Alien Defender Read online

  Alien Defender

  A Sweet Sci-Fi Romance

  S.T. Neptune

  Gabotten Warriors: Book 1

  Copyright © 2019 by S.T. Neptune

  All rights reserved. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.

  Please note that this is the clean, sweet version of the Alien Defender story.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Characters, names, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or anything else, is entirely coincidental.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Epilogue

  1

  Hannah took a deep breath and looked over at her friend Anita. “This is the moment!” she announced. Hannah slowly returned her gaze to the special generator she had just rigged up in the lab while aboard the Platonna, one that would hopefully convert thermal heat to electricity using the unique new crystal she had just discovered on the asteroid near New Gabot. The asteroids near New Gabot—and really anything in the New Gabotten star system—were all uncharted territory for Hannah and her fellow Earth Science Officers. Winding up in that star system was an accident when a wormhole appeared out of nowhere. In fact, they thought it was a miracle they survived the experience at all. And now they were about to uncover perhaps the greatest magnifier of energy their planet could ever use.

  One that defied the laws of thermodynamics. One that defied entropy. One that could convert a tiny input of energy into exponential proportions.

  If Hannah’s theory was correct. If they could prove the crystal’s potential and its worthiness, and travel back safely through the wormhole, their mission would not just be a success.

  It would be legendary.

  “Go for it, Hannah!” Anita beamed over at her. In the background, Hannah heard the captain broadcast that an unknown vessel was in range and that the Platonna was seeking information from it, but she ignored the communication. The captain was constantly announcing the presence of every single ship they passed. Right now Hannah cared about one thing only: the crystal.

  Anita placed her hand firmly on Hannah’s shoulder, probably to show her support. Hannah appreciated the encouragement she received from her new colleague aboard the ship. Friendship was indeed a rarity for her, especially after everything she had been through.

  Hannah took another breath and pressed the button, viewing the experiment from behind a laboratory containment system. Suddenly, she saw the rechargeable battery, which was connected to the power outlet of the generator, charge instantly. She powered down the unit, typed a quick note in her handheld log, and then turned her head toward her friend.

  Anita gasped. “It works! Oh my stars, you might win a huge prize for this!” she shouted.

  “Maybe. If we ever make it back!” answered Hannah as she tried to keep her cool. She didn’t want to get too excited. Not just yet.

  She shuddered, thinking about how they accidentally arrived there. Captain Silverstein herself seemed doubtful about how they would fare on the return trip through the wormhole. Would it be stable? How long would it even exist? It did appear out of nowhere after all. To think that they were simply gathering more data about Jupiter’s moons, to help with Earth’s colonization efforts. As it was, they were using a relatively new drive technology aboard their ship, one that shortened the travel time between Earth and Jupiter to just a few months. And suddenly they were traveling through a wormhole to a relatively unknown system. All they knew is that it would typically take 1,000 years to reach New Gabot, and yet there they were.

  Hannah shivered again, thinking about her family back home, wondering if she would ever get back to them.

  She had to find a way.

  Earth was becoming increasingly unstable. So much change. Many did not want to leave the home planet and yet living there was becoming nearly inconceivable, particularly since the glaciers had begun to melt. Hannah at least needed to stay alive, to find a way to make contact with Earth again. Then she would presumably remain in what was essentially indentured servitude to the world government. Since conditions were so poor, she had signed up to be a science officer, meaning she’d spend most of her days away from her family in exchange for family provisions: her family back home would be granted weekly food rations, a clean, small apartment, access to medical care, and her daughter would be eligible to follow in her footsteps as she advanced her education.

  But if Earth didn’t realize they had survived the wormhole, all that support could be lost. Her family probably wouldn’t make it if the government didn’t provide for Hannah’s family. The dangerous, cutthroat atmosphere on Earth was just too difficult to bear without the government’s help, especially for the common person. A rigged system to ensure everyone was helping the political system, enabling Big Brother to control and watch everyone’s moves. But no one else in Hannah’s family was left to serve the government if Hannah didn’t make it. Hannah’s mom was still alive but she had been badly injured. She could just about take care of Hannah’s daughter while she was away and aboard the ship. So no one else could provide for her daughter.

  Her daughter. Little, five-year-old Mia. A tear formed in Hannah’s eye.

  “Hannah? Are those tears of happiness? But you look so sad…” Anita’s voice trailed off, suddenly seeming distracted. She looked over to the doorway of the room, but Hannah didn’t understand why. In fact, the ship seemed pretty quiet, even though Hannah registered a faint warning from the captain in the back of her mind. Why wasn’t there more chatter about the vessel that was spotted?

  Hannah looked up at her friend, puzzled by her pensive expression. "Anita, are you okay? Did you hear anything more about that nearby ship? I was so distracted by the experiment." Suddenly, Hannah felt strangely sick to her stomach, but she didn't know why.

