Krayter

Chapter Two-2

PENNY LET THE DOOR slam shut behind her and found her two sisters sitting close on an old bench beside the outer door. Nicole had an arm flung around Resa’s shoulders and both of them looked as pathetic as soaking wet puppy dogs.

At sixteen, Nicole already bore a striking resemblance to their long gone mother and had caught the eye of most of the boys in her school. She had the innocent brown eyes of an angel and gently wavy brown hair falling around a glowing golden face. But inside, Penny knew that she was as much of a devil as any of the White girls.

The door was thin, so she kept her voice down as she spoke, trying desperately to banish the disturbing thoughts of the teal alien from of her mind. He was trouble, tall and muscular, and as blue as the ocean in the Caribbean. Even when he was tied up, she could read the danger in him clear as day. Dark patches of skin in triangles and squares had peeked out of his ripped collar and she’d had the strongest desire to reach out and trace them. And then taste them.

Get a f*****g grip, she told herself.

“Did anyone hear or see you when you brought him here?” she asked. Her sisters knew the guard schedules just as well as she did and they knew it was easier to avoid a squad than get caught and answer prying questions.

Both of her sisters shook their heads, eyes downcast.

If anger wasn’t steaming off of her in waves, Penny might have actually felt sorry for them. But her stomach was a mass of knots and she felt bile rise in the back of her throat. “Where’s his speeder?” The river was far enough into the territory that guard rotations only passed it every few hours, but her sisters could have found that alien—Krayter, her mind unhelpfully reminded her—any time after dusk. The interloper call hadn’t been sounded, but they were on borrowed time.

“It washed down the river,” said Resa. She was brave enough to tilt her head up and meet Penny’s eyes, if only for a second. One day she’d be formidable. But tonight she was just a kid. “We barely got him out before it got free of the rocks.”

They’d been near the rocks at night, saving an alien from his downed vehicle. Penny bit her tongue before she started demanding if either one of them had a death wish. It was obvious they both did and she didn’t have the time or energy to save them from themselves at the moment.

“Was it whole?” she asked. “Or is one of the patrols going to start finding parts over the next few days?” Because if that happened, the alien in the other room was a dead man. There’d be no way to save him.

“It was whole, we probably could’ve fixed it up if it wasn’t submerged.” Nicole found her courage to speak. She sat up straighter, but looked at Penny’s nose, not quite able to reach her eyes. “I think he ran into the Field.”

An invisible force field ran around the perimeter of Highland Settlement. Under normal circumstances, it tagged any vehicle that veered too close to their air space. But if someone unauthorized crossed the boundary, the Field could wreak havoc on electrical systems.

The rocky portion of the river was several miles from any border. If the alien had managed to pilot himself that far with faulty machinery, he was either an amazing pilot, or he’d been flying an amazing vehicle.

“At sunrise, the two of you are going to Lookout Point and scanning for alien tech. If Dad...” No, Penny couldn’t think of what her dad would do if he found the speeder. There’d be a Hunt for sure. “Right now, I want you two to go back to the cabin and get cleaned up. Keep the lights off and if anyone comes looking for me, you tell them I’ve got one of my headaches and will call them in the morning. Got it?”

Both girls nodded, sullen. They knew that they’d done enough damage for the night and weren’t about to start anything else. Penny watched them leave, walking into the woods with one weak flashlight shared between them. Like her, they could make it back to the cabin blindfolded with their hands bound. With all hands free and a source of light, they’d make it home faster than she’d made it to the shed.

Penny locked the door and looked back towards where the alien guest was tied up.

Options flashed through her mind, each one worse than the last. His presence in Highland Settlement put them all in danger. If word got out that there was an alien in the territory, anyone suspected of rendering aid would be punished, possibly expelled or executed. The river flowed swift and hard, and it was completely possible that every shred of the alien’s speeder would have disappeared from the territory by morning.

But it wasn’t likely.

Rocks bumped along the bottom of the river, sharp enough to tear up large boats and unsuspecting rafts. There would be evidence of the speeder’s presence and from that, evidence of the alien. Every second he breathed, he put her sisters in danger.

Penny bent down and picked up the plank of wood that Resa had wielded earlier. She held it on both ends and bent inward, testing the strength. It didn’t give.

She wondered what color the alien bled. Was it red like her? Or something else, something obviously otherworldly? If he was warm blooded, she wouldn’t need to find out. She could just douse him in cold water and leave him, letting nature do the job for her.

Could she really do it?

Penny tightened her grip on the wooden plank and took a step towards the door, but only one. Her mind conjured up Resa’s face, full of determination and ready to protect the alien. Her sisters had put so much work into saving him that they’d never forgive her for what she was thinking of doing.

Eventually, she knew that she’d be able to forgive herself. But that was a small comfort.

The alien was barely injured, and the girls had been smart enough to blindfold him.

Penny put down the plank. She couldn’t do this to an unarmed, tied up man. This wouldn’t be a mercy and this time she’d have no excuse to hide behind to help her sleep at night. It would be murder, plain and simple.

She opened the door and found Krayter laying just where she’d left him. His body looked relaxed, like he’d fallen asleep, but she doubted it. She’d only been gone a matter of minutes. The light was dim, only faint flickers from the gas lamp illuminating the narrow path between the door and the slab of a table that he’d been laid out on. Her sisters had tied him down tight with rope around his torso and his feet. Even more rope bound each of his hands and was anchored to the table legs. She made a mental note to ask where the girls had learned to tie up a man so efficiently.

And then she turned her eyes to Krayter. Tension hung above him like a coiled snake and she knew not to get to close, lest he strike. For a moment, she could imagine it. The ropes would fall away and then he’d be on her, towering over her and backing her up against the wall, all rage and power and might directed at her until she was breathless and wet with want.

No.

No, not going to happen.

Penny shook her head, trying to dislodge that crazy thought. She was not the girl to fantasize about aliens and what they could do with all of their alien... parts. Sensible down to her toes, that was her. No fantasies about being overpowered and lusted at by—

No!

She glared at the still form of the alien. Did he have mind powers? Could he manipulate her? Read this, asshole. She thought straight at him as she imagined climbing on top of him and dragging her imaginary sharp nails down his pecs and over his abs, scoring him. Marking him. She could even imagine his hard—

Fuck!

“Are you just going to stare at me?” Krayter asked. “Because it would only be sporting if I could see you as well.”