Nova: A Scifi Alien Romance (Rebel Lords) (4 page)

I
sat in an angry
, forced silence as Nova walked from the bathroom out of the hut, not even taking a glance in my direction. I couldn’t believe he gagged me because he didn’t like me arguing back with him. What had he expected to happen when he forced a human, the Navani’s enemy, into his home? Was I supposed to just beg for mercy and sanctuary? That wasn’t my style. I wasn’t about to appear weaker in the situation than I already was. And I truly was infuriated by their actions that afternoon. Nova had been completely soaked in blood when he walked through that door, looking like he just got off the set of a horror movie. I was positive the scene he had left was much worse than anything that could be seen in a movie. All I could picture were those poor miners left dead on the ground, lacerations and wounds covering their bloody bodies. It caused my train of thought to round back to Ryan, tears building in my eyes at the thought. His poor wife and daughter… how would they even find out if I didn’t get out of there? They deserved closure. Ryan hadn’t deserved to be killed like that, and I would never forgive the Navani for killing him.

Angry tears poured down my face as I sat in silence, unable to believe that I was tied into all of this drama when I didn’t even belong to the Harp colony. My heart was heavy for the human lives lost in the attacks, unable to imagine their families’ pain. I realized then my own family would grow worried if I didn’t contact them within a few days. While I didn’t have much family, I had a father and a brother I was close to. I feared they would try to track me down and come to Shaviro themselves, and that was the last thing I wanted.

After a few hours, my tears subsided, leaving my eyes puffy and irritated. The fabric in my mouth was irritating the hell out of me, I wanted to spit it out so bad. Because I hadn’t drank anything that entire day, my mouth was so dry and the fabric was giving my mouth a cottonmouth sort of feeling. And the lock around my face was clutching tightly to my skin, almost pinching me. As I sat there, contemplating just sleeping, the door to the hut opened and Nova walked back in.

I watched him as he walked my way. Nova stood over me, looking down into my eyes, “Are you going to give me attitude about the war?” he asked.

My immediate thought was
hell yeah I am
, but I realized if I wanted the cloth out of my mouth, I would have to be at least a little obedient. I shook my head no. He then reached behind my head and unlocked the metal, taking it away from my face. He then gestured for me to open my mouth, and he plucked it from my mouth. I gave a dry cough before speaking quietly, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Start talking like that again and I’ll gag you again,” he warned. He then kneeled down and uncuffed my ankle from the lock. Nova pulled at my hands, having me stand and then guided me into the other room of the house. He pushed me to sit down in a chair before moving to a large box with a blue door on the front. He reached into the blue and pulled out a pitcher of water along with a container. Setting the things on the counter, he reached into a cupboard and pulled down two cups. Pouring water into the cup, he walked over to me and placed it in front of me. I didn’t even hesitate, reaching with both hands since they were bound together, I picked the water up and raised it to my lips. I drank the cool, refreshing liquid quickly to get rid of that horrid feeling in my mouth as well as quench my thirst.

Nova had moved back across the kitchen, beginning to place fish on a sheet of metal on something that resembled a stove. Blue lasers shot from the burners and heated the metal sheet to cook the fish. It cooked quickly, being much more efficient than the cooking methods humans had. He then placed the fish and some vegetables onto two plates, moving over to the table and placing one in front of me with a two pronged fork. I mumbled a thank you before awkwardly picking up the fork with one hand. As I managed to cut into the fish, my stomach growling from the hunger, I spoke to Nova, “I am actually surprised with how advanced you are. Your home resembles human homes in a way. With how you live in a jungle, I really hadn’t expected things like electricity.” I took a bite of the fish and almost moaned at how delicious it was. It was such a hearty fish with lots of natural flavor, and then something citrusy and spices pairing perfectly with it.

Nova didn’t seem offended by my words, taking his own seat and beginning to eat. “We have many advancements. Lasers, intricate metal inventions such as your binds, indoor plumbing, etcetera,” he answered simply. After how much tension had been between us two earlier, he seemed rather calm then. I wasn’t being heated because I didn’t want that cloth stuffed back in my mouth.

