Viper's Hope (Anguis Defenders Book 1) (7 page)

The alien man and woman veered off on a narrow path, to sit on a bench. Hope snuck a glance as the male nuzzled the woman's neck biting gently as she rested her cheek against his head. It was a tender gesture.

"Is this how Viper views me?" Hope considered the similarities between how Viper treated her, and how the couple behaved.

Her attention was suddenly captured by the large domed window and she stopped with a gasp.

"Oh my god!" The sky was black with a million stars, and there was the curve of her blue planet. "We are in space."

Hope started to shake as reality set in. It was just what she feared. There was no escaping this!

"Come Hope. I will explain everything soon." Viper encouraged her forward his hand firm on her shoulder.

"You bet you will!" Hope snapped and pulled away, still riveted to the sight of Earth impossibly out of reach.

She just couldn't seem to suppress her bitchy side, and she really didn't want to. Viper had drugged her, kidnapped her, gone nuts and fucked her. It didn't matter if in the end she'd climaxed harder than she ever had, or he was being gentle and apologetic now. It was fucked up beyond belief.

They entered a large room with a big table and several seats occupied by more aliens. There were several aliens like Viper but there were four very different creatures seated around the table. Hope assumed these must be the ambassadors Viper referred to.

One looked almost like a praying mantis, another had striped orange and yellow fur with feline features, the third had a beak with tiny feathery hair all over, that stood up in a long blue mohawk. However it was the fourth that weirded Hope out.

The last alien looked just like the picture of the standard alien. Big round bald head, pale almost white skin, large black oval eyes, and long skinny limbs.

"Well I guess all those people had been right with their alien sightings." Hope almost snorted.

This character wasn't any more strange than the rest but he gave her the creeps. Maybe it was all the abduction probing stories.

Viper pulled out a seat for Hope, then sat down by her side.

"I apologize for the delay." Viper said to the gathered group, suddenly appearing very professional. The others nodded. "How are your retrieval efforts progressing?"

"Fifty percent of our ships are at capacity." The cat man replied.

"We are almost full after having shifted inland from the Eastern continent." The mantis trilled.

"Another two weeks and we will be ready to head off world with the humans." The birdman almost squawked as he spoke.

What the hell! They were collecting people and planned on taking them off Earth. Hope bit her lip to keep from screaming.

"The Morbo have started swarming many of the populated areas of the coastlines across the entire planet." Said the big eyed baldy.

That didn't sound good. Who were the Morbo and why were they swarming Earth?

"The damage from the meteors have already affected the planet wide temperature by several degrees." Baldy followed up.

That's not good either. It had supposedly been a meteor strike that caused the dinosaurs to go extinct.

"Numbers show that the cataclysmic event won't do long term damage. Unfortunately the Morbo seem to be very interested in this planet." Mantis stated.

"That's because we've driven them from every other viable quadrant." Viper said as he shook his head. "It is a shame!"

"My people were aware of this planet, we should've been better prepared for this." Baldy replied.

"Yeah buddy we're aware of you too! Sort of." Hope silently retorted.

"I assume you've discussed which colonies are the most viable." Viper inquired.

"That has been a problem. This species isn't as hardy or advanced as the other species we've retrieved. Most of the colonies are unsuitable for one reason or another."

Hope felt insulted by the cat man's comment.

"We think that Anguis Minor would be the most viable option."

"I see." Viper said as he considered what they said. "You realize we are already accommodating half of the new colonies in our system."

"Yes but it is also well protected, which will be important considering the human's needs. We'd be willing to send forces and supplies to defray the burden." Birdman quickly followed up.

"And since I wasn't here you have all conveniently made this agreement already." Viper replied with one eyebrow raised.

The others looked hesitant but nodded.

Viper looked at Hope and seemed to consider something his green eyes flashing.

Hope had had enough of them talking about her people and her future as if she wasn't even there. She smacked her hand on the table.

"Are you serious!" Hope hollered, and all eyes turned to her. "You've abducted my people and now you're farming us out like cattle. What the hell gives you the right? I want to know what is going on and I want to know NOW!" Hope growled at Viper and the rest of the table.

"I haven't had time to explain what's going on to her." Viper told the table.

"Why is the female not in hibernation?" Big-eyed baldy asked.

"Can't you see the Prognatus has marked her." Cat man stated.

"Marked me? Did he mean the bite on my shoulder?" Hope silently wondered as she eyed the feline.

"Hope, we have not abducted your people. We are rescuing as many as we can. A series of meteors brought a terrible virus-like creature to your planet. We call them the Morbo. In a matter of months there will be nothing left of your people." Viper explained. "I am sorry." He said sadly.

Hope's mouth hung open in shock and horror. She was devastated and confused all at the same time. Could she trust what Viper was telling her? If the aliens were rescuing humans why had she been treated so roughly? Hope's thoughts flew to her friends and family. She wondered if they were on any of the ships they talked about.

She appreciated being rescued, if that truly was the case, but at the same time it rankled to have no choice in her future. The aliens knocked her people out and relocated them, like they were some sort of mindless beast on an episode of Animal Planet.

"So you plan to take us to some strange new planet?! Did you think that maybe we might like to have a say in that?" Hope retorted.

"Yes Hope, but our experience from rescuing other isolated species is that you are too overwhelmed to make the decisions required in time to escape the Morbo." Viper tried to reason with Hope.

