Gigi (3 page)

The experiment he’d planned could kill her. Working fast, he implanted a translator into the back of her head. It was a new model he’d been developing for some time. T’zaal decided to take as many samples from her as possible. He took tissue and blood, and even from her sex opening. She had a minor break in one arm. The military gly-urq successfully repaired it. He tried to locate her dji’krah and was surprised to find it right next to her slit. That was interesting. Pendo’rahn females had it on their backs.

The female awoke, looking around disoriented. It was a logical reaction. She’d never been away from her planet. She probably thought there was no life outside her little blue ball.

“Earth female, my name is T’zaal. I’m a scientist with the Kreeh-nosh Empire. You’ve been removed from your world to serve our noble cause.”

“Are you taking me to hell? I know my heart is dying, but I’m afraid I can’t repent. What happened to my husband was an accident.”

“You’re aware of your affliction? It’s true your heart is damaged. I don’t know if I can repair it in time to complete my research.”

“I don’t care what happens to me. The Lord knows it was an accident. I didn’t mean to kill Davide. Even if I did, he was evil and dangerous.”

“I don’t know who your lord was. We’re alone on board my space ship. There’s no one else here. I’m your lord now.”

“If you think I’m going to believe we’re in a space ship then think again. There’s no such thing.”

“Oh, but we’re in fact not only in space but in a different galaxy.” T’zaal came face-to-face with the female. Until now he’d been standing out of sight. She looked at him, screamed and tried to get away. The alarm beeped louder. The monitor he’d placed on her indicated her heart was going in to arrest.

Working quickly, he sedated her again. He couldn’t lose his only viable female. He programmed a quick patch to help stabilize her heart. It was only a temporary fix. The nanobot’s capabilities were limited. The sooner he captured Briq the faster he could get to a science facility.

Fixing her heart permanently wouldn’t be difficult, but he needed a fully-equipped lab. Time was running out, and capturing Briq was going to be very difficult. An idea formed in his mind. Why not use the female as bait?

It wasn’t uncommon for slaves or captured prisoners to be offered as prizes. If the pot was rich, anything that proved valuable could be used. T’zaal needed Briq, and a way to get him without arousing suspicion.

The owner of this particular fight pit was a nasty piece of heqriu’l
crap with no ethics. He agreed to offer the female as a prize as soon as Briq entered the arena. T’zaal counted on the smuggler’s sense of honor to kick into high gear.

He dressed the female in a diaphanous gown purchased from a Trac’xian surrogate. For extra credits, she altered the garment to fit the Earth female. T’zaal had had to kill the wretched creature to silence her. He couldn’t risk her talking about the female with her clients. He’d consume her later. It made no sense letting a perfectly good Trac’xian go to waste.

* * * *

Briq maintained a healthy distance between his ship and the nebula. He’d no doubts now the intel he’d sent the Protectorate had been accurate. The Kreeh-noshians were experimenting with wormhole technology, hiding inside the Glon Nebula. He sent the encoded message, using a code known only to him and two other people.

There were few he trusted, and even fewer he called friends. He counted those with the fingers on one hand. In his line of work, trust and friendship were luxuries he didn’t have. His reputation as a smuggler, among other things, was legendary.

Those who didn’t fear him quickly learned their mistake. He played every scenario in his head, planned every contingency. He didn’t take chances, didn’t trust and didn’t feel. Betrayal was met by death, and sometimes a very painful one.

His sensors picked up the
Toq’ma’lal’s
signal the second they entered the sector. The Protectorate armada’s flagship was a very impressive feat of engineering. It was the perfect merging of technologies, and one of the few bio-ships in the armada. The ship had been grown by the Glaxians on their home planet, seamlessly merging with Protectorate technology. This one was specifically design for Pendo’rahns.

Briq’s sensors beeped, picking up an increase in exotic particles. Using his old code, he hacked into the
Toq’ma’lal’s
comm system. He’d learned the Kreeh-nosh had opened a wormhole. It wasn’t big enough yet for the science ship to go through.

