Gigi (2 page)

She kept a calm façade as he bent, giving her a passionate kiss. Bile rose in her throat. His touch repulsed her, and he knew it. He increased the pressure on her lips, letting her know how much he relished hurting her.

“Davide, great reception. It’s one of the best yet,” Gustav exclaimed, thrusting a glass of champagne in her husband’s face. “Here, let’s drink to a wonderful performance and evening.”

“This is our cue to leave, sweetie.” Melissa leaned over and whispered into her ear.

They left the party, but never made it to the private hangar. Gigi asked Gustav to cancel the flight. She wanted to spend a quiet weekend watching movies and riding. Melissa and Gustav covered for her all the time when she wanted to be alone.

Davide’s new flame should keep him busy for the next few days. As long as she called him twice every day, she’d be in the clear. Gigi decided to spend the night with her friends since it was late. She’d leave early Saturday morning when there would be less traffic.

All her plans had shattered the minute she’d entered her house. Her beloved childhood memories were now forever tainted. Davide had turned her refuge into a house of horrors. She held back her tears and reached for her phone. Her hands and sweater were splattered with blood.

Gigi looked at them for what seemed like an eternity. The only thing that worried her was her dear godparents’ reactions. She needed to call Gustav, warn him to stay away from it all. The old couple didn’t deserve to be involved in this horrible turn of events. If she were arrested or the police didn’t believe her, she’d refuse to see them. It was for the best.

“9-1-1, what is your emergency?”

“I need the police… I…the gun went off. My husband was shot.”

“Is he conscious? Can I speak with him?”

“Send the police. He’s dead. I shot him.”Dry sobs racked her, making it harder to speak. “It was an accident. I just wanted him to stop beating me. I thought it’d scare him off,” she managed to get out, doubling over, dry heaving.

“Ma’am, what’s your address? Stay…everything is going to be all right. Please stay on the line.”

The dispatcher tried to calm her, but Gigi kept sobbing hysterically. Her initial shock was wearing off. Would she have killed him if she had the chance? The gun went off accidentally yes, but she’d been holding it. Had she picked it up with the intention of killing him? No, no, she’d just wanted him to back off. That was the truth…or was it? She was so confused and tired. Her face hurt. There had to be a bruise.

“What’s your name?” the operator asked in a calm voice.

“Gigi.”

“Gigi, listen to me. I’m going to stay with you. You…check his pulse. See if he has one. Can you do that for me?”

“No, I can’t.”

“Yes, you can…just place your fingers on his neck…”

“No, please listen to me. I can’t do it.”

“Why, Gigi? Why…pulse?”

“I’m not there anymore. You can find me at the glen two miles from the house.”

“…hear you…there…hello…?”

“Yes.”

“Can you…me…Gigi? Can you…me…happen?”

“I came home to find the body of a girl in my basement. He’d tortured and killed her. I confronted him and he beat me. I picked up a gun, but he twisted my hand and broke my wrist. It went off. Forgive me, Lord…thou shall not kill…”She rambled, but there was no one to listen. The line was dead. The signal was lost. She was probably out of range.

There was a little village about four miles north. She’d rather go there than return to the cottage. Someone might be able to call the police for her. Gigi climbed back onto Willow, then turned the mare north when something caught her eyes.

Gigi looked up to see a brilliant flash in the sky. It came her way at an alarming speed.
Sweet Lord, you’ve sent demons to punish me. I accept my fate, Lord. Please take care of Melissa and Gustav
. The thought had scarcely left her mind when a warm light surrounded her. A dark form appeared in the middle.

Fear held her in a tight grip, paralyzing her extremities. Willow stood still as the form drew closer. It looked like a spawn from hell. This was her fate. The rational part of her accepted it. Instinct, especially the fight or flight, told her differently.
Get away now
, it told her. Her legs refused to move. Her mouth opened and closed, but she couldn’t scream. Gigi was lifted off Willow, floating up to the strange light. She was like a puppet with invisible strings dragging her to hell.

