Alien Forces Of Affinity: Episode Two Page 5

  But since then, he’d formed a battle plan that would rip the essence out of the rest of the humans’ furthest defenses. It would push them back, until they had no place left to defend, but their planet Earth.

  When the Esa were set to attack Earth; that was when Korpal would give Khan a “master plan” for conquering the whole planet. Until then, Korpal wouldn’t allow Khan the plan he needed. Instead, Korpal kept it hidden, while he said it would be impossible to defeat Earth without it.

  Khan knew a tactic, and Korpal only tried to build his worth, by holding the plans the Esa needed to win.

  Having fought Earth forces, and seeing they were worthy enemies with strong battle tactics, Khan wondered what the humans would be like when it came to defending their home planet. He knew with all he’d viewed so far that it would take more than “brilliant strategy,” as Korpal claimed his plan had, to stop the war from going another hundred cycles, like the war they’d fought for the Makkars.

  With the tactics of the coming offensive firm, Khan let his dark vision sweep the area around him, and his thoughts of fighting slipped away with another frequent thought.

  Where was Balice?

  Korpal had not arrived with her by his side. It was a rare thing that Korpal did not have her with him, to view his powerful pledging ceremony.

  Khan had not seen Balice, in all the cycles since she had danced alone for him. That night had stunned him, when he’d seen her alone. It had changed him. Balice had given him her dance without any cloth covering her soft, rounded body. He was still rocked from the new and strange urges she had torn from him. From that time, he’d been stalked by sparkling green eyes and thoughts he could not master.

  Since Balice’s dance for him, he’d not been able to receive Talis from another female.

  Each time he’d tried, he was forced to lie and look as if he were Talis driven. It was hard to understand how he could go so long without the release that Talis gave an Esa. That he had survived was surprising—it was so unknown—he knew he couldn’t share the strangeness with another Esa.

  In all other ways, he felt as an Esa should—his skills were sharp, except for the burning need to see Balice, if even for one short click. He looked across the entire gathering, as he had many times before, making it clear he had not missed her.

  Where was his Talis?

  He was ready to see her, and face the strangeness she pulled from him.

  “Come here, Khan!” Korpal shouted.

  Korpal’s command shook Khan from his search for Balice and he observed the last of the Esa had left. Khan noticed that Dante had gone to take the females to the cavern—a place where they were held by the wardens.

  Irritated at Korpal’s further demands, Khan stalked forward and faced Korpal. He saw Korpal’s eyes burned with darkness, while his tongue moved over his lips and his voice shook with excitement.

  “Go to my K-10, beast, and get Balice. Bring her to me at once!” After Korpal yelled, he stomped forward with his white robes snapping around him. Then he shouted, “She will fulfill my needs here. On her knees! Right here on the platform of my immense power.” Korpal swept his hand across the vast emptiness, then he turned back. “Here, beast, you will need this. Hurry! I need her here, now.”

  Korpal tossed something. With a swiftness humans’ couldn’t match, Khan’s mighty fist caught it above his head, then he lowered it to study a human’s black biochip as he strode off the platform. Suddenly, he felt massively good—he would see Balice—that drove him to long strides.

  It was a short path down the left side of the central wing to where Korpal’s K-10 was docked. Signs of a human living space showed on the K-10 with bright cloths hanging over the hatchway and across the scanning ports.

  Khan didn’t think to call his arrival as he strode into the central sphere of the K-10, where he abruptly stopped, and then stalled at what he saw. He jerked and tightened to a breaking point. Strange unrest slammed into him, which swiftly turned to rage, because Balice was hanging by her small hands over her head. She was helplessly bound with chains over her white limbs holding her to the inside wall.

  It was just as he’d seen other females displayed for Talis. But this was different.

  Her shining green eyes stared at him. They were filled with human pain that he could nearly feel. She had marks on the softness of her neck and her mouth was split in one corner, while one side of her face was harmed. The cloth she wore was ripped in pieces and hanging from the round curves of her body. One mark could be seen on her breast, uncovered by the torn cloth.

