Note:
Thanks to all of my readers and reviewers for sticking with my tale. I will continue with my story Ancient Kingdom: Desert Winds for now and will post chapters for the sequel once in a while concurrently with the other story in order not to leave readers hanging. But for now, here's a preview of events in the sequel from Partner Of A Bad Blood. Character info and sketches will be posted on my profile before I post the story. Enjoy!
"We are in the planet's solar system" Sau'Nak said, as he split the main screen in half to bring up a projection of the system they were in. He pointed to a large reddish-white planet on the screen that was zoomed in, "We are nearing the fifth planet here. We've just passed the sixth planet with the rings and should be within Earth's orbit by the end of the day."
"Where's Earth?" Kahet asked curiously as he looked over the chart containing nine planets and their moons. He remembered his mother showing him the charts when he was smaller but he'd never seen a close up image of the planet before.
"It's the fourth planet from the sun" his cousin stated and zoomed into the planet to give him a better look. Kahet looked over the blue planet covered with green patches of land while Sau'Nak continued, "Despite they only have one sun, the planet manages stable life unlike the others around it. Most of it is covered in water as you can see, but the temperatures vary over the entire planet."
"My mother told me" Kahet whispered as he watched his mother's planet rotate within the screen. It looked so pure and untainted from afar, almost like a glass ball that could break with the slightest touch. "It looks so different than ours yet my mother survived on our planet without any gear." Moving his eyes away to clear his head from his reverie, he said, "Have you put in the coordinates my father gave us? I don't want to land in a wasteland or an overpopulated city."
"It's been typed into the navigation course" Sau'Nak responded and cleared away the projection to reveal the full screen again. "We'd get there faster but this system has an asteroid belt so I have to bypass that, otherwise, it'd be a smooth sailing on auto-pilot."
"As long as we get there" Kahet said, giving him a shrug and then sat down in a co-pilot's chair next to his cousin. "I got a glance at the ring planet, it was beautiful. I haven't seen so many like those before."
"I suppose, I'm not one that's excited by them though" his cousin said simply and put the ship on auto-pilot for now. Leaning back in his chair, he turned to Kahet, "All I see is ball of varying size everywhere I go."
"Your vision's different than mine" he said and looked out the window towards the growing star that was Earth's sun. With a smile, he said, "I see a palette of colors with every unique planet and thing in this universe. Every place has its beauty whether it's in a sunrise or the smallest flower. You see in a spectrum dominated by heat while mines is by color so I'm easily entranced by the different hues I discover."
"I've used it with my mask before but I'd rather prefer my natural born eyesight" Sau'Nak said, not really seeing the appeal of it. "Color may be interesting but it doesn't aid in survival. To be honest, I'd feel vulnerable without my sight."
"I like both, one's good for hunting, the other for exploring" Kahet said and placed his hands behind his head to relax. "Are the other planets suitable for exploration?"
"Not on land exploration, we don't have equipment suitable for it" he said, typing into his console to bring back the previous solar system projection. "The larger planets gravitational field would pull us into a crash but the smaller planets are good for a quick look."
"Not the risk-taking type, are you?" Kahet chuckled with a grin at his calm cousin. The male was always a rule-abiding person and looked to the rational and logical aspects for answers to problems. Plainly put, his cousin was one serious guy.
"Of course not, it would only worsen and arise even more problems" Sau'Nak said, shaking his head in disapproval. "I'm not Aru'Dre. You need one level-headed person to keep you all out of trouble."
"What about Leitjin?" he asked, trilling quietly. "He's happy all the time."
"He pleases people with what they want to hear, I don't" he stated plainly and sighed. "I'm studying to be an Arbitrator. I can't appease criminals one day like he does with patients, they're two different things."
"Look at my father, he's humorous and serious" Kahet suggested and laughed. "And he's a damn good Arbitrator so far."
"He's your father, mines is the scariest Arbitrator on board" Sau'Nak said with a small smile in return. "I was raised by two tough people, I'm meant to act the same way. Yours are. . .eccentric."