Pendo’rahns thought it’d take a couple hours, and by then they could intercept the enemy. Things changed pretty soon after they discovered the Kreeh-nosh’s intentions. The science ship wasn’t going through. They were sending a cruiser. The Pendo’rahns planned an attack, to give one of their own a chance to intercept. If the Kreeh-nosh succeeded, the entire universe could potentially become their playground.

The battle was violent and lasted for hours. After what seemed like an eternity, the science ship auto-destructed rather than surrender. Briq tried desperately to reestablish a lock on communications, but the Pendo’rahns were on high alert. He had no other choice but to settle down and wait.

A search for survivors according to standard protocols yielded nothing. With it completed, a cleaning crew would be dispatched. After two days, the
Toq’ma’lal
moved out, leaving warning beacons behind.

Since there was nothing else he could do, Briq headed for the fight pits in the Ottara System. He needed to make some fast credits. The pits were his best bet. On his way, he’d stop by the Trac’xian home world to pick up Xy.

Xy was one of the few people Briq trusted. The Galadonian prince had dispensed with tradition, opting to reach out to other worlds. Galadonians were very xenophobic, making rare exceptions as far as welcoming outsiders. Xy had been on a diplomatic mission when he’d been captured by the Kreeh-nosh.

The two of them became like brothers on the science ship. For almost two years, they’d endured torture and humiliating medical procedures. Their escape had been violent, filled with all the pent-up rage poisoning their souls. No one had been spared. Briq had ripped his torturers apart. Only one had escaped his wrath, and he was still looking for him.

After his people had rejected him for being a freak, Xy had vowed never to return to his home planet. Roaming the galaxies, taking on anything and everything, they became smugglers, sometimes teaming up on runs. When Xy wasn’t on a run or in the fight pits, he liked to spend time on the Trac’xian home world. He loved the feline race of four-breasted females.

“Briq, you piece of heqriu’l
crap, what’re you doing back so soon? Did you miss me?”

After Xy boarded, he brought him up to speed on the Kreeh-noshian’s success in creating a wormhole. They both agreed alerting the Protectorate had been the right move. Xy had obtained the information from a Trac’xian surrogate. She’d claimed she’d overheard a science officer talk about it during a dh’ram feast hosted by her master.

She’d been horrified by it, and spared because she was one of the planet’s best surrogates. Not all Kreeh-nosh practiced dh’ram, the ritual in which they ingested live specimens. It was believed by doing so they consumed not only the flesh, but their souls too. Some warriors followed this practice, most didn’t. The Kreeh-noshian scientists scoffed at this ancient practice, deeming it superstitious.

“I presume we’re heading for the badland’s fight pits?”

“You presume correctly, my blue friend. How do you feel about earning easy credits?”

“Easy credits and females are the whole purpose of my life.”

“Then you have the helm.”

“Aye, commander.”

“Not anymore, my friend, not in a long time.”

Briq headed for his small cabin. He needed rest, credits and a female, in that order. He hadn’t been with one in a long time. In fact, he avoided contact until it was strictly necessary.

The truth was the Kreeh-nosh had not only altered his outward appearance, they’d changed the person he was. He’d been more disciplined before his capture. He’d controlled his reactions and emotions better than anyone.

Now he battled the rage inside him every step of the way. It was another reason he frequented the pits. No other place afforded him the discharge of angry energy. He’d killed many since his transformation, enjoyed making them suffer. Before the Kreeh-nosh, he’d been the master of his destiny. Now the rage kept him from everything he held dear.

Briq entered his small cabin and walked to the far end of the room. After pulling on a latch, a hidden compartment slid out. He reached in, took out a glass bottle and sat on the platform. He leaned back and brought the bottle up, squirting two drops into each eye.

The effect of the drug was instant, spreading from his head down his body. The feeling of euphoria was quickly followed by one of total peace. Before sinking into oblivion, Briq’s last thought was how he hated the monster he’d become, and the chemical dependency that kept it at bay.

Chapter Three

Briq’s Prize

Gigi came to in a strange place with bright lights shining directly in her eyes. She remembered vaguely the odd sensation before passing out. There was something else that eluded her memory, something she should remember. Still trying to make sense of what happened. She heard a voice. Her first reaction had been resignation. This was her punishment for killing Davide.

