Page 3 of Crash Landed: The Daranthiki

There was another pause that felt lengthier than it probably was, one that was punctuated with several loud crashes and bangs, each one making her flinch and back further into the command center.

“Confirmed,” the AI responded. “There is a detection of override shutdown and reboot two earth standard hours ago.”

Another crash, this one closer, made Daisy jump.

“Delfor IX, lock down the command center immediately and sweep for nonhuman bioforms,” she croaked.

The doors, which were sporadically still sliding open and shut in an error loop, suddenly snapped closed as an interior light flashed red twice in response.

“Lockdown confirmed. One biotech Daranthiki lifeform detected.”

An ungodly screech filled the command center as the doors wobbled. Daisy immediately ducked down behind the left command station; her eyes fastened on the door. The squeal of metal preceded the appearance of huge, pale-gray hands suddenly slipping inside. Daisy cupped her hands over her ears as the metal protested even louder as the door was gradually forced open. She dropped herself flat on the ground behind the command center, unable to look away.

A loud rumbling sound filled the room, followed by one heavy footstep and then another. Glimpsing low around the station, she caught a glimpse of grayish feet modeled after something that looked more appropriate on a creature from the Triassic period. Four toes flexed, claws skimming the floor briefly as it stepped forward again.

Panicked, Daisy tried to recall anything she had ever heard about the Daranthiki species.

A far-flung species, humanoid, and somewhat warlike, they rarely went into space themselves unless as part of a large war party. Hostile, but with a current peace treaty with Earth. With humans out so far near bordering territory, there was a mutual agreement in place to offer aid and assistance. Thank the gods—she was saved.

Glancing back around the console, she frowned. Where was it?

Something heavy dropped right in front of her, a gray body corded with muscle, and inhuman eyes glowed at her from a vaguely humanoid face with pronouncedly pointed ears. She didn’t know where the fuck to look. That thing looked vaguely like a Daranthiki, but it was definitely not the same thing as Earth’s allies. It was considerably larger, and unlike the rosy hues of the Daranthiki that were brightened with crimson markings, this thing only resembled it loosely in structure. But it was much larger. Yet the finger features certainly bore similarity to the aliens.

Its lips were pulling back from savagely sharp teeth, and a long gray tail whipped up high behind it. The heavy red markings on its face and the sides of its head seemed to almost glow beneath the long strip of hair that ran down the center of its head. A pair of exceedingly long, threefold pointed ears rose and snapped forward toward her. A forked tongue slipped out, likely drawing information from its environment into its system. The mechanics in its red glowing eyes shifted, narrowing in on her.

It wasn’t an alien. Her breath escaped her in a short burst with the realization that she was looking at what had to be a Daranthiki battle droid. She thought they had been decommissioned in the border territories. She recalled seeing it on the news. Well, if it was here, that must mean it was programmed for assistance and retrieval.

That relief lasted for only half a second before a red light targeted her from the large blaster it held in its hand.

“Identify yourself,” it barked in a deep, resonant voice.

“Fuuuuck,” she hissed.

Chapter 3

Zil stared down in confusion at the small human crouched behind the command station console. He had never seen a human before. He might have if he had not overridden his programming and escaped the Daranthiki Twelfth Legion. No doubt by now he would have seen a number of humans in the short span it would have taken to slaughter them.

He had no interest in slaughtering anything, much less the human in front of him now.

He squinted at the alien and frowned.

It hardly seemed to be the sort of monster that the Daranthiki government claimed. In fact, it seemed rather diminutive and weak. It didn’t possess a tail or claws. Even its name didn’t suggest any sort of ferocity despite how peculiar it was. He would not have thought that even humans, who were generally known to be among the crudest and most savage of species in their shared galaxy, would have names that appeared to reference copulation. That was hardly befitting a being from a warlike species. Nor was its soft, pleasing voice. That voice did strange things to his systems, sending sparks through his awareness.

He shook it off.

It didn’t matter. He had business to attend to before the emergency beacon was discovered. It was fortunate that whoever had attacked the ship had scrambled the systems. It had allowed whoever it was to escape without having to worry about any hassle from Earth or the Intergalactic Overseers. He would have had similar luck in salvaging the parts he needed if the systems hadn’t suddenly come online. He suspected he had this human to thank for that.

“On your feet, Fuck,” he growled, gesturing with his amelka-grade blaster.

The human’s brows furrowed slightly, and its lips twitched only for a moment before it stumbled to its feet. Zil nodded in approval. At least it was obedient.

He needed a way to keep it in place and out of his way while he worked. His eyes scanned the command center, resting on the remains of what could only have been the captain. With a quick swipe of his tail, he knocked the corpse out of it and gestured to it.

“Sit.”

The human balked, its face paling. Green eyes flicked to the captain and then back to him. If he wasn’t mistaken, it looked vaguely sick.

“I can’t believe you just did that,” it muttered under its breath before it straightened and bravely met his eye. “If it’s all the same, I would prefer not to, thank you.”