Alien Defender Read online

  But what happened to Anita? Did he do that to her—make her change figures like that? It was frightening. Was it a drug of some sort? And what was she talking about right before she died? Hannah felt dizzy from all the questions. Questions she needed answers to.

  He strolled over to the bed where she was lying and the door closed behind him. Suddenly, his eyes widened as the color of his eyes shifted from indigo—the same striking color of the carpet—to red.

  Hannah gasped.

  4

  Jaytax pressed the button on the panel in the hallway to open the door to the human’s quarters aboard his ship, the Whelanx. After the door slid back into the wall, he stared straight ahead, anxious to know the status of the human. The medical treatment was complete; the armor was now tightly fitted to the human. The Gabotten race, a highly advanced technological society, had created these special units particularly for its warriors. These units would scan a warrior after combat and assess his medical status. In addition to conducting a rapid analysis and administering appropriate medicine, if needed, the unit would then use a unique material to wrap around the body perfectly, once all treatment was complete. This material, though lightweight, was in fact a special armor. Not many weapons could pierce through this armor, and yet it was strangely flexible.

  Jaytax let his eyes gaze upon the human. He admired her beautiful, soft face. When he looked upon her brown eyes, he felt a shiver go through his body. She was looking directly at him, as if peering through his very soul.

  "Don't come near me, alien!" she yelled. Jaytax was confused. The translator in his ear had not fully calibrated yet. And while he did not know the exact words she was speaking, he could tell she was upset. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and her soft face was now tight. This human should be grateful, he thought. I saved her life. He grimaced, thinking to himself. Then he remembered how she did not appear to understand what was happening aboard her own ship when he rescued her. Perhaps that was the issue?

  The translation suddenly boomed in Jaytax’s ear. It explained her words were from the English language, the origin being planet Earth. This meant that the translator was now fully calibrated and would be able to translate the human’s words, but Jaytax hoped to learn the language in order to ease their communication in the future. After all, they would be life partners soon—for as long as they could both breathe. He held up a device that was wirelessly connected to the one in his ear. He spoke softly in his own native Gabottenese, and the device sounded, "I will not hurt you, human." This was the second time he uttered these words, but perhaps the first time she would finally understand them.

  The human's eyes formed a watery substance, and then she spoke, "I'm having difficulty moving my body. My head feels very heavy.” She frowned. “You drugged me?"

  Jaytax felt alarmed. Clearly, this human did not trust him. And yet they were about to be married! "No no, human. I would never do that to you. The Shapeshifter, the one in the laboratory...she must have placed this patch on your shoulder.” Jaytax held up a tiny dot in the air. “I found it when I set you up on this medical unit. By the way, this armor will better protect you than the human clothes you had been wearing. It is better for you to wear this." He gestured to her body. “This picapatch would not have gotten through the armor.”

  The human's eyes widened, a look he was starting to recognize. Several drops of the watery liquid streamed down her face. Then her jaw shifted, and it appeared almost square. He recognized her anger bubbling to the surface.

  "Human, please do not worry. I will provide everything you need from now on since you will be my wife.” Jaytax smiled and looked into her eyes, pleading with her to settle down.

  "Your what? I see you have a translation box there. Did it translate properly? And what else can you tell me about this Shapeshifter you mentioned. Why did you kill my entire crew?" She started to sit up on the bed, moving her head back and forth as if to shake the drugs off.

  “The drugs will wear off momentarily. The unit says so. That’s why it prepared you to rise.” Jaytax looked down at the screen on the side of the bed. Then he looked up and met her eyes again as he sat on the edge of the unit. “I said you would be a wonderful wife, and I want you to know that I will not shirk my responsibility as your husband. I will take care of you. I will provide for our children. You see, I am a warrior on my new home planet, New Gabot. And we can build a new life there, together.” He nodded to her and took her hand.