  A growling rage tore from him.

  Someone had beaten his Talis.

  When Khan reached her, he could see more purple marks along her moon-colored skin. Khan looked for a translator. He could hear the sounds she made, but he couldn’t understand them. Not finding one, he crouched in front of her, watching strange beads of water falling from her eyes. He’d seen Variant males after fights that had marks like Balice had on her captive body, but he’d never seen them on a small female.

  There was no choice but to touch her, when he realized what Korpal’s biochip was for, after looking at the lock on the chains holding her. Khan carefully held her small limbs as he unlocked the chains with the black chip.

  When she was free, Balice threw her limbs around his neck structure, pressing her body to his bulk, and the incredible feel of her exploded through him. But he fought back the wild demand. He could feel her small, curving body shaking and he put his broad limbs around her.

  He was lost, not knowing what to do ... so he stayed still, holding her, feeling the hot wetness of water flowing from her eyes onto him.

  “The one that beats her will not survive through the next click!” he said fiercely, knowing Balice could not understand him without a translator. “I do not know why anyone would beat Balice. She is not a warrior. Where is the challenge?”

  Without warning, Korpal burst into the chamber with a shout, and Flagg followed him. Balice cried out, and then she pushed away from him, to trip back against the inside Kalic wall. Before Khan turned to face Korpal, he saw the fear on her wet face.

  Betraying his size, Khan rose swiftly and turned to stand in front of Balice, shielding her, and meeting Korpal’s rage.

  “What are you doing, you stupid red beast? I ordered you to bring Balice to me!” Korpal yelled.

  “Balice is beaten! There was no translator for her.” Khan’s anger was deep as he snapped each word.

  Khan was surprised that Korpal shoved his way around him and reached for Balice, then Korpal forcefully pulled her away from the wall.

  Khan swung around, at the same time he reached for his Eslic to do battle. His gaze stalled on Balice, as she struggled wildly to get away from Korpal.

  “Get out of here now, you worthless beast!” Korpal shouted.

  Khan jerked forward with the first drive to defend Balice. He would defend her, and the decision burned through any vows he’d made to the Variants. But suddenly he was blocked by strong holds from behind, which locked his upper limbs.

  Flagg was holding him back!

  Flagg clicked a warning, “You must go, Khan! There is no choice. She belongs to him!”

  Khan heard Flagg making sharp clicks, which brought more Esa, while Khan snarled his fury, feeling the unbending pressure on his upper limbs tighten. He watched Korpal turn back to Balice.

  Korpal was shaking her and yelling, “You dare to defy me! I hold all the power! You will get down on your knees, Balice, and beg my forgiveness!”

  Then Korpal slapped Balice on her face, making her cry out in pain. The sound of it lashed through the space, and its force tumbled Balice down onto the deck.

  Flagg heard the start of Khan’s thunderous bellow of rage, and he tore Khan’s translator away, fighting to hold onto Khan, nearly losing him, while he clicked forcefully at the other Esa.

  “Hold him! Take him out of here!”

  The five Esa couldn’t have held Khan back, if it we
ren’t for the surprise of doing it to their leader, while Khan wrestled against their grips. But they forcefully picked him up and carried him from the K-10, while he fought them with furious strength, finally freeing one arm to take a lethal hold on the nearest Esa.

  “Get that limb!” Flagg clicked, as he tried to break Khan’s hold.

  At that moment, all heard Balice screaming. The sound loosened Khan’s grip, and Flagg clicked for more help as they carried Khan further away from her cries. Again, Khan fought them with a rush of strength and fury, trying to get free. He caused great damage to the Esa who held him captive, but they held him strong.

  Khan roared his rage. “I know who you are! I will hack you to small pieces, one piece at a time! I will end your existence! Flagg, free me, now!”

  “Take him to the cell prison, before we lose our hold on him!” Flagg snapped, ignoring Khan’s threats. Flagg could only think of one area close to try to hold Khan.