"Don't I know it" he trilled and sat back in his seat. "I guess I should prepare my weapons for the hunt. . ."
Kahet sunk more into his chair so Sau'Nak looked over and asked, "Aren't you going to do it?"
"Nah, I'll do it later" he said lazily and yawned. "I'm going to watch my mother's solar system fly by."
"Will, there's a stranger in our home!" Marissa screamed and pointed to Sau'Nak. "Who or what are you?! Don't play with me, buddy!"
Marissa glanced in evident fear at the male, well, he looked like a male to her. He was much taller at 6'11 and towered over her small frame of 5'4 while his skin was an odd blue. . .like sapphire. He was covered in some kind of silver armor around his torso and thighs. He carried weird gadgets that made him actually look like some weird game cosplayer of sort. His face was covered with a sleek and high-cheeked mask silver while hair-like dreads were tied in a ponytail. Whoever he was, he scared the daylights out of her but she was not about to run out of her home by this intruder!
"I'm asking the questions here, ooman!" he growled in annoyance. What the hell were these beings talking about? Why was one oddly calm while the other was reacting normally?
"Hey, he's in character" Will said but winced at his cousin's glare. Clearing his throat, he asked, "Are you lost? Did you trash our cabin? If so, you owe us money, pal."
"What the hell are you babbling about?!" Sau'Nak yelled at the male and decided to question the female instead. "You seem logical. Are you- Put the weapon down!"
Marissa had raised her leftover broom to hit him with but he pulled it out of her grip and threw it aside like a toothpick. She gulped and stared at the tall man. What was he? He wore a bunch of armor and a weird mask, while his skin looked. .well. .alien!
He could be a man in a costume, she reasoned in thought but snapped out of it quickly.
"Are you with the government?" he questioned her and she furrowed her brows.
"No! I think they lie to us all the time!" she blurted out and then covered her mouth. "Oh, you're not going to charge me for conspiracy, are you?"
"I'm not with your government, do I look like I am?" Sau'Nak asked, snorting afterwards. These humans were acting oddly illogical!
"You could be and I'm probably being filmed as I speak" she reasoned and then glared, "Now you answer my question: Why are you here?"
Leitjin popped out behind the couch painfully making her jump back in fright. Glaring at Sau'Nak, she demanded, "Any other friends I should know about?!"
"I'm sorry but we needed to hide" Leitjin spoke to her in his friendly 'medic tone'. "I was injured by your government and this was the only place we found for safety."
"You tried to take on the government?" Will asked, surprised. "No one's ever done that and lived!"
Will stared at the other stranger in awe. Where had these guys come from? Yes, he was defensive of why they were here but he wouldn't judge anyone until he knew every piece of information. The other man, obviously his voice was male, wore armor around his torso only but he saw that his skin was brown instead of the other who was blue and was much shorter at 6'5. They looked alike except for the skin tone and height.
"They came to us, we were simply. . .exploring" Sau'Nak said, covering his tracks. Why did Leitjin have to be so trusting? The humans could be playing them for fools as they spoke!
"In armor? This guy looks like a warrior rather than an explorer" Marissa stated skeptically. Poking Sau'Nak's skin quickly, she felt the skin as lightly scaly but warm like hers. And real.
"Don't touch me, you could have germs and pollute my skin with them!" Sau'Nak pointed out and backed away.
"So could you so we'll both die, happy now?" she snapped and looked at Leitjin. "You seem nice so I'll talk to you. What are you? You don't look human despite what my cousin here says."
"We. . .well. .we're aliens" Leitjin said, taking the plain approach. How else could he explain it? Will grinned at Marissa who silenced him instantly with a glare. "We came to visit and your government attacked us in the woods while I was exploring."
"Did they follow you?" Will asked, looking out his window quickly and walked over to close the blinds. "If they know you're aliens, they're not going to let you go."
"How do you know this?" Sau'Nak demanded from him.
"Its how it is here since the 1950's" Will explained with a shrug. "People say it's true, some say aliens don't exist, and some say the government either hides it or makes it up. There's theories everywhere!"