  The human quickly snatched her hand away and folded her arms across her chest. “Wait, I’m still so confused. And I need to get back to Earth.” She shook her head vigorously again. “What happened to my ship, the Platonna? What happened to my crew?” She clenched her fists. “And you stole the crystal from me! I found it!”

  Jaytax felt bad for the little human. She clearly didn’t realize she had been manipulated by the Shapeshifters. “Little human, please let me explain some of my race’s history, and then things will make sense.” He sighed. “A while back, the Shapeshifters made an alliance with another race, the Rincezi. The Rincezi wanted to take over our planet, the original Gabot. They wanted our planet because we had mined the nearby asteroids for the crystal you found, and we understood how to harness the special powers of the crystal for our society, especially for energy. But it can be used for other unique things, too, and it is the main reason we can create a gate to open a wormhole.” Jaytax paused and noticed the human was leaning closer to him, listening intently. She must have found the history interesting! He continued, “When we fought the war, we did our best to keep them from attacking the planet directly, so we had ships surrounding our planet.” Jaytax looked down, overcome with sadness. “But the Shapeshifters had surprised us and used a stealth ship to get to the surface. We didn’t know they were our enemy and that they had formed an alliance with the Rincezi previously, nor did we anticipate that they had a stealth ship in their possession. Then they changed form on the surface and posed as our kind. Stealthy and clever. They decided to distract and weaken us by setting up explosions and murdering all our women as they escaped. Especially since the Gabotten women refused to decrypt our information on how our technology works. They sacrificed themselves.” His voice was shaking and he closed his eyes.

  The little human spoke up, “Oh my, I’m very sorry.” The human had a soft tone that sounded very warm to Jaytax. Jaytax felt relieved to see she was indeed a kind soul, and that any fear or anger must have been borne from what happened on her ship. “So these Shapeshifters...are you saying my friend Anita was one of them? Is that how she changed all those forms when you killed her?”

  “Yes, in fact your entire ship was full of Shapeshifters. We detected them after you left the asteroid with the crystal.”

  The human rubbed her chin. “But my friendship...it seemed so real? They all seemed so human!”

  “When you first exited the wormhole, we detected one Shapeshifter aboard. But something happened on the asteroid. It’s interesting...we wanted to make contact with humans, actually. Our respective species are compatible, in fact. We wanted to forge a society with humans. It was one of the reasons we created the wormhole! So we thought it was fortuitous when your ship entered our system. But we were cautious because we did not know how to proceed when the Shapeshifter you called Anita was on board. We instead kept at a safe distance and waited to proceed, but then we realized she was communicating with a stealth ship and that’s when we started to try to gain intelligence without being detected.” Jaytax looked at the human, trying to read her face. He could not tell what she was thinking, except perhaps that she was surprised.

  The human rubbed her shoulder with her hand, the one that previously had the patch on it. “So Anita drugged me? Why didn’t she just kill me?”

  “I’m not sure, perhaps she actually had some feeling for you. Not all Shapeshifters are bad, but most are. She may have been following orders but saw the value in your spirit. I can see it and I just met you.” Jaytax smiled at her. The corners
of her mouth turned up. Was she about to finally smile in return?

  “How do I get back home?” she asked. “I’m Hannah, by the way.” She pointed to herself.

  “I’m Jaytax. Why do you want to go back? Do you have a husband?” he asked.

  Hannah pressed her lips together before speaking. “I do not know why you keep talking about all this marriage business. I just met you. I don’t see how you expect me to leave my loved ones on Earth to be with you? An alien?” She sounded incredulous now. Jaytax felt anger pour through his veins. He jumped up, feeling foolish yet miffed at the same time. He didn’t know anything about her life back on Earth, but from what his probes told him, it was a sorry planet. She should be grateful to be rescued and if she has anyone back home, like her parents, she should simply be asking that they join her.

  Jaytax didn’t understand how she could be so foolish. As he marched out of the room, Hannah asked, “Wait, what happened to my ship? How will I get back?”