  The Esa carried Khan, fighting to hold onto him, as he continued to battle, while vowing death on each of them. After reaching the cell space, Flagg had them lash Khan’s upper and lower limbs tightly to the bars of the cell with their battle straps. Then he removed all of Khan’s weapons, shaking his head at the venom Khan spat at him.

  “Leave now,” Flagg ordered sharply, watching the Esa he’d used to seize Khan sprinting from the cell area. Then to himself more than Khan, he clicked, “I will return with your clear thinking, Khan.”

  Turning away, Flagg left the cell area with Khan’s shouts following him a long way.

  Khan raged for many clicks as he fought against the bindings holding him. His fury finally faded into crushing defeat and heavy blame. He’d never thought in the short clicks before Korpal arrived that Korpal had to be the one who beat Balice.

  Khan cursed himself; if he had seen it, he could have gotten Balice away from there. His thoughts snarled that he was a stupid, stupid beast! Who else would beat Balice, but the one who chained her and held the key?

  “You are not a beast. Anyone who would beat a woman is unworthy of life! Especially Korpal.”

  Surprised, Khan stopped thrashing against his bonds. That was a Makkars touch speaking directly into his thoughts. He had not heard a thing like it in many cycles. Not since leaving the Makkars. He wondered how it could be, as he fell loose against the straps holding him.

  “I am not a true Makkar, Khan. My name is Ramon, and I’m a prisoner in the cell behind you. I bonded with a Makkar Circle Generations before we left their world, and that is apparently why I am able to speak to you this way.”

  Khan had been too furious to think about where Flagg had lashed him down. Then he understood the truth of what Ramon said. He would have felt the strong link of a Makkars’ presence, if one were near, but clearly not as much the bonded human.

  “Out of my thoughts, human! I have no wish to share with you,” Khan shot back, with a menacing snarl curling even through the wave of his thoughts.

  But with courage, it seemed, the male continued, “You are Khan, commander of the Esa, aren’t you?” Khan did not answer, but his thoughts were filled once again with Ramon’s words. “Who better to understand the Variants than me? I am the man that created them.”

  Khan was certain he had no understanding of humans or Variant humans—his answer to the foulness Korpal was doing would have ended the existence of many that cycle. Even in battle, he had never felt things as powerful; things so intense, it caused a growl of powerful longing to come from deep inside.

  “Balice is my Talis, and she is helpless against Korpal.”

  “I have met Balice, Khan. Does Korpal harm her?” Ramon sent.

  “Korpal hit her, driving her to the ground. Why would he do that to her? She touches him.”

  Suddenly, Khan felt Ramon’s anguish wash through him, then Khan knew that Ramon hurt for Balice also.

  “She is my friend, Khan. I would not have survived without her friendship. She does not deserve Korpal’s cruel treatment.”

  Khan did not question Ramon’s knowledge of Balice, but he could feel the truth in his thoughts, where lies were not easy to hide. But he badly needed understanding of the things he could not understand.

  “Why does Korpal beat Balice? She cannot defend against him. She is too soft and small. Where is the challenge in this fight?”

  Khan could feel Ramon’s mind struggling to explain to an alien Esa.

  Then Ramon sent, “Korpal does it because he can, and because Balice cannot stop him. He does it to make her do the things he wants, but the things she does not want to do. But more than that, Korpal hurts Balice to feel the power of it, the power he holds over her. Power over others is what Korpal wants most of all.”

  Khan telepathically snapped, “I would teach Korpal what it feels like to be beaten under the power of Khan!”

  “It is the very least he deserves.” Ramon shook his dark head, continuing to send his mental thoughts. “Honorable men do not treat their women as slaves. They never beat them. Instead, they treasure them as the gifts they are. Decent men do not hit defenseless women. No man of principle would stand by and let this happen. It is wrong, very wrong!”

  Khan felt Ramon’s words strike a place in him. To treasure them as gifts was a better way to think of the soft females, than the one Korpal showed.

  “I cannot kill Korpal. I pledged to fight for him.” Khan’s mental lashing showed how harshly torn he was. “But I cannot leave Balice to be hurt by Korpal’s strength over her. I need to guard her!”

