The Savage Alien's Chosen (Astral Heat Book 3) Read online

  THE SAVAGE ALIEN’S CHOSEN

  ASHLEY HUNTER

  Copyright 2016 by Ashley Hunter

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced

  in any way whatsoever, without written permission

  from the author, except in case of brief

  quotations embodied in critical reviews

  and articles.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any

  character, person, living or dead, events, place or

  organizations is purely coincidental. The author does not

  have any control over and does not assume any responsibility

  for third party websites or their content.

  First edition, 2016

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter 1: Landfall

  Chapter 2: Cold Realities, Hot Passions

  Chapter 3: Warring Emotions

  Chapter 4: Thaw

  Chapter 5: A Touch That Melts

  Chapter 6: The Choice

  Chapter 7: The End of Winter

  Chapter 1: Landfall

  “Attention all personnel, we will be arriving at Nardenstar in precisely 12.43 minutes. Please be ready to disembark and take all personal items with you. This destination update was sponsored by Lexo’s Used Star-Craft Depot. Choose dependability. Choose Lexo.”

  Lara looked up from her research data as the bland voice of the Navigation Computer made its pronouncement. A spike of fear hit her in the pit of her stomach and she battled to fight down the tide of panic that threatened to engulf her.

  Just stay calm, she told herself. You’ve got this covered. Professor Belthazar wouldn’t have selected you for this mission if he didn’t think you had what it takes.

  The problem was Lara didn’t really believe she had what it takes. Back on Science Base Odin, the vast space station perched on the edge of Narden territory, Belthazar’s kindly manner and paternal interest in her had made her feel special and confident that she could accomplish anything.

  Now though, light years from the station and the safety of her lab and utterly alone aboard an automated commercial star ship, her confidence had withered away to nothing. The Professor might think she had what it takes but would the secretive and hostile Narden feel the same way?

  Letting out a frustrated sigh, she switched off her holo-computer and put it back into its holder. Well, whatever type of reception awaited her she had to get ready for it.

  She only hoped the Narden didn’t cut out her tongue and stake her out on the tundra as soon as she landed, like they did to those Harrian Missionaries who had arrived on their home world unannounced fifty years ago. Trying not to dwell on something so grisly, she got to her feet and paced across the cabin to check her appearance in the mirror.

  The face looking back at her in the glass was small and round, with a perky little nose, full Rubina lips and chocolate dark eyes. She scrutinised her appearance critically, running her hand through her curly, raven black hair and tying it into a ponytail.

  She took a few steps back and straightened the light blue tunic she wore and grimaced at how much it showed off her voluptuous curves and the melon ripe swell of her breasts.

  It wasn’t that she was ashamed of her body, but she wanted to be valued for her mind and scientific capabilities rather than being seen as the fuller figured chick with the big jugs.

  Even amongst the enlightened academia sexism and chauvinism was rife and not the first time, she’d had to decline the propositions of a horny college lecturer or research team leader.

  Fortunately, she had secured her post as Professor Belthazar’s research assistant on her own academic merits. Though she had only been aboard Odin for a month, he’d come to totally rely on her and valued her abilities highly. Why else would he send her on so vital and sensitive a mission as this?

  “Arrival at Nardenstar space port in precisely 8.77 minutes,” the Navigation Computer suddenly announced, startling her out of her thoughts. “Meeting people for the first time can be a nerve-wracking experience. Be sure to make the right impression by using Lovetongue Mouth Freshener. Love your breath, love your Lovetongue.”

  “Oh shut up!” snapped Lara, snatching up her travel case and storming out of the cabin. This was it, she realised, the point of no return.

  She took several deep breaths as she headed down the corridor to the docking bay and wished she was still back on Odin, buried in her work. She just wasn’t ready for a field mission, and she almost ordered the computer to turn round and return to the space station.