"He's pro-alien" Marissa stated simply and looked at each of them. "So, you're here on the friendly approach or to conquer us?"
"If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already" Sau'Nak said coldly. She narrowed her eyes and glared at him sharply.
"You won't believe what we just saw!" Bianca shouted as she ran inside and Christina lagged in from behind sluggishly.
Marissa and Will tried to cover both aliens but failed miserably since Leitjin was sprawled on the couch and Sau'Nak was more than a foot taller. Bianca stopped as her eyes widened. She was about to scream at seeing the creature behind her cousins but Marissa ran over and covered her mouth to silence her. Christina, however, was another topic.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" she yelled from shock and anger. Looking from Marissa to the blue alien, she then noticed the state of the cabin, "What did you do?! Have a frat party in here?!"
Marissa closed the door tightly and grabbed both women to a separate area while Will went back to asking curious questions. Christina glared at her while Bianca whimpered and tried to run off.
"They needed help and I gave it to them" Marissa explained as simply as she could. "They were here before Will and I arrived and we thought they were burglars or something. They looked all weird in their getups. So-"
"You did this!" Christina yelled to the aliens. "Just because you're hurt does not mean you're not paying us and mooching off!"
Marissa yanked her attention back by saying, "They're aliens, Chris. Real friggin' aliens. I'm not talking about weird monsters of our world but X-Files aliens."
"Oh. . .damn" she sighed and took a deep raggedy breath. Letting out steam, she yelled out again, "Correction: Just because you're from another planet doesn't mean you're not paying us and mooching off!"
"Chris!" Marissa yelled and sighed at her ongoing glare. Giving her an innocent look, she went on, "I kinda promised they could stay here until the brown one heals so they can go off and take down the government for hurting them."
"Mari, they're-they're aliens!" Bianca whimpered and bit her bottom lip from fear. She watched the aliens from behind Christina and pulled at the end of her sweater's sleeves to relieve the sudden shock.
"Wait a minute!" Christina mumbled and yelled out, "Did you guys follow us from the woods?"
"What are you talking about?" Leitjin asked, confused. Tilting his head, he said, "We've never met or seen you."
"Eh. . .You haven't?" she asked, scratching her head. "But I saw three of you a while ago. . .Hmm. .Now that you mention it, I never saw a blue guy there."
"Who's blue?" Sau'Nak asked, clueless. The gibbering of these creatures were grinding his nerves. Leitjin sighed and shook his head. Then in a sharp tone, demanded, "You saw more of us, where?"
Who does he think he is? Coming into my cabin and demanding answers?, she thought angrily. He's the alien in my place!
"I'm not gonna say anything with that attitude" Christina snapped and turned around. He growled and looked at Marissa.
"I'm guessing she's the terror you spoke of" he said, arrogantly. She smiled at him for once but Christina yanked her back.
"This isn't an alien hovel, this is dangerous!" she pointed out as she narrowed her angry eyes at the brunette. "Why didn't you think rationally? You're the smart one!"
"I did, they needed help and I gave it" Marissa said meekly and looked at her fingers. When the woman was furious, she avoided her evil eye. "I couldn't kick them out, Leitjin's injured."
"Lei-who? You gave them names?!" Christina shouted and pointed at them as if they weren't there. Leitjin tried to scoot closer to the couch and fuse with it to escape while the pilot glared at her awful mannerisms. "If they needed help, you give them meds and send them on their way and say 'have a nice day'."
"We have names, we're not pets, ooman!" Sau'Nak growled at the fuming woman, who instantly tore off her jacket and threw it at him in a fit.
"Shut up, I'm a mad woman and I have the floor!" she yelled and turned back to Marissa. Bianca decided to walk over to the aliens and stay in that refuge despite not knowing them. "I just saw a bunch of feds beat the crap out of guys like these! And they weren't easy to take down either, I saw a bunch of dead bodies on the floor too!"