  “You could at least give this a chance, human!” Jaytax gritted his teeth. “You wouldn't be here if it weren't for me!”

  “I have to get back. No matter what you say or do.” Her eyes swelled with the watery substance again.

  Jaytax didn’t know what to do. He was furious at her ungratefulness, but he did not want a wife who wasn’t equally interested either. Clearly, this wasn’t going to work.

  Just then, a loud boom rattled the ship and the walls started shaking. “Don’t move, we’re in danger!” And he ran out of the room.

  5

  Hannah carefully slid off the bed. She crouched down next to the medical unit, finally feeling more like herself. The drugs must have worn off, she thought. She peered over the bed so she could view the screen. She blinked her eyes in disbelief. Hannah couldn’t believe what she was seeing! Did that vessel just launch a torpedo? And it’s in our direction, she realized. Her eyes stayed glued to the screen. As the torpedo left its source, the ship went black on the screen. Suddenly, she remembered what Jaytax had explained earlier—that Shapeshifters have stealth ships. She concluded that the firing of the torpedo must have rendered the ship visible for that brief moment, and then it went dark again. Stealth.

  Boom!

  The entire ship rattled and shook. We must have sustained that hit, Hannah thought. This is a nightmare. First, I find out Anita is not my real friend as she steals the crystal. She is something called a Shapeshifter! Then, this alien comes and takes me away from my ship. How do I know he isn't lying about the rest of my crew being Shapeshifters? At that point she felt a pang of sadness, wondering where her real crew was. If Jaytax was telling the truth, did that mean they were all murdered? By the Shapeshifters? Or perhaps they were hostages somewhere!

  Hannah stayed down, not knowing if they would be attacked again. She peeked again over the bed and didn't see anything, but she also knew that meant that the Shapeshifter vessel could still be in stealth mode. She shook her head, thinking about everything that happened. She was struggling to process the information presented to her in the last few hours. But one thing was for certain: she needed to work with this Jaytax as much as possible since she had no one else. The whole marriage thing? That was odd. Though the one thing she could say about him was that he did not seem too aggressive with her either, despite his strong and confident stature. Sure, he was angry she rebuked his interest. But until then, he seemed genuinely interested in having a decent relationship with her. She had to try to get to a mutual place of understanding. That was her only chance of getting back to Earth.

  She nodded to herself, running through all possible scenarios and options in her head. But there weren’t any others. At least, she couldn’t think of any. That was it, then. She would have to find a way to work with him no matter what, to find her crew if possible, and most important—get back home.

  And that was assuming he had told her the truth about everything.

  Otherwise, she was in real trouble.

  Hannah's head jerked when she heard the door open. It was Jaytax carrying a tray of food. He gestured to a little table that was near the kitchenette. She stood up and asked, "What was all that? Are we still under attack?"

  Jaytax replied, "Thankfully we are safe now. The Shapeshifters’ torpedoes shook our ship but did not breach it. However, your ship was damaged heavily. I had set it on auto-course earlier using the coordinates of New Gabot." He looked into her eyes. “Don’t worry, we’ll fix your ship.”

  “But won’t they attack again? I saw how they can stay dark until they fire!” said Hannah.

  “I was able to identify a particular frequency that was resonating from their ship. It must be some sort of distortion to allow them to be stealth. I still don’t understand how it works, but I fired upon them while they were dark and the ship was destroyed!” Jaytax smiled. Hannah nearly forgot he had marched out angrily earlier. He seemed almost pleasant now.

  “I suppose it must have been out of my screen view...That’s great!” said Hannah. She felt her tension soften as she looked at him. She figured he wasn’t so bad to travel with after all. So far he had kept her alive. If he hadn’t come along, she might not have had any chance of getting back to Earth—the chance to ensure her family, especially her daughter, was provided for. As she considered this, she realized perhaps she hadn’t shown much appreciation to her rescuer. Her defender against the Shapeshifters. Again, assuming he was telling the truth. Trust was not something that came easily to Hannah, perhaps the reason she felt so burned by Anita after she had let go and trusted her. She shook her head as she scolded herself internally for even thinking about it right now. She needed to focus on getting back home.

