Zenik Read online

  "Terrans," one of the warriors finally spat out after his fellow Mahdfel kicked him. "I selected a Terran as my match first. You all copied me."

  "No, you copied everyone else. They all copied Kave." He got an elbow for this contradiction.

  "Either way, there are a copious amount of Terrans on the planet, so you should not feel alone," he informed the women. The smile he offered was closed mouth, as if someone had instructed him not to show his teeth to an Earth girl before they had settled in. It actually made him look comical, almost cartoonish.

  "Though your mate will be happy to keep you busy if you should feel alone," one of the Mahdfel said with a smirk.

  "My mate?" the Southerner stuttered.

  "He means husband," Jane said. "The Mahdfel refer to their wives as mates. For them, it's a permanent connection."

  "I know that," the woman replied.

  “Don’t be stupid. This is all a scam, anyway, to depopulate Earth so they can take it over for themselves,” the melting blonde said, venom dripping from her every word. She was clearly from an affluent family and wasn’t used to receiving orders. Her long hair was twisted up into complicated knots that no one could have managed on their own. Her hands were full of glittering rings and she kept touching the large stone in her necklace like it was a talisman.

  "That conspiracy shit isn’t going to fly here,” Jane scolded. She didn’t have the patience for Suhlik deniers and Mahdfel haters. Most of them had enough money to avoid the lottery, anyway. But this one, somehow had slipped through and was ready to blame everyone and everything for her situation.

  The pudgy, short woman on the end who had been silent so far opened her mouth as if she was going to say something.

  “Of course you would say that,” Rich Bitch said, before the other woman could speak.

  “I think we all need a little more time before we make any assumptions,” the short one managed to say. “I thought I was going someplace cold. This is so green! I’m Meadow, by the way.”

  She continued to chatter, and her easy way seemed to put the conversation to rest. She engaged the Southerner in polite chit chat about jungle facts. The warriors seemed relieved not to have to instigate the conversation themselves.

  Jane was equally relieved. She was able to take in more details of the craft and its occupants. It was a standard shuttle capable of only a brief space flight, but really not designed for anything more than transferring cargo any further than a ship or station in orbit. It was designed to be pretty damn easy to fly. Jane could do it, and she’d only had basic flight training.

  Her attention was drawn to the pilot. He had the same green skin and bald head as the others, indicating that he was the same species as the other Mahdfel, but he had said nothing the whole flight and nor had he even turned around to gawk at the females like the others did. His choice in uniform also set him apart. He was definitely a curiosity.

  When they landed, it was quite a production. There were green bodies everywhere and no other color in sight. This was going to be a highly selective clan, Jane thought as she stepped down from the hatch ramp. The camp layout, however, was familiar, even if the soldiers were not. The buildings were laid out in basically two concentric circles around a center area or quad that could be used for exercise or conducting drills. The landing platform sat at one edge of the the camp, far enough away from the living quarters to prevent any fumes or noises from shaking apart people while they slept. She saw a mess area, with outdoor tables covered by a tarp to guard from any rain. Along the right side of the camp was a beach with the most beautiful golden sand Jane had ever seen. Jane was not really a fan of beaches but could envision herself spending ample time at this one. The other side of the camp was lined with a dense jungle, and Jane was fairly certain she saw a force fence separating them from anything that might come out of the jungle.

  She was curious as to what kind of larger animals inhabited the jungle. Perhaps there'd be some version of a cat monkey swinging from the trees. Either way, it would get a nasty zap if it tried to cross over into camp.

  The green aliens lined the pathway into camp in a sort of honor guard assembly. Jane counted about fifty. At the end, of the line of guards there was another alien flashing his brightest smile. He was holding a set of datapads. Off to the side, Jane saw three Earth women with wide eyes, anxiously sizing them up. Their lack of a suntan told Jane they were relative newcomers themselves.