I was surprised to hear about the advancements the primitive people had made. “Then if you guys are advanced, why haven’t you extracted the ores yourselves and made a revenue?” I questioned. While it was fine and well that they had advancements in their daily lives, I had always been taught the key component of a first-world civilization was the use of exports. You couldn’t be a great nation without making trades of some kind. The human colonies were scattered all throughout the galaxy, living in peace with many of the aliens; the aliens exporting their own goods to the humans.

“Because that isn’t what our people are about. We don’t even have a currency system. We live in harmony with our planet, the technology we make doing nothing to harm the environment. We make our things to make some daily tasks easier or more effective, but never anything to beyond that. We want to preserve our planet as long as we can, so that our future generations can have a chance at prospering as well. The Navani are content with our naturalistic ways, and our people have never gone without anything.”

My brow rose in surprise at his words. Well, that sounded nice, I supposed. It sounded like an ideal way to live with the planet if they were content with it; they didn’t have a dense population so I could see how it could work for them. “I can understand that, I suppose. I can see how it can work for your people. However, your population is much, much smaller than humans. There are hundreds of billions of humans spread out across the galaxy that we have to support. So mining things such as Dremalite here, is needed to keep our own species going. That way of living just would not work for humans. Perhaps that is why there is so much conflict,” I proposed as I finished my fish and started on the vegetables. There were some that resembled potatoes and carrots, but others I had no idea what they were.

“I don’t believe that,” Nova snorted. “Humans could in fact live in harmony with any planet they landed on. It is greed and the need for entertainment and war that fuels your species’ need for mining and other means of stripping planets of their resources.”

“Well, it really isn’t possible. Humans have adapted to a certain way of life that needs to be upheld. Like Dremalite, it’s used in the engines of our spacecrafts so that we can travel planet to planet to gather these resources; and even to visit family. I have family on more planets than I care to list. Without Dremalite, I would never be able to see them…” I tried to explain.

Nova was clearly growing annoyed by my words, shaking his head. “There is absolutely no need for traveling to other planets. If your species would have been responsible and capped their population when it grew to the maximum means of resources that planet could provide, then there would be no need to be spread out across a galaxy. Humans are selfish and greedy. I’m just curious to know the number of the planets your people have sucked dry like they are trying to do here on Shaviro,” he mused.

“It isn’t like that, Nova,” I tried to reason. “I mean, yes, that would have been a responsible thing to do. But there is no going back to fix it. So now we need to get resources to keep our people alive. Many of the planets humans live on don’t even have water, so they travel to the distant ice comets and harvest ice to keep our people hydrated. Same with crops. Many of the planets don’t have soil that will support crops our people can eat, so we have planets dedicated to farms. And without Dremalite, food and water would never reach those people.” Nova stood and walked back into his room. As he walked back, I spoke more, “You have to understand at least a little bit as to where I am coming from. You say you want to provide and protect your people, that’s all these miners are trying to do.” Just as my words finished though, he stuffed the cloth back in my mouth and placed the bind back across my face. I glared hard at him. Really? Why? I wasn’t fighting him, I wasn’t yelling.

“I’m tired of your excuses,” Nova told me, clearing the plates from the table. Once he was finished putting them away, he made me stand and walked me back to the room and chained me to the cot. Nova walked over to his bed and sat down. He let out a sigh of relief, “Ah yes, silence is much better.” I could only glare at him.

T
he following days
proved to be challenging. While the mining had been put to a standstill, it seemed, and there were no more attacks, it meant I wasn’t extraordinarily busy—which meant the more time I spent in my hut. Usually I would have rejoiced in having downtime, it was becoming rarer and rarer to have as the war raged on; but Julia was there. Those days were spent battling attraction, hatred, and frustration for the woman. It seemed like countless times I would give in and ungag her, but within an hour it would be back in because she would speak out of turn. My attraction for her burned just as intensely as my hatred which was driving me insane. One moment I would be captivated by some small detail of her, and the next I was ready to strangle her just to get her to stop talking. She had spirit, that was for sure. And the more days that passed, the more I grew to appreciate her spirit which began morphing my hatred into simple frustration. That realization terrified me, fearing I would actually grow fond of this pigheaded woman.