  Jaytax’s forehead creased as he observed Hannah, but he didn’t say anything as he set the tray on the table. “By the way, we had to close the wormhole so that they won’t be able get through, in case they have more ships on the way. Leaving it open would mean they could proceed through the wormhole and harm your kind. The data I have gathered about Earth tells me that your people would perish instantly. You just don’t have the technology, or the knowledge in dealing with Shapeshifters or other alien races.” He paused. “But we will re-open it when it is safe. I promise. Then you can return to Earth.” He sighed.

  Hannah’s eyes widened. Jaytax seemed genuinely sad. And surprisingly helpful. She wasn’t sure what to make of it. Or him.

  The other thing throwing her off was that he was quite striking and handsome. Now that the drugs wore off, she felt she was able to observe him with more clarity. And she was starting to feel more grateful for his help and rescue.

  She felt a little tingle of gratitude. He certainly was appealing. She couldn’t remember the last time she admired a man. Or someone male, that is. If she was completely alone in life, maybe she would have considered exploring something with him. But that wasn't the case. No use in even thinking about it, she determined.

  Jaytax had a curious expression on his face as she viewed him. She quickly averted her eyes and looked at the tray of food on the table. She didn't know how he had cooked meat and vegetables in a stew on the ship, but she was feeling hungry and was ready to try anything at this point. And now that he wasn't expecting her to stay and be his wife she felt like a weight had been lifted. But she still hadn't quite processed everything that happened.

  As if reading her mind, Jaytax said, "This is a special meat from New Gabot, from the Micontax animal. Don't worry, it is safe to eat. Surprisingly, our food is quite good, even on vessels. We have excellent technology even in food saving and preservation." Jaytax walked around to the other side of the table and gestured for her to sit in the chair. He actually pulled the chair out for her and then pushed it in when she sat down. She was surprised he had manners, that he appeared nearly as refined as the human men in old English literature.

  Hannah waited until Jaytax sat down to start. She noticed the utensil he gave her was a spork. Even in this far-out star-system they invented sporks, she thought as she chuckled t
o herself. Jaytax beamed. “It’s good to see you happy, Hannah.” He gestured for her to start. “May I ask what you are thinking about?” It was still a little awkward to see his lips move as he uttered another language and hear the speaker translate, but she was starting to get used to it.

  Hannah suddenly felt alarmed that she let her guard down. “I thought it was interesting that the utensils are the same. That’s all.” She took a sporkful of the stew. “Oh my, this is delicious!” She savored the food that was a million times better than any of the freeze-dried stuff on the Platonna. She suddenly felt calmer. Hannah hadn’t had food this good since she was a young child. “Thank you for this.” She looked into Jaytax’s eyes. “I am grateful.” She rubbed her chin, a bit nervous. “And I am very grateful you rescued me. You know, earlier I was a bit taken back by everything you told me. I was in shock...but I do thank you for defending me against the Shapeshifters, on both the Platonna and when we were attacked on this ship.”

  “You’re welcome,” replied Jaytax with a smile. “I am glad I was able to help.” Hannah took another sporkful of her food, feeling stronger with every mouthful. Maybe there was hope that she could peacefully work with this alien, that he could help her get back to Earth as soon as possible.

  She just had to ignore the strange feelings that were starting to stir inside. Feelings she hadn’t experienced in a very long time.

  6

  “What do you mean I can’t sleep in here later?” asked Hannah. Jaytax and Hannah had just finished their meal and they were starting to discuss the next steps. Jaytax rubbed his forehead as he tried to explain why Hannah needed to sleep in his quarters in the evening.