  "Welcome to Noven 90, where your mates are very anxious to meet you. I am Kave, and I trust you will be happy here. We do not have all of the modern amenities, but we have a beach, volleyball, and a lot of eye candy." He spoke as if he were following a script, not quite understanding what he was saying . "We will now announce the pairings. Lest you despair, you shall soon have much company and most of them shall be Terrans. Terrans are very popular. Odette is a Terran," he said proudly.

  Jane looked around. None of the three women claimed to be Odette. Where was this Terran that he held in such esteem?

  "Please do not be alarmed by your new mate. I am sure once you get to know him, there will be love and joy and all that jazz. Also, you do not have to copulate with your mate immediately. He will be respectful and keep his distance until you get to know him a little better."

  Some of the aliens shifted. They were obviously anxious to discover whether they were among the lucky five to receive their mate.

  "When your pairing is announced, I will hand you a tablet and your mate will escort you to your living quarters. Again, welcome to Noven 90, where every day is paradise and there is always food and fun and no Suhlik to kill you."

  She supposed they were expected to take this as reassurance, but Kave smiled right at that moment, changing a swirly near yellow green - not a reassuring color.

  He began calling out the names of the women, followed with the name of the warrior to whom they’d been matched. “Meadow. You are matched with Goru.” A heavy set warrior stepped forward. He wasn’t necessarily fat - no, none of the Mahdfel were fat - but he was built much more like a tank than the other Mahdfel present. He got within a foot of Meadow and took a long sniff. It was like a starving man entering a bakery for the first time. His face lit up with delight. Meadow offered a tentative smile and held out her hand. He took it and kissed it. Goru looked like he wanted to much more than that, but he kept his distance.

  “Charlette,” Kave said with some difficulty.

  “It’s pronounced with an Sh,” Miss Rich Bitch corrected, pronouncing her name, putting the emphasis on the “lette” portion. Jane thought about telling Charlette that the poor guy probably didn’t know what an ‘Sh sound’ was, considering they were using a different alphabet, but let it go. The computer probably had transcribed her name into his language and he was just reading whatever phonetic computer generated prediction was in front of him.

  “You are matched with Haxet,” Kave finished. Lucky bachelor number two stepped up. Charlette gave him a once over and gave him a disapproving look suggesting that said she found him to be no better than the dirt on her two inch heels. He reached for her hand, and she immediately hid her hands behind her back.

  “No touching. He said you couldn’t touch me.”

  For his part, Haxet showed patience and just stood next to Charlette catching whiffs of her and offering a toothy grin.

  The next two ladies accepted their fates with the same grace that Meadow had, offering their new husbands a hand and smile, even if a rather timid one.

  Jane was the last one. Before Kave could call out her given name, knowing it would forever brand her as Barbara Jane, she stepped up to Kave and took the tablet from his hand. With a thumbprint, the text changed and she saw the name of her mate written out in English.

  “Zenik.”

  None of the warriors moved for a second. There was some sighs of disappointment, but no Zenik came forward.

  Kave hollered at the top of his lungs, “Zenik!”

  A Mahdfel in full uniform came quick
ly out of the crowd and Jane recognized him as the pilot. Covered in so much black, he stood out among the other warriors, though he was not discernibly different physically than the rest. His face was a green swirling mass, and his expression was somewhere between desire and fright.

  Jane decided it was time to take charge and accept the cards she had been dealt. When he reached out his hand for hers, she took it, and pulled him into a kiss.

  Chapter Two

  Zenik

  1. Do your Duty.

  2. Don’t make waves.

  It was a silly Terran expression that Zenik had picked up from a chatty passing pilot. It had something to do with submerging oneself in water, but Zenik had taken phrase and adopted it as his own motto.

  So when every single Etlonian left in camp got in line to request a mate, Zenik joined them. He wasn't sure exactly what he was going to do with the mate except, well, the obvious, but when the other warriors in their decidedly unwarrior-like chatter leaned toward Terran, Zenik checked off that preference too. He listened in at the mess tables when they talked of their future mates and bragged of how they would outdo each other in providing for them. He silently made accommodations of his own. The Etlonian Camp had based their entire view of Terrans on Odette, the prince’s absent mate. Athen did not necessarily like that term, prince, but his men knew that was exactly what he was. His father was Etlon of Etlon, and they, as his chosen, were a clan without equals, the best of what they did.

