrified. Thrilled, yes, but terrified. We had no idea why you were coming for us. We knew you were more advanced than us, that’s it. It’s why there’s a war between Earth and Mars-Venus. So seeing you here, in the flesh, with your goofy bear ears and awkward request for extra food, you put a face on the invasion. They know it’s not all bad now.”

“And you feel the same?” I ask her.

She grabs my hand, and I feel huge relief that she no longer seems angry with me. “I know you’re all good. But you’re the second one they’ve ever seen. If you don’t show that you’re strong, they may think your brother is a fluke. You need to live up to their expectations. You need to lead.”

If Aura wants me to lead, I will lead.

“I understand,” I say. “Jin, you will show me what is needed to lead.”

* * *

L
eading humans is difficult
. They are weaker and more fragile than Marauders, and much more needy. The humans have not discovered how to synthesize nutrients or convert antimatter to digestible calories, which means a huge quantity of labor and manpower is dedicated to farming.

“The intake fan is busted,” Jin tells me. “So the dome’s not going to get enough CO
₂
if we don’t fix it.”

I squint at him, and then at Aura. She shrugs.

“Well,” I say, “put a hole in the dome to let CO
₂
in.”

“Then the plants will freeze,” Aura says.

“Yeah,” Jin says. “Or we’ll use up half the power by keeping it heated with a leak.” He rolls his eyes.

“A small hole,” I say.

“Cygnus,” Aura says, hitting me. “Jin isn’t asking you for advice on farming, he’s trying to tell you that we need to authorize a trade.”

Jin smiles and nods.

“You’re lucky that Aura can advise me as I lead,” I say, “or we would all starve and perish.”

Jin laughs.

“You realize,” I say, “that if we were to simply raid some travelers, we wouldn’t need to farm a surplus. In ten minutes, I raided a whole field’s worth of weapons.”

“Cygnus,” Aura explains patiently, “then we risk becoming a target. And the pirates who want you dead are swarming all over the surface. Be smart.”

I’ve been in charge for one week now. They’ve tried to contact Aegus to let him know I’m here, but he’s gone dark, and it’s impossible to get a message to him.

There’s a loud pounding at the door, and Aura opens it.

Mira rushes in, then falls to the ground to bow at my feet. It feels less uncomfortable to me now when people bow to me. I work hard to rule, and it shows they respect me.

“Great Brother Cygnus,” she says. “The pirates have taken Rust Bucket.”

I stand up. I try to recall how many operatives we have in the city, and their names.

“Trang’s crew is there,” I say. “Eight of them?”

“Yeah,” Jin says. “They’re good, they can probably get out before—”

“No,” Mira interrupts, in a panicked voice. “They were captured.”

“Trang won’t give us up,” Jin says.

“We’ll send a rescue team,” I say. “I’ll lead it.”

They give me uneasy looks, and Aura grabs my hand. “I’ll go with you,” she says. “Trang helped me, and I owe—”

“You will stay safe here.” I say. “Great Brother Cygnus has spoken!”

I say that to anger her, and it works. If she’s angry, she’ll be less likely to make a sound argument for joining me.

“We’re getting a message,” someone shouts, running into the room to join us. “It’s for Great Brother Cygnus.”

We pull up a screen, and it’s filled by Scorpio’s scarred face. He’s taken to wearing an eyepatch.

“Hey, you purple fuck,” he snarls.

“Is this live?” I ask, when Scorpio stops speaking.

“Damn right it is!” Scorpio says. “I’ve got you by your teal balls now. What are you going to do?”

I wait for him to continue. I’m aware of this type of tactic. He wants to make me angry so that I will argue less effectively.

“Nothing to say?” he asks. “Well, actions speak louder than words, huh? I’ve got your trading crew here. They’re not gonna’ have a fun time with me. The whole city is going to have a bad time, in fact. Unless you turn yourself over to me.”

“I thought you wanted to kill me,” I say.

“Yeah, that was my first thought. But then I realized I’m already rich, and even though the bounty on you and your girl is quite fat, there’s something I want more.”

I wiggle my ears, waiting for him to get on with it.

“I want to be able to transform into a fucking bear! My scientists think they can figure it out if they get you on the operating table. Give yourself up, and I’ll spare your girl.”

“I don’t like this deal,” I say. “I can keep my mate safe. Take your threats elsewhere.”

I turn off the screen.

“Jin,” I bark. “We will assemble a small team to rescue Trang’s crew. We’ll get in and out fast. We’ll need a second team to set up some kind of diversion outside. I will create the diversion, you will infiltrate the city.”

We begin planning. But an hour later, we receive a new message. It’s not live this time, it’s pre-recorded.

It shows Trang and his whole crew on what appears to be the top of a mountain. They are without masks, and handcuffed. The camera pans down, and I realize they’re on the top of the crater, outside the dome.

Scorpio pulls off his facemask long enough to smile, and then signals with his hand.

Several pirates shove Trang and each member of the crew. The camera points down, and I watch each one of our friends roll down the steep incline. Some die on rocks, others are badly hurt, and even those who survive the fall will eventually die from the lack of oxygen.

“Every hour,” Scorpio says, “ten more people are going down the crater. Get your purple ass over here if you want to stop it.”