Cottonmouth (Naga Brides #6)
1. The Arrival
ONE
THE ARRIVAL
Vivian
Keeping a low profile, I slip away from my coworkers and drift through the gathering group of military personnel. Excited chatter fills my ears like white noise.
A ship just docked. One returning from Earth.
A ship that holds a new alien lifeform.
A naga.
Everyone, including me, is here to decide what to do with it and where to put it.
But I already know exactly where that alien is going. Looking down at the tablet in my grip, I scan Ursula’s encrypted message still displayed on it, requesting both my presence and one of my medical podules. She sent it to me thirty minutes ago just as I was starting my most recent Yulen Medical Technology write-up about post-earth technology and AI.
Arguments break out between some of the ship’s head researchers now gathered on the docks below. My boss, Dr. Ursula, is one of them, her very presence enough to cow a few into silence. Brilliant, analytical, and a sociopath, Ursula frightens everyone except my father.
The ship releases pressure from within and everyone in the port goes silent. A side hatch opens and several men walk out, one of them my father’s righthand man, Prime Commander of the Military Sector, Pierce. Older than sin, and with a bushy beard down his chest, he faces the small crowd. His soldiers ready their weapons and gather at the ship’s back hatch.
“The lifeform is hostile but sedated—” he begins.
“Where is this lifeform being taken?” someone shouts. “Should it even be on our ship?”
Pierce’s lips drop as his eyes narrow on the speaker. “To Sector 8-1A, and if you interrupt me again, you won’t have a job by the end of this shift.”
There’s a tense hush from the gathering, and leaning forward, I glimpse Ursula’s smug face. Pierce says something more, but I’m already shifting toward the rear of the empty port. It’s not every day that one of The Dreadnaut’s ports is evacuated, but upon the memo of the alien’s capture, the place was cleared of all civilians.
As I duck out, a giant metal enclosure is driven into it— a cage . I dodge out of the driver’s way as the vehicle heads for the ship’s back hatch to collect the alien.
It won’t be long before that same vehicle heads straight for Ursula’s lab.
What I don’t understand is why Laura isn’t on that ship as well. She stole sensitive information and Father took it personally. That was the reason the ships left in the first place. Not to bring back an alien.
Father came to me after Laura’s departure and threatened my freedom, promising me another round of isolation inside the Yulen medical storage if I had anything to do with her escape, or was withholding anything from him. It was how he would punish me as a child and later as a young adult—locking me away with no company and with nothing to do except work on my studies for months on end. The isolation was worse than a beating. I never knew when he would return or let me out. Nervous about the consequences, I didn’t know what to say other than I’d never spoken to her. I thought he knew that.
He’s always watching. He’s the Supreme Commander of The Dreadnaut.
Hurrying my steps, I head to one of the open elevators and race to Ursula’s research laboratory. Lucky for me, the elevator is blissfully empty, just like the evacuated hallways. I enjoy the quiet ease of passage, even if it is spooky.
The elevator shifts right and I clutch the handrail with my free hand when the floor shudders under my feet. As it takes me to my destination, I scan the rest of Ursula’s message.
She warns me that the alien’s presence is to be classified and not to be spoken of outside of those who know about it. A little farther down is a brief.
Partially humanoid in appearance, these aliens first appeared to those on the first mission to Earth. They can be volatile, aggressive, and territorial and are easy to provoke. They can use basic technology and speak the common tongue. They’re considered sentient and refer to themselves as nagas.
The elevator stops, ringing once to signify the door’s imminent release. I put my tablet away before stepping out and nodding a greeting at the two junior research assistants crossing the foyer ahead of me. They enter another elevator to my right, and then I’m alone again.
The entryway to the medical research sector is more ornate than most of the ship. With stone columns and a fountain that has long ago stopped working, vitamin D lights brighten the large space. Groups of cushioned chairs and small tables are placed throughout for those waiting on loved ones within, and a wide variety of fake plants give the entryway a peaceful ambiance. Off to the right, a robot is dusting a fern. Behind it are two large glass doors and a smaller foyer, and from there, elevators lead to the different research departments.
By the time I’m past the security checks, there’s a flurry of activity around me. Retying my bun, I quicken to the loading bay where the alien will be dropped off.
There are military personnel with weapons on standby already waiting by the time I arrive. Several look at me as I join the other researchers waiting for the alien’s intake. Quickly saying hello, one asks me if I caught a glimpse of the alien when I was above.
I shake my head.
It’s not until the vehicle security hatch hums open that everyone falls silent. With military trucks flanking the enclosure for the alien, they briefly pause at the ramps. Ursula and Pierce step out of one of the trucks and guide the driver onto the quarantine platform.
Ursula lifts her head and looks around until she spots me. “Vivian, get over here! We need you.”
I’m at her side within seconds. Around us, people are donning masks. Pierce hands me one without looking at me as I head toward the large Yulen medical podule being rolled from the laboratory and into the enclosure. I unlock the technology and prepare it for a bio scan.
Until this moment, the arrival of an alien, an unknown species at that, seemed like an elaborate joke.