  She couldn’t do that though. She couldn’t let the professor down. His disappointment would be too much too bear. No, she had to see this through, no matter how bad it was. Maybe she was overreacting. The Narden couldn’t be as bad as everybody said they were, could they?

  * * *

  Crouching low on the ridge, Nax got the Ice Ogre in his sights and raised his laser harpoon. In the hollow below, the hulking brute was busy devouring a silk-seal oblivious to its impending doom. Heart pounding in his chest, Nax aimed the laser harpoon at the Ogre’s misshaped head.

  Counting slowly to five, Nax tightened his finger on the trigger and in a surge of adrenalin pulled it all the way. The laser harpoon streaked brilliant red across the sky and hurtled toward the Ogre, just as it leant forward and buried its head in the remains of the silk-seal.

  The laser harpoon flew through the space where the Ogre’s head had been seconds before and exploded harmlessly into the thick trench of snow a few feet away.

  The Ogre jerked its head up, a startled expression on its gruesome face and swung round to look straight at Nax’s vantage point. Letting out a thunderous roar, it lurched to its feet and pelted towards the young Narden.

  Nax also jumped to his feet and threw his laser harpoon away. It would take at least fifteen minutes for the gun to reenergise another harpoon and by then it would be too late. Ah well, Nax thought. He fancied going for a run today anyhow.

  “Hey, maggot dick!” Nax called at the top of his voice. “Move your lardy arse! You’ll have to run faster than that to catch me!”

  The Ogre roared again and sprang forward on its thick, powerful legs, considerably closing the gap between them. Nax quickly scrambled down the other side of the ridge, and started running for all his was worth. The Ogre kept up with him, barely a foot or so behind. It lashed out with his huge claws, trying to take the upstart down.

  “Oh fuck flakes!” Nax yelled, pushing his body to the limit of its strength. He’d underestimated this stinky fucker and no mistake. Maybe he wouldn’t get out of this one so easily. Maybe he would die today. The thought sent a thrill of excitement through him and he whooped with laughter.

  “Come on then, you son of a saggytit!” he yelled. “Come and kill me if you think you’ve got the nuts for it!”

  A cone of scintillating yellow light suddenly descended over Nax from above, stopping him abruptly in his tracks. He stared at the light and then turned round to face the Ogre. Wild with rage, the Ogre lunged at the cone desperate to get at its prey. A flash of blinding light engulfed the monster as it made contact with the cone and it was thrown back several feet landing in an ignoble heap in the snow.

  “Energy shield,” Nax said with distaste, glaring at the cone of light surrounding him. “I don’t need help finishing off an Ogre!” he yelled out to the wilderness.

  The Ice Ogre groaned and staggered to its feet. As it did so laser blasts ripped through the air in its direction. The monster yowled and scurried away toward the direction of the mountains. The firing stopped, and Nax glared at the squat humanoid figu
re marching towards him.

  “Damn you, Granor!” the young Narden snapped. “Why do you always have to spoil my fun?”

  Granor gave him a slow blink and holstered his laser pistol. He reached into his belt with one furry hand and took out a small control device which he then pointed at the energy shield. The cone of light surrounding Nax disappeared.

  “Your gratitude is overwhelming, my prince,” Granor rumbled, pocketing the control device.

  “I had him just where I wanted him,” Nax protested. “In a few more moments I’d have had an Ogre head hunting trophy for the great hall.”

  “Chances are the Ogre would have been taking your head home with him,” Granor said gruffly. “At least it will think twice before coming down from the mountains to harass the fishing colonies again. You should have told me you were coming out here to play the hero.”

  “It’s hard to play the hero when you have your lumbering bodyguard in tow,” Nax said acidly. “How did you know where to find me anyway? I made sure nobody spotted me when I sneaked out of the castle.”

  Granor bared his fangs and tapped his black snout. “A Yetoid has a nose for these things.”