A huge shadow fell across her body, blocking the light. The creature, until then only a disembodied voice, came in to full view. She looked at it, remembering the demon she’d seen before everything had faded. This wasn’t possible, not real. She screamed, trying to get off the table and run away.

Next time Gigi woke up in the midst of loud noises and growls. Above her, lights shone bright. She heard the familiar sound of cheers. She couldn’t understand some of the words, but she was surrounded by strange creatures.

Abruptly, the room grew silent. The announcer’s voice seemed to come from all around her.
Was I booked for a show and forgot?
Gigi shook her head, trying to clear it. She remembered something the strange creature had said shortly before she’d passed out.
I’m in another galaxy about to die. Maybe this is the real version of hell. Pity I never knew real love.

“Hear all, our next fight is no holds barred. Winner takes all. To make it more interesting, it’ll be last creature standing. This is a fight to the death. There will be no reprieve granted. So place your bets, sign up for the fight or get the hell out. Oh, one more thing. A good friend has offered a rare creature to sweeten the pot. He assured me this lovely is the only one of its kind. The winner takes her. Yes, you heard me. It’s a female. Let the carnage begin!”

Oh, sweet mother of God. She was to become a prize for the winning demon. Gigi panicked, trying to get up. Guilty or not, she had to get out of this place. She tried to step forward only to have something tighten around her neck.

 Confused, she reached up, noticing the collar for the first time. She took another step, but it squeezed even more. Gasping, she fell to her knees. The more she struggled, the tighter it got.

Too late, she grasped what was happening. Creatures out of a Hollywood movie surrounded her. Some of them had tentacles, others furry bodies, some looked like cats…and so on. Her eyes were drawn to the most fearsome of them. His eyes glowed yellow. His skin had texture like small scales that changed colors. It was his face that surprised her. It looked totally human. She found him attractive in a strange way.

The creatures fought at the pit master’s command, biting, hitting and grunting. Gigi shook in horror, not knowing what to expect. The reptilian warrior was the most aggressive of all, plowing into the crowd of fighters, killing them without any effort.

His eyes took on a feral quality, and his voice was raspy. A low rumble emanated from his chest. The ones foolish enough to engage him ended up in a pile, which grew larger by the minute. Others tried to run, but he gave chase, slicing through them with two sharp spikes growing out of his arms.

 The number of contenders dwindled. Gigi feared once they were gone he’d turn on her. Every time one of the creatures came too close, he’d cut them down—literally. There was so much gore. Some of them bled but others oozed some kind of gunk.

A pattern emerged. The reptilian warrior seemed to be working with another blue one with horns. Her suspicion was confirmed when a giant tentacle creature reached out to grab her. Like a well-oiled machine they enclosed her.

The tentacle creature moved as if to retreat, and made a grab for her at the last second. Reptilian warrior jumped about ten feet into the air, striking the scary-looking beast. Gigi screamed as it landed in two halves on the floor.

As if sensing her fear, the big reptilian warrior turned to look at her. No one had ever looked at her like that. His eyes changed in a second from glowing rage to anguish to shame. At that precise instant, she knew he’d protect her, even risking his own life.

Her thoughts were a jumble, and her heart raced. One thing came clear—he’d become her champion. He’d die for her, kill with his bare hands for her. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but instinct told her their fates were intertwined forever.

 These things were wild beasts, fighting to the death. She wasn’t sure if he’d win. Her father had once told her music could soothe the wild beast. If it was her time to die, she wanted to go doing something she loved.

She closed her eyes and sang. Her voice came out stronger than ever before. Everyone was silent by the time she finished her favorite aria. Gigi opened her eyes and looked around the pit, surprised. Everyone sat or stood in a trance-like state. Her champion didn’t waste any time. He quickly disposed of most of the remaining fighters.

It was brutal, but she was too terrified to care. He dropped to kneeling in front of her. The crowd came out of their trance, chanting, “Briq, Briq, Briq.” That was his name. Briq.