But as dozens of guns are lifted by the military personnel around me, as hushed arguments and barked commands fade away, and as everyone’s eyes are directed at the opening cage, a twinge of nauseous realization hits. Feeling exposed, standing mere yards from a creature that everyone seems to think is extremely dangerous, I straighten rather than take the step back I crave. I tighten my mask.
The enclosure door opens, and everyone holds their breath, including me.
Pierce, Ursula, and several others duck inside it. I try to peek but there’s too much activity. After a minute, the groan of something inhuman reaches my ears, everyone clears from the enclosure, and the alien is wheeled out.
Half the alien is wheeled out. What begins as something that resembles a human quickly turns into something not human at all. Covered with scales from his jawline to the tail his body becomes, the alien has pointed ears and short claws at the tips of its fingers. As more of its tail is revealed, the more I question if my podule is going to be big enough to fit the creature.
Ursula’s sharp green eyes squint at me, giving me a silent order when I hesitate. Shaking now, I move forward to help the soldiers shift the alien onto the podule’s table and strap him to it. The AI is already scanning its vitals by the time I’m changing out the bags hooked to the alien’s IVs and replacing his tranquilizers. On every side of me people are staring, guns aimed, as his restraints are being rechecked.
Inhaling a quiet breath, I can’t stop staring at… him.
He’s warm under my fingers, and as I replace the needles I notice his blood is red, like a human’s. He’s whitish-gray, whitish-beige, with his entire backside and tail being the darker of the two, and patterned with spots and jagged rings. My eyes trail over his muscled top half and lower toward his tail, catching on the lighter part of his pelvic region, discovering he’s smooth where his genitals would be… if he were a human.
Lifting my attention to his face, I freeze.
His eyes are open.
We stare at each other, his gaze hazy, unfocused, and slitted. Too alarmed to move, I watch as his lips twitch and a deep humming sound emanates from them.
My brow furrows just as he jerks upward, his mouth aiming for my throat. His fangs catch my mask, knocking it down my face. I grab onto his shoulders to stop from falling on top of him, but his body braces to launch at me again. When I push off him, a scream swelling in my throat, his arm snaps the chain holding him to the bed. He strikes once more, and my back hits the podule wall while his hand catches my throat and squeezes, forcing me back toward him. I stumble into the solid wall of his chest. Hitching, knowing I’m about to die, I’m flooded by his earthy scent as his powerful muscles flex beneath me.
I scream as I’m yanked away and gunfire erupts. Soldiers flood the area between us and I’m pushed farther back. A body is thrown across the shipping intake. I try to duck and flee when the hand on my arm tightens.
“Lock the podule before he escapes!” Pierce drags me back into the chaos just as the alien breaks his arm loose from one of his restraints. Panicked, Pierce grips the back of my neck hard, forcing me to remain. Blood splatters my face as the alien sinks its claws into a soldier’s throat. Their body drops from the naga’s clutch to the ground.
I gasp. That could’ve been me.
With Pierce’s fingers digging into me, I finish setting up the podule.
“Good girl.” He releases me when I’m done.
My hand cups my chin where pain now radiates. Blood wells and catches on my fingers. I stagger back and wipe the blood off my face.
Trembling, gasping, the alien growls as it is pulled inside the machine. A new wave of soldiers brave nearing the alien to restrap his escaped limbs. It takes a strong tranquilizer before the naga falls unconscious.
I stare, transfixed at how his massive muscled body twitches like it’s still fighting. He’s not going to be an easy specimen or potential diplomat for anyone to work with. Every flex and jerk of his long, lean body screams aggression. The alien isn’t here because he wants to be. My stomach curls wondering what happened before his arrival. Did he kill some of the soldiers? Was he captured unaware? I lose sight of his straining body as people push in front of me and I’m forced to step back.
Fleeing to the outer wall and out from the chaos, I catch my breath as the naga is wheeled deeper into the ship.
I could’ve died.
My heart is racing, my skin is flushed. The smell of earth and dirt fills my nostrils, stunning me. Feeling feverish, I swipe my hand across my brow and shake my head. Something isn’t right.
I look at my hands and find them covered in blood. My chin radiates with pain. Touching the scrape, I flinch and glance around to see if anyone noticed but no one is paying attention to me. I quickly replace the mask over my face, but desperate for fresh air, I leave the terminal and head for my apartment. Thankfully I run into no one.
Once I’m alone and behind closed doors, perfectly safe within the four walls of my unit, I feel the dampness between my legs.
Dampness… from… My hand smells like…
I tear off my clothes and run into the bathroom to clean up and bandage my chin. When my nerves settle and I’m composed once more, I head back to the medical sector and my office.
Waiting for me is an encrypted message from Dr. Ursula.
I close out my research paper and scan the note. Running my hands over my face, I sit back in my chair.
My guess was correct; she’ll be in charge of the alien. Now I’m expected at her office thirty minutes before my next shift for a debriefing. I’ll be needed to run the technology they plan to use on him.
Which means…
I’ll be seeing the alien again, and soon.
Very soon.