He had a valid point but Hope was still pissed so she crossed her arms across her chest defiantly.

"I like this female, she is spunky!" The mantis commented. "Are all human females like you?"

Hope looked at the buggy creature as she considered her question.

"I guess so."

"They are a female dominated species." Viper leaned down and whispered to Hope.

Well of course the praying mantis species is female dominated. On Earth the female insect bites off the heads of the males while mating. Good for them. At the moment Hope could sympathize and nodded at the mantis' compliment.

"So it's Anguis Minor then." Viper stated to the group. "My Imperators will work out the arrangements with you. Thank you but as you know there is a lot I need to discuss with Hope." Viper stood and helped her up.

Viper

Hope was angry. She had every right to be. But it still surprised him when she vehemently demanded to know what was going on.

At every turn he expected her to have a melt down like most refugees did, but Hope was bold and outspoken rather than quiet. And although she was more delicate physically than Anguis females, that certainly didn't equate to meek.

Viper held a protective hand at her shoulder as they exited the council room and Hope stiffened up. How was he going to explain what happened between them when he hadn't even gotten round to the whole 'your people are dying' issue?

"I want to see the others." Hope demanded.

"Yes."

Viper started to head towards the hibernation dorms, but Hope stopped again at the dome that showed her planet. Her hand rose and pressed against the window.

"I never thought I'd see Earth this way." She said with more than a little melancholy in her voice. "Tell me about this virus."

"The Morbo are an evolved virus. They travel to a planet and use the predominant species like you or I to replicate. They decimate the species, then decimate the planet and ride the resulting meteors to a new planet where they do it all over again."

"How do they replicate?" Hope quietly inquired.

"They stab their victim and inject a bit of themselves. The original Morbo dies but the host incubates anywhere from two to five more creatures before the host dies a few days later."

"Is there any cure or way to fight them?"

"We are studying a few on my home planet. But it seems that only extreme heat or UV kills the creature. They spread so fast and in such vast numbers the devastation is astronomical."

Hope turned back to the view of her blue planet. The way her palm moved over the clear glass it seemed as if she were caressing her home.

Viper watched as water began falling from Hope's eyes. She smelled of rain. It was so strange and shocking. How was such a thing possible?

Viper reached up and wiped away a drop as it cascaded down her pink cheek. The single drop sunk into his skin and Viper was instantly overwhelmed by Hope's intense emotions. It was pure unadulterated sadness. Hope's sorrow ripped at Viper's gut, tearing at his hearts.

His beautiful subeo was in anguish over the loss of her world, so much so it overflowed in her eyes. His mate had been strong and defiant with everything that had happened to her up to this point. But the sight and knowledge that her home world was lost to her, had leveled her.

Viper wanted desperately to assuage her pain, but there was nothing he could do now, but pick up the pieces and help the humans move on. He had failed his mate, in so many ways. All he could do was give her this moment.

They stood quietly as Hope said goodbye to her home world. Finally she turned away from the sight.

"Come I will show you the others." Viper rubbed her back. This time she didn't pull away.

They continued heading to the hibernation dorms. As Viper stepped off the lift, he stopped Hope.

"Do not be frightened. They are all asleep. It is not a perfect situation, but we find it's easier to transport so many people and give them the language implant this way."

"Is that what you did to me?" She growled.

Viper noticed her cheeks redden as he scented her anger.

"I wanted you to understand me, but I do not like how you were treated, by any of us." Viper bristled.

"We can discuss it after I see my people." Hope replied pulling away and walking several steps ahead of him.

Viper understood her emotions. If any of the things that happened to Hope happened to him he wouldn't have handled it nearly as well. But still he found himself frustrated that his subeo pulled away from him. He wanted to tug her to him.

Viper took a deep breath to calm the urge to touch Hope and hold her close. She wasn't Anguis, he had to be patient.

Viper opened the door to reveal rows and rows of sleeping humans. The automated message played in their various languages as well as Anguis. 'You are safe. Everything will be fine.'

Hope looked at Viper questioningly.

"It helps to reduce panic once we awaken everyone." He stated, and she nodded. "Like I said it's not ideal, but neither is what happened to your planet."

Hope walked to a bed holding a woman with a tiny male child. The little male was snuggled next to his mother both fast asleep.

"How do you know they belong together?"

"Most likely she held him when we tranquilized this group. Sometimes we recognize pairs by their smell." Viper pointed to an adult couple that were clearly mated.

"Why didn't you do this to me?" Hope asked with inquisitive eyes.

"You saw me before I could." How did he explain his mating instinct without frightening her? He hadn't even understood himself at the time. "I was unable to put you here."

"I think I've seen enough." Hope said with one last concerned look at the hundreds of beds. "Viper I have family and friends in Saint Louis. Is there any way to get them?" She looked so hopeful as Viper led her out.

"Anything you ask I will try to accommodate."

Viper led Hope to the control room instead of going back to his suite. Viper was desperate to assuage Hope's fears. If he could rescue her family, he would do anything in his power to make it happen. It wasn't just that he wanted to get back in Hope's good graces because he feared her rejection and wanted to right the wrongs he'd committed. Viper genuinely wanted to help the humans. But there was also a part of him that physically hurt when he scented Hope's pain.

"Boaz, this is Hope, my subeo. We need you to bring up a map of the area we collected from."

"Yes Prognatus" Boaz replied.