  “You’re so funny,” Nax said in a snarky voice. “Why don’t you catch up with that Ogre, I’m sure he’ll appreciate that dazzling sense of humour of yours. You’ll be very happy together.”

  “As tempting as that sounds my prince, I must decline. I need to get you to the space port. Professor Belthazar’s gift to your father will be arriving shortly, and you were ordered to collect her, in case you’d forgotten.”

  Nax made a face. “Why is it always me that gets lumbered with the lousy jobs? I have better things to do.”

  “Like being disembowelled by Ice Ogres?”

  “Shut up!”

  The thrum of an engine came from above, and they both looked up to see an Earth ship glide across the boreal sky. It was heading toward the dark wedge of rock where the space port was situated.

  “Ah, here she is now, we’d best get going,” Granor said.

  “I still don’t see why we’re playing nice with these snivelling Earthers,” Nax said sullenly. “You should sit down and watch some of the holo-casts they put out on Earthtube. They are a race of complete idiots.”

  “Then you should have a lot in common with this woman,” Granor drawled. “Come along now, I’ve a jet sleigh waiting.”

  “I’m serious though,” Nax said as he trudged after the squat Yetoid. “Why are we wasting time with our cultural inferiors? I still don’t understand why we even tolerate the presence of one of their space stations in our territory. It’s quite obvious to even the stupidest Tundra Ooze that it’s there to spy on us.”

  “Science Base Odin is purely a research facility,” Granor intoned in a bored voice. “The offer of the human female is a gesture of goodwill on behalf of the Earth Corporate, and your father is wise to accept it. If your head wasn’t so stuffed full of tales from the Age Of The Diamond Glacier you’d appreciate that. The Narden are not the galactic superpower they once were. We must be cautious now and make wise alliances where we can, especially with how rapidly Earth is expanded its territory.”

  “If I had my way we’d give the Earthers a lesson in respect for their betters,” Nax grumbled. “That space station would be blasted into atoms for a start.”

  “Now you’re talking like a shaman,” Granor chuckled as they reached the jet sleigh. “Get in, and work on your social skills for when we meet this female.” He wrinkled his snout. “It’s a pity we can’t stop off for a bath.”

  Nax sneered and flipped Granor the finger. “Kiss my ass.”

  The Yetoid shook his shaggy head. “I think you should stop watching Earthtube, my prince. You’re picking up some pretty dirty habits from these humans.”

  * * *

  Something was wrong. As she waited anxiously for the ship to dock, she tried using the comm.-system to reach Professor but still with no luck.

  She had been ordered to contact him as soon as she arrived, but had been unable to reach him. In fact, she couldn’t make contact with anyone aboard the space station at all. Static was the only answer she could get.

  Lara switched off the comm.-system in frustration. It might be nothing more than a technical fault, she told herself, but the sense of foreboding didn’t leave her. Something was very wrong here.

  There was a heavy chunk as the ship came in to land in the mountaintop space port, and a shudder went through the deck. She took a deep breath and clutched her travel bag tightly. This was it, her big moment.

  There was a loud clank as the landing door slowly opened. Lara tensed. She stared straight ahead as the interior of the spaceport revealed itself and her heart leapt into her mouth as her eyes made contact with the man standing on the other side of the landing door.

  It was a Narden male, young and tall, with long white-blond hair draped over his shoulders. He wore a dark red leather outfit that accentuated the contours of his toned body, and a half cloak was draped over one broad shoulder.

  His face was devastatingly handsome with high cheekbones and sharp, elegant features. His nose was narrow and fiercely defined, sat above seductively kissable lips. Intelligent, marble blue eyes widened as he took her in and then became blank and emotionless like the rest of his face.

  Heart stuttering in her chest, Lara willed her legs to move down the ramp to meet him. “Hello,” she said, trying to keep the tremor from her voice. “I am Science Officer Lara McClusky, research assistant to Professor Belthazar. On behalf of Science Base Odin and the Earth Corporate, I extend the hand of friendship.” She stopped talking, feeling utterly exhausted. As an afterthought, she stuck out her hand to the gorgeous Adonis standing before her.

