Mission: Planet Biter (Veslor Mates #4)(5)

She sat up, flailing her fists, trying to beat at the hand holding her, and the arm attached to it. She landed a few hits to the hard surface of the white metal body. It released her ankle.

Then she was staring at something even more horrifying than a killer robot.

It was an alien wearing a white spacesuit. The faceplate of his helmet was clear, revealing cat-shaped golden eyes and terrifying features.

Vera screamed, threw herself onto her back, and tried to kick it away. “I’m not food!”

When it didn’t try to grab her a second time, she rolled over, crawling on her belly again toward the bathroom. She just needed to lock herself in there. She’d be safe.





Chapter Two



Roth and his grouping had been ordered to breach the facility and unlock all the doors by taking command of the security office. The whole place was on lockdown for some reason.

A distress beacon had reached Defcon Red four days before. Humans working for some company based on Earth had set up a facility to study the planet. No one had responded to hails so far. Upon reaching the planet, their Veslor grouping and two human tactical teams had been sent down to the surface to investigate.

The fourteen large pods were all connected, forming a strange building in a circular pattern, with the fifteenth biggest structure in the center. They’d tried to hail someone inside, to give them access, but when no one had answered, they’d had to blast their way in through a large exterior door.

It had been eerie, not seeing anyone as they made their way beyond the vehicle storage area. Each door they’d come to had been sealed and locked. The only information they had to work with came from the company that owned the facility. New Worlds stated that forty-three employees worked there. It wasn’t an overly large place, and they should have encountered some of the humans.

What Roth hadn’t expected to find when they’d overridden the locks to the security office was a female wearing what he knew were pajamas. The human kept screaming and acting irrational. She tried to crawl away from him again on her stomach. It was almost sad to watch, as she moved so slowly.

Her dark brown hair was a wild mess of curls falling halfway down her back, and it looked as if it hadn’t been brushed in a long time.

He turned to Drak, motioning toward the main computer. “Cut that noise and release the locks to every section.”

The male rushed toward the desk to do as ordered.

Roth remained crouched as the female made it a few feet inside the open door. He gently reached out once again and wrapped his gloved hand around her ankle to keep her from trying to barricade herself inside the bathroom.

She screamed, twisted her head, and tried to look at him. Her hair was in her face though. “I’m not food! Disappear! Aliens be gone!”

Maith, their medic, approached the female’s side and dropped to his knees next to her.

The female saw him and screamed, trying to roll the opposite way. She hit the open doorframe with her shoulder. The scream turned into a sob. “It’s not real. None of this is real. I’m just seeing shit. That’s not bigfoot. Not my dad. Way worse!”

Roth gently pulled her the few feet she’d made it inside the bathroom that time, to where she couldn’t hurt herself more, and released her ankle. “What is wrong with her?”

“I don’t know.” Maith shrugged off his pack, opened it, and withdrew a handheld medical scanner.

The alarms silenced and Roth felt relief. The loud noises had been painful to his sensitive ears. The woman’s soft sobs sounded pitifully sad, and she turned onto her side, rolling into a tight ball as she drew her knees up to her chest. She began to move her head, bumping it against the floor.

He snarled softly, moving closer, and got behind her back. Then he shoved his gloved hand between the floor and the side of her face to protect her from doing damage.

The female froze, the sobs ceasing. She turned her face to stare up at him.

She had pale blue eyes that appeared far too big for her delicate face…and the black centers of them were doing something he’d never seen before. They grew, almost overtaking the blue, then shrunk, before enlarging again.

“You’re not real. None of this is real.” She made a fist with her little hand, waving it at him. She couldn’t seem to hold it steady. “I will kick your ass if you’re real!”

“We’re not going to hurt you. What’s your name? I am Roth. That is Maith. He’s a medic.” He tried to keep his tone soft and soothing.

“She’s got no broken bones or internal bleeding but I’m reading a high dosage of an unknown substance in her body that shouldn’t be there. We need to get her to their Med Bay. They should have a scanning bed there, and full access to their human medical library to diagnose her more accurately.”

Roth grunted acknowledgment to Maith. “What’s your name?” He leaned closer to the female, holding her terrified gaze.

“You’re not real.” She closed her eyes, breathing fast and hard. “I’m still drugged. This is just another side effect.”

Roth jerked his head up, staring at Maith.

The male looked as surprised as he felt.

Roth softly growled.

“Don’t eat me!” Her eyes snapped open and she tried to punch his facemask.

He easily snagged her little fist in his gloved hand, being gentle. “You’re not food.”