Each day I tried to suppress my attraction for her by focusing on her ignorance. As we spoke during the times she was ungagged, she seemed to grow more understanding and compassion for the Navani even though her loyalty and empathy for the humans never died out. Sometimes I caught myself wondering in all the confusion, if she could ever even be a suitable mate. Humans were so tiny and fragile, and seemed to have no control over their irrational emotions. It was absurd to think a human ever could be. And while I usually quickly dismissed the notion at first, it would constantly come back to mind.

On day four, she finally seemed to be on board with obeying my orders. That morning she was completely silent, not even attempting to make a noise through the gag. So, after a while I took mercy on her and removed her gag. Shortly after, I prepared lunch for us, serving us kawrun and mixed fruit. She ate well, finishing most of the servings I gave her. The conversation between us stayed light and for once we did not get into a disagreement. Once the plates were cleared, I walked over to her and unlocked the lock about her wrists. My eyes lifted to hers before I pulled away with it, “This is a sign that I trust you to not run away. Step outside that door and you will die; my people will not hesitate to kill on sight. And I will not protect you if you do betray this small inkling of trust.”

Julia gave a small nod and then pulled her wrists away, rubbing her wrist with her other hand. I walked into my personal living area to put the lock away, my own little test to see if she would bolt for the door while I was in the other room. I paused for a minute before heading back into the communal area, surprised to find her standing at the wall dividing the communal area to my personal area with her fingertips grazing against the shaft of a laser spear which hung on the wall. I don’t know what caused me to say it, but it was as though the thought hijacked my brain and I could do nothing but to complete my mission. “Pick that up,” I called to her. She jumped a bit, I suppose not noticing I was back in the room.

She looked to me with big eyes for a moment before looking back to the spear, “What are you talking about?” she mumbled.

“I said pick it up,” I repeated. “You aren’t in any trouble. I just want you to pick it up.”

Julia looked over to me and then back at the spear before both of her hands went to the staff and she lifted it from the mount on the wall. I gestured for her to come to me, which she reluctantly did. Taking the spear, I grabbed her wrist and headed for the door, “Try to run from me and I’ll draw my own weapon,” I warned, “And you don’t want that.”

Opening the door, I walked her outside and kept my hand around her wrist. I tugged her through the village, walking towards the jungle. Eyes followed our every move, the number of eyes steadily increasing. As we approached the jungle, Dran was running up to me, “Sir where are you going with her?” he asked, concern in his voice.

I couldn’t tell him the truth, so I needed to just assert my dominance. “Who gave you the right to question me?” I snapped. “Do not defy your prince. Tell the others the same thing. I know what I am doing.” Then, I briskly pulled Julia to my side and walked into the forest. No one would question it now, or at least no one would dare to face me with questions.

I led her into the deeper part of the jungle, away from human activity and away from the eyes of any Navani men. I kept waiting for her to ask where it was we were going, but I suppose she thought that what I said to Dran applied to her as well; if so, she was a smart girl. Once we were deep enough into the jungle to where I didn’t feel as though anyone would stumble into us, I let go of her wrist and held the spear out for her to take. Julia’s eyes flashed from the spear to my face, not yet reaching for it as confusion washed over her expression. “What’s going on?” she asked quietly.

“Take it,” I instructed in a forceful tone, moving it towards her again. Julia was hesitant, but finally wrapped her hand around the staff and pulled it to her. I then put a hand on her shoulder and continued to walk further with her. My ears and eyes were on full alert, listening for any sudden changes or movement. Just a few minutes into walking I heard a rustle to our side. I looked over and saw hoof prints in the mud. It was a boar. My eyes fell to Julia, my voice lower than a whisper, “There is a boar in that direction. Kill it.”

Julia’s face looked horrified by my words, “Kill it? I can’t. I’m not a killer…” she told me.