The demon came closer, looking at her with his strange dead eyes.
He’s taking me to hell where I’ll be tortured forever
. Regret for things left undone filled her. So much she’d never experienced…her champion would never rescue her atop a big steed.

Chapter Two

Little Blue Planet

T’zaal approached the unremarkable tiny blue planet determined to prove his theories were right. No one wanted to explore the world, because, even though it was the only one with life signs in the system, it was too small. The other planets were either dead rocks or giant gas planets. Not this one. It teemed with life.

 The commander ordered most of the scouts to one of the gas planet’s many moons to look for ore. He’d demanded a small part of the scout ships be spared to check the planet, arguing they needed live specimens for feeding. Grudgingly, the arrogant head of tactics had agreed, insisting on a quick sweep and grab of larger specimens. He’d been on his way to the scout ship bay when Zu’thro had intercepted him.

“Where do you think you’re going, Science Officer T’zaal?”

“I’m going to the blue planet. There are some readings I must take a closer look at.”

“You’ll remain on board this cruiser and allow the true warriors to gather specimens.”

“I’ve no intention of interfering, but I must take a closer look at these readings. This planet has artificial satellites, a clear indication of a more advanced civilization than I previously thought. I must determine how much.”

“This planet is just a small pebble. What difference does it makes if they have technology? They’re no match for the Kreeh-noshian Empire.”

“It matters to a scientist, because we need technologically advanced races to study. The small planet might prove of use yet.”

“I doubt it, but by all means go ahead and take your readings. You have three hours.”

“That’s not enough time. I need more than that to calibrate my instruments—”

“Then I suggest you depart immediately. If you’re not back in three hours, I’ll leave you behind.”

T’zaal hated to submit to the whims of the military. They were just the brute force behind the empire. Without them, the scientists wouldn’t be able to survive, because they were smaller than common warriors. Another setback was the fact that as a race the Kreeh-nosh distrusted each other. Case in point, the science ship was under military command.

No other colony knew about the wormhole experiment. It was a closely guarded secret hidden inside the Glon
Nebula. Kreeh-noshians were divided into colonies. Each had an overlord, and it was up to him which information should be shared with the rest. He didn’t need the unwanted attention. There was time for revenge later. T’zaal headed for a scout ship.

The information he’d gathered on the planet was so much he’d programmed a separate module to handle it. Judging from preliminary observation, the dominant race thought they were alone in the universe. They hadn’t made it out of their star system. Their only successful expedition had been to their moon. Other planets had been explored remotely with unmanned crafts. They were naïve, but certainly on the verge of breaking out of their little corner.

He waved his claw-like hand and accessed the planet’s information on their inhabitants. Impossibly, these people were genetically similar to the Pendo’rahns. The only different was their size and some minor variations. While Pendo’rahns were tall, homogenous in their appearance, these beings varied in skin, eye and hair color. They were also extremely belligerent, judging by the amount of conflicts he’d witnessed.

T’zaal was interested enough he’d narrowed his search parameters to females only. They were so different yet so alike to the Pendo’rahn females. They came in all colors and shapes. Some resembled the female warriors, but for the most part they were small and frail.

He prepared to enter the atmosphere, then located a sparsely populated area in one of the dominant countries. He based his decision on the fact most of the information he’d gathered was in a language called English. He uploaded the language, syncing it to the onboard translators. He wanted to communicate with his subjects as soon as possible.

He’d just reached a wooded area containing a female life sign when the red alert activated. The wormhole was collapsing. Pendo’rahns engaged their science ship on the other side. T’zaal knew he had to grab the female in a hard swoop. There was no time to waste. His only viable specimen might not survive the transport process.

The female rode atop a large animal. Pity he hadn’t time to gather the beast. He was starving, but his mission was more important than hunger. He had great plans for her, if she survived. At last there was the chance to prove his theories. He’d always argued the bio weapon used on Pendo’rah made the females better warriors. Without the distraction of passion, they’d become more aggressive. He planned to use this female as a template to restore their sex drive.