  Zenik's specialty was also bold. He was a pilot by trade, but a chameleon by habit. He'd been burned, however, on his last mission. For years, he had infiltrated systems and networks of thieves, spies and collaborators. Methodical patience had built up such a backstory that even the most notorious and distrusting enemies had actually believed he could not possibly be a Mahdfel. No warrior had the time and patience not to bite on the chance to destroy countless numbers of Suhlik before taking out his real target. Zenik’s target was not random Suhlik warriors but someone equally sinister and much more difficult to catch. His quarry had no name. He was known only as the Wine Merchant, a moniker he had picked up in his early days, even though he now no longer dealt in spirits. The Wine Merchant dealt in death.

  Zenik had finally managed to get face to face with him, only to have The Wine Merchant slip out of his grasp. He had left Zenik alone with a dozen Suhlik and had run like the coward he was. Left for dead, Zenik survived only through sheer will and determination. His connections had led to information that had taken out an entire Suhlik outpost and there was a bounty on him in quite a few systems. He didn’t like having it hanging over his head, but he’d not been given the choice. Etlon had decided he was not to hunt down the bastard responsible, and thus Zenik was not allowed to reclaim his honor. Noven 90 was a reward of sorts. It was a place to heal and find a mate, but without true work, he fell into his old patterns. Do your duty. Don't make waves.

  Even now as he ferried the five newest mates from the transport to Camp, he didn't make himself known to any of the women much less the woman with jet black hair, the one he knew had to be his, even without her scent drifting toward him in a most distracting way. Zenik had panicked, he decided later when his brain had cleared. The moment he had landed the craft and had spotted the tall warrior female leading the other meek ones out of the jungle, he had known. It wasn't the uniform that set her apart. It was a way she carried herself, sure as any Mahdfel. He had known, right there and then that she was his. All his with no others to come close. He was barely on ground before Reub and Claro departed to open the door. When they'd been ferried inside, he saw three of the females huddled together for comfort, a fourth that could not be more disdainful and his mate sitting apart, upright and in perfect control of her emotions.

  But he’d frozen once again when she’d taken the tablet from Kave and called his name, when those ice blue eyes searched for him across the crowd. Zenik had been rooted to the spot and only a commander’s shout could propel his feet forward.

  There was but a moment before his mate had pressed into him and coaxed his mouth open with her tongue, leaving him dizzy with desire. The sweet nectar that was her mouth brought his cock to immediate attention. No, there was no question that she was his. Zenik brought his arms around his mate and returned the kiss.

  Somewhere in the back of his head, he knew it wasn’t fair or right to flaunt his new mate’s willingness in front of the rest of the warriors. No, he should withdraw, take her some place more private. If only he could manage more than a few thoughts in a row while her mouth continued to duel with his. If she grabbed his cock through his uniform, he would have soiled it with his pleasure. Perhaps it was that thought that gave him the impetus to break the kiss.

  Kave was grinning from ear to ear. “To eat!”

  The Mahdfel soldiers let out a loud cheer and the crowd shifted toward the mess.

  “Hello, there, Zenik. My name is Jane,” she whispered to him. He wanted to kiss her lips again.

  “I am Zenik.”

  “I hear there is food?” she prompted with a smile curling up one side of her mouth.

  “Ah, yes! Yes. Food. A moment.” Surely it could not be an embarrassment to walk across the quad with a hard cock after one’s mate had given such a passionate kiss.

  The vid manual said that it was best not to subject a new mate to a large crowd of Mahdfel on the first encounter. Take a little one on one time with her first, it said. Zenik crossed over to the mess and picked up one of five prepared baskets. He had heard the other warriors speaking of the spots they wished to take their mates for their first meal but he had a special place in mind.