  Khan’s thoughts circled with intense conflict.

  Ramon offered him wisdom. “You must use self-control, Khan. Take the time to think of an answer with a clear mind, not clouded by rage. Try to use what humans call patience, to help you find answers. You use that same patience when you plan your battle strategy. Rage leads men like Korpal to do the things they do.”

  “It is not the Esa way, Ramon. All the thinking that humans do is a waste of clicks better spent fighting.” Khan sent, using Esa ways.

  “But you live among humans now, Khan. If the Esa plan to have females for their Talis, they will have to change, and so will you. There is no other way.”

  Khan felt Ramon leaving him to think over his ideas, as Ramon delivered one last thought. “There is no other way.”

  Then an unexpected memory came to Khan, and he felt a place of warmth and softness touching the center of his mighty chest. It was the place where he remembered the feel of Balice’s gift of thanks to him. That was where Balice had touched her hand many cycles ago, after her stirring dance for him.

  She had touched him, then placed the warm dampness of her lips to that same spot. He had reached his reward, and then critical mass as Talis Fire had gripped him.

  He’d heard her voice from a distance, calling to him. “Thank you for helping me Khan.”

  Khan let the memory of Balice’s lone dance for him fall away, and he reached out his thoughts. “You are right, Ramon, the Esa must change. I will try to use the patience you offer. For Balice. Her existence is mighty to me. It commands I change.”

  “If you can do that, Khan, then there is hope for Balice. There is always hope for a man who uses his mind and keeps clear thoughts.”

  Ramon rose a bit taller as he looked beyond the bars of his cell, deciding that a man who had patience and love in his heart was a man with hope. Even though Ramon didn’t know if Khan could interpret his words, because he had no translator on, he spoke them out loud, “I think perhaps the future is much brighter than I had allowed myself to hope for.”

  Balice didn’t have any tears left to shed. She lay stricken beside Korpal, his arm imprisoning her, while he slept. He had hurt her, until she’d begged for forgiveness on her knees—for what she didn’t know, but she’d groveled, saying anything to stop him.

  She hated herself for begging. All of it had come in a predictable flood. First imprisoning every woman except her, then Korpal assigning the Variant men as wardens over the w
omen, for the greater purpose, he’d said.

  Korpal had allowed the wardens free reign with their prisoners, as long as they kept the Esa satisfied. That had created slavery, whippings, and continued force by any Variant warden. The women were put on view against their will, in strategic places for the Esa to see. They were harnessed into place, made to dance, and stripped of the little clothing they were allowed to wear. If any refused, there were ways to persuade them with starvation and torture.

  It had only been a matter of time before she’d been forced to submit fully to the same rites of possession.

  Balice had watched Korpal change along with the other men, only his change was more predictable, if only she’d admitted it. Submission and slavery were always Korpal’s secret desires; they fanned his hidden sadistic tastes and added to the power he now held, which fanned the flames.

  He’d wanted a meek slave, one he could enjoy hurting into submission. But her spirit had rebelled at every turn, until he’d finally held her chained. Her feminine wiles could do nothing to persuade him, just as he’d predicted. He enjoyed the feeling of domination too much.

  During her captivity, Balice had begun to believe she was no better than Korpal. The way she’d always tried to use her looks was a seductive power and control she used to satisfy selfish goals, not caring about other people’s feelings. She’d ignored the other women’s fates, only glad it was someone else being abused and not her the one who was imprisoned.

  Since then, she knew that was unforgivable. Those new insights had driven her spirit into a downward spiral and she’d begun to question her motives. She’d lived in the past weeks with self-blame, which caused her pain worse than any Korpal’s belt could inflict.

  That was until the moment—that critical moment, when she’d first seen Khan again, after being held a prisoner by Korpal for so long.

  When she’d seen Khan at such a desperate time, hope had sparked inside her at just the sight of him. With that hope had come a tremendous desire for her to find a way to stop all the injustices that Korpal was doing.