“How else do you think you get meat? You’ve been in the village for quite some time now, without being attacked personally, so you need to provide. Kill the boar,” I told her firmly. While getting meat would be good for the village, that wasn’t my only intention; I would be lying to myself if I thought that was the only thing I was after. I wanted to test her strength, to see if she would ever even be able to live within the village without being a hostage. My people only cared about the strength of a citizen, if she could prove her strength then she could perhaps be accepted. Honestly, I don’t know why I couldn’t shake the thought, but I couldn’t—I had to put her to the test.

Julia looked down to the spear and back to me. I could see in her eyes that she didn’t exactly want to do it, I’m assuming because humans had a strange misplaced love for animals. The Navani appreciated animals for all they provided for us, and we never overhunted. However, from the rumors I had heard about the humans, they thought about the animal’s feelings and couldn’t stomach to kill their meals for themselves. To me, that was almost incomprehensible and weak.

Her eyes finally found my face again after some long moments of staring at the spear. She gave a brisk nod before turning around and headed in the direction of the boar. As I watched, I realized how badly this could end. Boars were aggressive and massive; so whether she realized it or not, it was a fight to the death. Julia headed bravely towards the boar, I could see her even from that distance as she tried to turn on the staff. It took her just a few seconds, and the head of the spear came out with blue lasers suspending it. At first, I couldn’t see the boar from where I stood, but I didn’t want to get in the way by drawing nearer. I watched as Julia took a deep breath and then charged in front and out of my line of sight. Part of me was a bit cynical, thinking she was too small and slow to even stand a chance against the boar.

There was a loud squeal from the boar, and then I witnessed as the boar ran to where Julia had come from. My eyes widened at the sight of it. It was the largest boar I had ever seen, bigger than any kawrun or boar. Julia ran towards it though, spear in hand. The boar turned around and grunted before launching itself back in her direction, lowering its head a bit to point its tusks in her direction. Julia tried her best to find a good angle to take it on at, but she stumbled a bit, and the boar bucked her into the air. The woman landed on her back with a groan. Before she had the chance to stand, the boar was running back in her direction again. I knew exactly what it was about to do. The boars two main source of attack power came from its tusks and its massive weight. It was going to try and trample her. My eyes were wide as I watched. Surely she would move, she had plenty of time. But, it appeared that she had landed awkwardly on her back, struggling to move at all. Was she going to actually die by the force of this boar?

The boar charged at her, squealing and grunting as it approached full speed. It felt like it was happening in slow motion as the boar began to run over her, its hooves making contact with one of her thighs as he began to trample her. Julia was a goner. The boar began to lift its leg to step onto her stomach, when in a sudden blur, Julia plunged the spear into the neck of the boar—the spear head coming out of the back of its neck. The boar immediately fell to the side, snorting loudly as it bled out. Julia stayed on the ground, wincing at the pain from her back and thigh. Slowly she stood though, limping slightly from the damage done to her leg. She reached down and pulled the spear back through its neck and then turned to look at me.

It might have been strange, but I found her strength and resilience extremely attractive. Never had I seen a human complete such a feat. Hell, some Navani couldn’t even take down the boar she just had. And while my brain had burned with curiosity to see whether or not the puny human could prove her strength to be comparable to ours, now that I knew I didn’t know how to feel about it. My mind was heavy with mixed emotions. I tried to put on a blank face though as I moved over to her. “Good job,” I told her softly as I placed a hand on her shoulder. When Julia looked up to me, she had a look of pride on her face, looking accomplished by the task she had completed. I couldn’t help but smile ever so softly at it. I would never admit it, but I was proud of her too; for a moment there, the battle between her and the boar was looking pretty bleak on her end.

I moved to the boar and inspected it. It would be too heavy for just the two of us to carry, I would have to send a small team out to fetch it. I turned back to her and put my hand lightly around her wrist to lead her back through the jungle. As we began though, I noticed her limping from the boar stepping on one of her legs. Sighing softly, I wrapped an arm around her ribs and helped balance her as we made our way back through the jungle. “The village will eat well tonight with this boar, every morsel of it will be put to use,” I assured her as we made our way through the trees.