  Zenik had decided on a small patch of waterfalls where several local streams poured into the ocean. He’d noticed this spot when piloting the females to camp. Although it was slightly outside the force fence near the back side of the camp, he knew his mate could handle the trip.

  “Would you come with me?” Zenik asked, guiding her with an outstretched hand. His mate nodded and followed.

  Zenik could hear the tittering as he headed out. None of the other warriors approved of his decision to take her out of the protected area, but he paid them no mind. Zenik didn’t really fit in with the rest of the warriors. He too was of Etlon, but while they worked together, silently in a team, he had probably killed more Suhlik than most of them had, working alone. It was a small measure, but Zenik could feel implied sympathy sometimes from the others, he knew and they knew that he wanted to neither give nor receive sympathy. Sympathy was for the weak.

  He could see that Jane was not weak. It was a thinned jungle near the force fence, but it was not an easy walk. Jane had no problem keeping up with him as they weaved their way through the roots. When they rounded the last of the force fence and headed the last little walk into the forest, Zenik was tempted to offer assistance. He decided against it as she ducked and weaved her way through the branches. When they cleared the trees, it was beautiful. The blue water cascaded off the hills and plummeted into the ocean.

  They were just far enough away to turn the roar into a soothing soundtrack for a romantic getaway. He put the basket down and turned to Jane. “Is this an appropriate location?”

  “For what?”

  “A shared meal.”

  “Oh. Okay. It’s nice.”

  He sat down and Jane sat across from him. The replicators had been programmed with a variety of Terran cuisines, and it seemed like Terra had quite a number of them. Once again, the manual had a recommended list of foods. He had chosen a simple collection of tastes called a cheese plate. It also had a side accompaniment of this thing called salami. Zenik wasn’t sure what type of meat it was supposed to be, but the seasoning was delicious.

  Jane dug in. He loved her healthy appetite and could spend hours just watching her eat.

  “So, where are you from?” she asked. He’d been so distracted by her mouth, he had to ask her to repeat herself. “You are obviously all from the same stock. Where are you from?”

/>   “We are of Etlon. The original Etlon was lost to us, but Mahdfel command has seen fit that we should colonize a new planet.”

  “This one?”

  “No, this is Noven 90. This is an outpost. It is hardly worthy of a dot on maps. Etlon is well populated. The capital city has beautiful towers and green fields. Noven 90 is not a bad place to live though,” he added, not wanting her to get a negative impression of the planet where they would be living on for the foreseeable future. “We have many amenities.”

  “I heard. Beach volleyball. Yeah.” His mate did not seem impressed with this sport. He would have to discover what activities she liked.

  “We have been given permission to inquire what other pleasures you might desire.”

  “I’m a simple girl with simple tastes. A good poker game now and again would not be amiss.”

  “Poker.”

  “It’s a card game. Where you bet things. Chips, et cetera.”

  “A game of skill or chance?”

  “Skill. At least I think so. Most of the other wives won’t play though, I bet. They seem to be more of the DIY make your own upcycled planter with a Coke bottle and a glue gun types.”

  “Females are not generally interested in guns.”

  Jane laughed and shook her head. It was a musical sound and he wanted to immediately hear more of it.

  “A glue gun isn’t a weapon. It heats a plastic adhesive that is used for crafting.”

  “Crafting. Crafting what?”

  “Usually a load of junk, but women like to do it. I don’t get it, personally, but to each her own. I like guns. Knives too.”

  “It is generally frowned upon for a mated female to carry a gun or a knife,” he said.

  “That’s because they haven’t been trained to use them correctly. I have.”

  Zenik nodded and went back to watching her eat in silence, waiting for the moment to feed his mate a morsel.

  It was a general Mahdfel marriage tradition that had been passed down from the time before. No one knew quite where it started, but the Mahdfel all knew that when mates were willing to accept food and drink from a warrior’s hand, they were ready for the bond. Already his mating glands were firing in his cheeks. He would mate and bite her on the neck and transfer the chemicals into her that would ready her to accept his seed.