  The Narden stared at her in silence and panicked welled up inside Lara. Could he understand what she was saying? She thought the official language of the Narden Empire was Galactic Speech? She had no idea what their original language was, and she very much doubted he would speak English.

  The man turned to look at the second person in the spaceport. Lara was taken aback by the burly, white furred biped that ambled forward. This must be one of the Yetoids, she reasoned, the brutish race that shared the Narden home world.

  According to the data files, the Yetoids were slaves to the humanoid Narden and often served as security personnel, though they performed a variety of other duties as well. Maybe this one served as an interpreter for the young man?

  “Hello, my name is Lara McClusky, Science Officer McClusky of the Science Base Odin,” she said to the Yetoid, beginning her spiel again as best as she could and trying not to let the fearsome looking creature intimidate her. On behalf of Professor Belthazar and Earth Corporate, I extend the hand of friendship.”

  Without a word, the Yetoid took a metal collar that was hanging from his belt and clamped it round Lara’s neck. The girl yelped in shock and her hands went up to the collar.

  “What is this?” she exclaimed. “I demand you take this off me at once!”

  The Yetoid’s coal black eyes showed no emotion as he pointed a control unit at her and pressed the button. The collar flared with blue light and crippling pain shot through Lara’s body.

  She let out a ragged scream and fell to her knees, the pain utterly incapacitating her. It took her several moments to recover and when she looked up the Narden gave her a covert glance and then stared down at his feet. He did not seem happy at what the Yetoid had just done to her.

  “What, what are you doing?” she croaked. “What is the meaning of this?”

  “Get on your feet,” the Yetoid said in a thick, guttural voice. “Keep silent or I will activate the pain collar again. Nod your head if you understand.”

  Trembling all over, Lara nodded her head mutely. The aftershock of the sudden pain was tearing up at her nerve endings. Though she couldn’t process what was going on, she understood well enough to know that the Yetoid would not hesitate to activate the pain collar again, incapacit
ating her and even killing her in the process.

  She shot a hurt look at the Narden again. His sculptured face was a thunderous mask and he refused to look back at her. Without a word, he strode across the open space and passed the Yetoid without a word. The Yetoid lumbered after him like a guard dog. He turned his head to the girl.

  “Follow,” he ordered.

  Her legs like water, Lara somehow managed to get back on her feet. She lurched after them, her mind reeling in panic, trying to make sense of what was going on. There was obvious some kind of mistake.

  Surely, they realised she had come on a peaceful mission, to exchange knowledge and to strengthen ties between Earth and the Narden? There had obviously been a misunderstanding. If only she could make contact with the professor, he would straighten everything out.

  Hoping that whoever these two were taking her to would know who she was, she trudged after them as they exited the empty spaceport through an oval shaped door. Beyond the door was a long glass corridor and Lara blinked against the pristine sun that glared through the glass.

  As her eyes became accustomed to the light, she looked out through the walls of the corridor at the landscape below. Nardenstar was spread out in all its snowy glory, with deep white valleys, icy ravines and behemoth huge mountains thrusting upward into the sky. Lara soaked in the majesty of the landscape, wishing that she could enjoy it under more agreeable circumstances.

  Looking forward, she focused on their destination, which was rising up at the end of the corridor. It was a vast structure of glistening white stone and glass, stretching upwards from its mountain perch for thousands of miles, terminating in a needle thin spire of scintillating blue ice.

  Its grandeur took Lara’s breath away. She hadn’t realised the Narden were capable of producing works of such outstanding beauty.

  It was a shame their manners were not as impeccable as their architecture, she thought sourly. She glared at the Yetoid’s squat back as they moved down the corridor, coming at last to a pair of large double doors flanked by two more armoured Yetoids, armed with laser halberds.