“What an interesting find,” hisses the Penubian in english. “A Human! And not just any Human. You carry the scent of my old enemy. What a delightful coincidence.”
Tears brimming in my eyes, I stare at this man who clearly hates my beautiful Sadjim with a burning fury.
“Bully, I assume?” I snap, my voice ice-cold.
“Ah, perfect. So he’s told you about me. That’ll save us some introductions. Leave the cat and come with me.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I reply, sounding more confident than I actually feel.
“All right then, so you’d rather die here, in the woods, next to that cat’s corpse? Suit yourself. Or… you can come with me and help me find Prax, that bastard who just killed some of my men.”
What a strange feeling. Everything in my upbringing taught me to respect life, in all its forms. And yet, I can’t help but feel relieved that my love managed to thin out the numbers of these vile creatures that came to Mars only to spread corruption and misery.
I stand up slowly and face Bully—the Penubian who shot down Prax’s ship, sending him to what should’ve been a certain death. But thank Ares, that didn’t happen.
The man pats down my outfit, searching for weapons, but I don’t have any.
Just to be thorough, even though I know full well that Martian settlers are especially naïve and peaceful… with a few exceptions,” he chuckles darkly.
Once he’s sure I pose no threat, he turns me around to face the clearing and presses up behind me, one arm wrapped across my chest to hold me in place, the other aiming his weapon at my head.
“Move,” he orders.
We head toward the main hangar. I rack my brain, but I can’t come up with any escape plan.
Another reptilian man rushes out from one of the ships on the right and jogs over to us.
“They’re all dead!” he growls furiously.
“Prax,” Bully replies flatly. “I told you that Sadjim needed to die as soon as possible. But I’ll personally take care of it now. Follow me.”
So here’s my second Penubian, and of course, my analytical brain can’t help but take note of the similarities and differences between the two. They both have humanoid shapes, just like my Sadjim. But like Humans, I notice some variations in the shape of their heads—rounder or more elongated—and in the color of their scales. Their tongues are narrow and forked, reminding me of Earth iguanas.
I don’t have time to study them any further. We walk into the hangar.
And my blood runs cold when I see the scene in front of us.
Prax’s two pistoblasters lie on the floor, just a few feet away from us, and their owner is locked in a brutal hand-to-hand fight with three Penubians.
“Stop!” Bully shouts.
The order takes immediate effect. The fight halts. I lock eyes with my beautiful Sadjim, who looks horrified when he realizes I’m in Bully’s grasp. He raises his hands in a calming gesture. His three opponents glance toward their leader, awaiting direction.
“What a lovely visit, my dear Prax,” Bully hisses right by my ear. “Look what I found outside. I believe this belongs to you, doesn’t it? Smells like you, anyway,” he adds, dragging his tongue slowly along my neck.
“What do you want?” Prax asks. “Let her go. She’s just a Human. A passing distraction.”
“You’ve got a short memory. I remember your attachment to another Human… an infatuation that ended our partnership. You even offered up our ship in exchange for her life—without even telling me first. Not very nice of you.”
“You forget it was my ship to begin with,” Prax fires back.
“Details, details. We were partners, and it was working just fine—until you went soft for some Human female. And now you’ve done it again with this one. Looks like history repeats itself…”
They’re talking about Ileana—the woman who changed Prax so deeply that he left the Coalition and joined the Confederation. The one whose name he whispered when he was sick and half-conscious…
“Franly, go check on Mank and Gund,” Bully orders.
“They’re dead,” the other replies, shaking his head.