For years, he’d been the laughingstock of his colony. No one respected his research or his unconventional views. Soon he’d prove everyone wrong when he unleashed his chemical weapon. Long story short, T’zaal bet biology rather than arms would be their downfall.

It went better than expected. No one spotted the ship. Their detection methods were at least two hundred years behind. The female was now submerged in gly-urq. Unfortunately, when he returned to the rendezvous point the cruiser and scout ships had been destroyed by the Pendo’rahns.

The wormhole had become unstable. He maneuvered the ship to coincide with the Pendo’rahn cruisers reentry. Luck was on his side. After the cruisers initiated interlocking procedures, it gave him a chance to slip by unnoticed.

On the other side things weren’t better. Everything was gone. The colony and most of his research was now debris inside the nebula. Self-destruction was the preferred choice when a colony was about to be boarded. The overlords often sacrificed the entire ship rather than become prisoners. He was now more determined to find a way to defeat his enemy.

T’zaal recalibrated the ship’s sensors and looked for a particular piece of equipment. This one was cleverly disguised as an escape pod. In reality it was a miniature version of a quantum generator. While the other scientists wanted to build bigger weapons, he perfected small ones. If the overlord had heeded his warnings the colony would still be around.

To protect the pod, he’d programmed it with triple shielding and an independent power source. Even if its power failed, the shield would still be operational. He was counting on it, and wasn’t surprised when the sensors picked up the faint energy signature.

T’zaal maneuvered his scout ship closer, then opened the hatch. He aimed a laser net and pulled the pod inside.
Who’s paranoid now
, he thought, remembering how his colleagues often called him that. After a thorough scan came back clean, he set a course for the badlands.

All he needed now was a male subject to test his theory. He knew exactly where to look. T’zaal was very familiar with his male subject. He was a creature of habit. He needed to channel his aggression. The fight pits were the place for him to do it without calling undue attention to himself.

The badlands were a collection of asteroids on the outer ream of the O’nuryan Galaxy. Some joined together through a hodgepodge of technology. They were mainly mined for their ore, but most of it was depleted. Its sole purpose now was to house the twin galaxies’ most wanted. The hollowed-out caverns contained fight pits, surrogate dens and illegal repositories.

 Soon after the Kreeh-nosh had abandoned the mining operation the scavengers had moved in. They’d turned the belt into a sanctuary for every outlaw, gambler and sociopath around. The prices were high, but the security rivaled the Protectorate’s. If someone wanted to hide and had the credits, the badlands was the place they wanted to go.

The one called Briq visited them frequently, sometimes staying for months. Briq had been both his most successful experiment and shameful failure. He’d finally succeeded combining Briq’s DNA with a reptilian creature from a primordial planet. He’d expected to make him stronger yet subservient. Instead the warrior had become too aggressive and unmanageable.

Years had passed since that shameful incident. What he intended as a lesson in obedience had resulted in the death of over two hundred scientists. It’d taken a long time to rebuild the colony after his escape with another subject. T’zaal had been brought before the colonies tribunal. Since he was a scientist, his life had been spared.

After that incident, overlords had become more distrusting. Scientists’ access was restricted to their facilities. The only reason he’d been at the science ship was because of his expertise in DNA. If their wormhole experiment had been successful, it would have been up to him to gather all the information on the lifeforms from that region of space.

They’d expected to find new untapped resources and races they could either consume or enslave. They’d also needed to find out which ones were compatible with those of the twin galaxies. He’d almost lost the chance when the tactical officer had declared the planet too insignificant.

A week after leaving the nebula, T’zaal arrived at the badlands. It was time for him to remove the specimen from the gly-urq and prepare her for his experiment. The gly-urq
had been programed for the military, to immobilize and keep a prisoner alive. He’d tried to fine tune the readings, but the nanobots inside weren’t set up for the task.

After entering the deactivation command, the alarm beeped. According to the bio-signs she was seriously ill. He couldn’t understand what they meant. Cross referencing her planets medical information he found the cause of the anomaly. The subject had a defective heart.