Grabbing Marissa closer, she whispered angrily, "What if they threatened you if you rejected them? For all you know, they could've killed you and Will, Mari. You can't trust everyone you see just because they're injured. Especially if they're aliens!"
"I can hear you" Leitjin spoke up making both women look up. Pointing to his head, he said, "Good hearing. Anyway, I would never cause you harm. For one, they aided me and I am in your debt. And two, I'm a medic and I can't legally hurt anyone unless I'm in danger. So there."
"He's. .he's a doctor" Marissa added in helpfully to Christina, who's eye was practically twitching.
"Oh, that makes everything better!" she snapped furiously and pointed to Sau'Nak. "And what's he? A top intergalactic business executive?!"
"I'm a pilot, you whiny brat" Sau'Nak hissed furiously. He really was getting irritated by her behavior. She really was worse than the other one.
A muffled shout went off inside the tent and seconds later, a bone crunching sound was heard. Aru'Dre dropped the motionless human body onto the floor and looked around the tent. All he could see was a table with papers and scattered weapons. Throwing the stuff aside, he broke the weapons he held to release some fury.
"Where the hell are my things?!" he cursed in his language as his golden eyes narrowed.
"Stop making noise and hide the carcasses" Kahet ordered quickly as they tucked away the bodies behind some crate looking objects. Looking at Bakuub, he said, "This is getting us nowhere. We may have to split up and search each tent alone."
"That's what happened to us the first time, I'm not getting caught again" Aru'Dre growled quietly and showed them his wrists. "Those oomans ruined my beautiful skin and they will not touch it again!"
"Those are good points but obtaining our belongings is the main objective right now" Bakuub said, glaring at the tent walls with a snort. "Pathetic creatures."
"Good thing some are asleep, it is nighttime here and their vision is poor" Kahet said, blinking his eyes repeatedly. "Just like mine. I can barely see anything past ten feet from me. I need to get my mask back."
"Me too" Aru'Dre grumbled and crossed his arms in annoyance. "That's one reason why I'm against splitting up. My vision and Kahet's suck."
"Thank you for pointing that out, again" his cousin growled and resisted from kicking a table in the tent. "What will we do? Unless something distracts their attention-"
Multiple sounds rang out into the night as Kahet's sentence broke off. The three strained to hear what it was but light footsteps began to cover the sound. Great, the humans were awake now.
"Whatever it is, it has their attention" Aru'Dre snorted and looked at Bakuub, "Should we make a run for it?"
Kahet walked into the eerily silent but bloody hallway and spotted Aru'Dre coming to retrieve his spear calmly.
"Ah, this is fun" he trilled as he spotted his cousin with the ally humans. Pointing to the entrance, he said, "Let's go. Bakuub already left and is waiting. The ship is right in the clearing and Sau'Nak is practically shooting off any reinforcements like target practice."
Kahet nodded and moved towards the entrance at the end before realizing Aru'Dre had stayed behind. He ushered the two humans onwards as he turned to look at him, "What're you doing?"
"Leaving the pauk-de oomans with a small present" he trilled and activated the self-destruct bomb of his gauntlet. He rapidly pulled it off and threw it into the hallway.
Kahet and he began to run to the entrance as the bomb ticked from behind. The two hunters sprinted out of the door-less entrance and spotted the ship hovering over the field. They could feel the heat from the thrusters tingle their skin as they quickly saw the ramp and jumped onto it. Eshin'Ga was at the control and she pulled the switch to close the hatch as their ship pulled into the air. They could hear a last fire shoot into the field before they flew into the sky.
"Are you two all right?" she asked, looking them over like a mother.
"Just a few grazes, they had nothing on us" Aru'Dre scoffed and showed her his trophies arrogantly. "Not bad, eh? Especially after what they did."
"I'm sure the females will pour all over you when we return" Eshin'Ga chuckled and ushered them up the stairs.
"They better" Aru'Dre snorted as Kahet shook his head at his words.
~Hope you enjoyed the small preview of the story. As you can see, many characters will be involved and that's from the first half of the story.