  It was the same feeling she experienced right before her husband was killed.

  Anita looked back at Hannah. She closed her eyes and shook her head emphatically. "I'm so sorry, Hannah. I was following orders. I didn't expect that we would develop a friendship these last five months." Hannah noticed a teardrop fall from from her friend's eye.

  "Wait a second, Anita. What are you talking about?" Hannah clenched her fists and rose from her chair. “Tell me what’s going on. You know something!” She faced Anita, staring into her eyes—pleading with her mentally that her biggest fears wouldn't be realized. Had she, in fact, been played somehow?

  Anita pressed a button on the containment system and quickly reached in to take the crystal into her hands. "I'm so sorry," she said, pressing her lips tightly before bolting for the door. As she ran out of the room, Hannah panicked that the one sample they had would disappear. Not knowing what they were up against, she didn't want to lose her one chance at hope for planet Earth, to help them turn the planet around with this promising tec
hnology. If she could at least get this sample back to Earth, they could study its properties and perhaps mimic a similar solution or learn something from it, at least. There was no guarantee the wormhole would stay open for long—no guarantee they could get back to the place they found it, so they didn't have time to mine another one. Determined to regain control of the situation, Hannah summoned all her strength to catch up to Anita. She burst across the room and reached the doorway Anita had just passed through when she suddenly bumped into a huge alien, or at least Hannah assumed he was an alien. Tall, muscular, and human-seeming, yet his skin was slightly iridescent. He was certainly larger than any human man she had ever seen and wore what appeared to be fitted black armor over his torso.

  Hannah, terrified, backed up into the lab as she watched him grab Anita by the throat. Holding her with one hand in the air, he walked into the room. Hannah took a step backwards in sync with each one he took forward. He pressed the panel on the side to close the door behind him and said, "You're going to die for what you did, Shapeshifter!" And with that, he squeezed her neck, yielding a wriggling, convulsing body before them as it switched into various forms from one second to the next—male human, female human, wolf, other alien forms, and animals Hannah did not recognize—and then it went limp. It died right in front of Hannah. Its last form had green, scaly skin.

  Hannah couldn’t breathe. It was all happening too fast. And she didn’t know what in the galaxy was going on.

  The huge alien then grabbed the crystal as it fell from Anita’s grasp—or the Shapeshifter that posed as Anita—as her body dropped to the floor. Hannah gasped. Her head was spinning.

  The worst part: she didn’t know if she was next on the alien’s kill list.

  2

  Jaytax stared at the little creature in front of him. So beautiful. I didn't know they could be so captivating, he thought. He took note of her dark hair pulled away from her face, revealing the warmest eyes he had ever seen. They were deep brown in color, a sharp contrast to her fair skin. She appeared to be physically fit despite her short stature in his estimation, especially given her small, tight muscles. When he let his eyes lock onto hers, the feeling that shot through his body was absolutely electrifying. He nearly lost his breath, which was unlike him given all the battles and circumstances he had come up against.

  But he had never come across someone so beautiful before.

  Suddenly, the human pressed a button on the laboratory unit behind her and a small explosion occurred. Jaytax looked away from the human to assess the danger, and she stealthily managed to escape right out from under him, fleeing the laboratory room. Jaytax watched her as she began to run through the main corridor of the ship. He heard her scream the words "Captain! Help!” but did not understand their meaning since he was not familiar with her language. Just as she was about to enter the command deck, two human officers appeared in the hallway and shot Jaytax with blasters. Fortunately, his skin-tight armor protected him from the shots, though the heat generated from the contact burned. The two officers looked at each other; they were clearly confused that he did not go down. Jaytax took advantage of their hesitation and grabbed each of them by their necks and threw them against the wall, killing them instantly. He looked up and ran towards the command deck, hoping to catch up with the beautiful human before one of the enemies could kill her.

  "Watch out, he's going to kill you!" shouted the woman who appeared to be the captain. The beautiful human ducked behind one of the operating stations, not realizing that a crew member was behind her with a blaster pointed directly at her head.

  “Anita is down so it's a no-go,” shouted another human. The one with the blaster nodded and pointed it towards Jaytax instead.

  “What is a no-go? Watch out for the alien!” shouted the beautiful human.

  Jaytax quickly grabbed the nearest human and threw her onto the one with the blaster. He knew if he used one of his own powerful blasters the impact of the hit, especially given the proximity, could harm the beautiful woman.

  The beautiful human screamed and crouched down even further. “Please, don’t hurt me!” Her reaction bothered him; he felt concerned that the young woman did not seem to realize who the real enemy was. It was making it difficult for him to protect her—and apprehend her.

  Jaytax thought quickly and jumped over the console to face her. "I will not hurt you. I will protect you," said Jaytax in Gabottenese. Her eyes widened. Just as he placed his hand on her shoulder she went unconscious. He caught her and laid her down softly on the floor. Then he grabbed the blaster off one of the fallen officers behind her, placed it in one of his holsters, and shot any remaining crew that were hiding in the command center with his own. Taking the woman in his arms, he carried her to the airlock where his ship was docked.

  It was time to take her to New Gabot and prepare for the wedding ceremony.

  3

  Hannah's eyelids felt heavy. She strained to lift them before resigning herself to her exhaustion. She stopped trying and let her other senses take over. Her nose flared and she was pleasantly surprised when she smelled the familiar scent of children’s shampoo. This meant she wasn’t aboard a ship! Could it be? She then noticed the warmth of the small body next to her and smiled. When she concluded she was definitely home with her daughter Mia, a shot of excitement passed through her. She tingled. She wanted to see her little, beautiful, precious, wonderful daughter. Hannah missed Mia so much. With that new spark of energy, she managed to open her eyes slightly; her gaze rested on the dimly lit figure lying next to her. She stroked the wavy hair on her daughter’s head, admiring her adorable little face.

  Such peace.

  Such tranquility.

  Hannah’s thoughts and emotions began to swirl inside. She was grateful that her daughter was so resilient and yet so naïve at the same time. Mia didn't know the strain of working for the government, of what it was to survive. Hannah and her mother—Mia’s Grammy—did their best to give Mia a happy childhood despite their struggles.

  Despite Daniel’s death.

  Daniel. Hannah missed him so much, too, but she would never see him again. There was no hopeful return, ever. He had died when Mia was only one year old, so Mia couldn’t remember him, and perhaps it was best that way. She didn't know what life was like with her father, so she didn’t have to process what it was like without him. And given all the upheaval many other families experienced, it was actually common to have splintered families. A normal family with a mother and father was a fairy tale of old, something that went away at the end of the 21st century. Unless you were wealthy or powerful.

  Hannah shook her head, realizing she was spending time being upset instead of being present. She needed to savor the moment. She managed to calm down and decided to focus on her breathing, which was often easiest to do by focusing on her daughter’s. Hannah always marveled at how deeply her daughter breathed. Once again, she watched Mia’s belly go up and down, up and down. Hannah tried to match the rhythm of her daughter's inhales and exhales, hoping that perhaps she could feel an ounce of the peace that her daughter was able to experience. But no, being home was just a dream. For she would have to return to her assignment in a day or two. What day was it? She didn't know. She didn't even want to figure it out. Still in a daze, she knew her time at home was most likely short and she just wanted to savor the moment—just a little bit longer.

  "Mommy?" Mia’s eyes fluttered open. She looked up at her mother with her broad smile as the sunlight filtered into the room. The yellow-orange light touched the top of Mia's hair, lightening her brown hair to a delicate strawberry brown. Hannah's heart swelled with joy. Just then, she felt something wrap around her body, hugging her tightly. She looked at her body but didn't see anything except for Mia beside her. Oh no, she thought. She knew something was wrong and that it was yet another dream that was about to dissipate. She quickly moved her head so she could kiss her daughter. Just as her lips were about to reach her daughter's cheek, Mia faded away and the
dream was gone. “No!” she screamed. Hannah began to cry, to utterly sob. All she wanted to do was be back home with her daughter.

  When her eyes opened, out of the dream, she looked around expecting to see her quarters on the Platonna. Alarm shot through her when she realized she was somewhere else. She turned her head and noticed a large screen on the left. Oddly, the screen displayed the outside of the ship, but her normal quarters didn't have that. She had a basic cabin typically, meaning no screen with a view of the outdoors. Of space. She rotated her head down and saw a plush carpet on the floor, a vibrant indigo color. After moving her heavy head slightly up, she observed a little kitchenette placed in the corner; it had a silver box that resembled a microwave from Earth.

  Suddenly, it all came back to her. Large alien, the attack in the command deck, her friend Lori's body being thrown across the room, sheer violence.

  Why has the alien spared her, she wondered.

  She shuddered, worried that she was going to become some sort of slave for the alien. Why else would he keep her? He killed everyone else!

  But then she remembered the crystal, too. He now had it in his possession! Was that the real treasure?

  Just then she heard a noise at the doorway. He was standing there looking at her. The broad, muscular alien did not say anything at first. She was afraid to look at him and yet she wanted to. Part of it was fear, but part of it was the unspeakable presence he commanded. Her eyes caught his and she suddenly felt breathless. His eyes almost seemed, warm? Immediately, her defenses went up. This has to be a tactic to soften me so he can manipulate me, she assumed. After all, he did drug me. Not to mention the fact that he killed my entire crew.