Seasons

Their actions were being monitored by men in suits, men with badges and honors lining the lapels of their dark uniforms. This was now a military operation. He could just barely hear their voices before he had gone back under.

If you're ready we'll deliver it now..

We don't have a scanner of the right proportions for specimen 0882...

Is this what we need?

We're preparing the capsule... Get the truck... Don’t forget the combination... These don't apply...

From there everything had gone blank before he found himself blinking slowly as a light attached to the end of small stick was shone into his eyes. This time he awoke in a room surrounded by the soft creatures with the masks.

There was something frighteningly scientific about the way they treated him. He hadn't been allowed to move much for the first few hours in his new cold and sterile surroundings, the thick restraints on his arms and legs keeping him fairly immobile.

Keeping track of time had been rather hard he noted as his vision undulated. They'd drugged him again. .. Heavily this time and the feeling was actually making him nauseous. At least they finished with the large machine that had surrounded his entire prostrate form. It had resembled a tunnel, dark at first until a button was pressed and the interior glowed. They had pushed him through it, twice if he could remember correctly.

He guessed it was some sort of scan, but like most everything else they'd utilized, he could only guess. Once activated it had begun making a strange droning sound, almost like drums, serving only to make the pain in his head worse. It had only lasted a few minutes, but minutes seemed like hours when you were uncomfortable.
From there it had taken three men, three strong men to transfer him from one flat surface and to another, all the while he wished he could move. His vision had darkened momentarily as they wheeled him into the room opposite.

He could faintly remember the glint of shiny tools coming down over him, vaguely registering the odd metal head-piece that they'd nestled his large cranium between to keep his head still as a man with sharp tools clutched between gloved hands poked at his mandibles, inserting two objects between them and pulling in both directions in order to draw them open. He shut his eyes tight and shook his head a little, unable to do little else. Another man stepped up and together they managed to pry open his mouth. Another person had come forward and he could barely make out their features as they lifted a hand to the interior of his mouth, fastening something strange between his upper and lower jaw to hold it open.

He had little strength to gag as a small thin metal tool with an end that looked like a small spoon was inserted into his mouth, pressing and prodding, a light overhead to give them a better look.

There were many things going on at once. If he focused hard enough he became aware of the smaller hands tracing the net suit across his torso, lifting it just a little with a pair of tweezers and offering a hypothesis concerning its use. If he concentrated harder he could feel as the hands traveled lower, testing the firmness of his flesh.
The actions were soon dismissed as a man holding the thin metal tool in his mouth pressed down on the top of it and released something inside of it down his throat. Immediately he felt his throat relax and numb a little, the sensation making his eyes widen. The strange metal device was removed and was soon replaced by a tube. His urge to gag was suppressed as the tube was pushed into his mouth, the soft plastic-like material sliding farther into the wet cavity and going down his throat. He protested weakly, body jerking in response as he made an oddly choked noise. A woman’s voice caught his ear.

“Shhh…. shh….This won’t hurt….Its going to feel weird but just relax. It’ll be over before you know it….”

And it was. After several small biopsies the staff had slowly begun to lower in number, various personnel heading into different rooms to exercise their specialty. He didn’t know quite how long they’d been poking at him, but he was anxious for it to stop. The tube was removed not too long afterwards, the feeling beginning to return to his throat. Random areas of his body had started to ache an hour after the rather disorienting experience of being explored by so many hands, small soft manufactured pieces of gauze taped over pin-needle sized wounds.
At one point there was only one person left in the room with him, busy calculating, labeling and in all meaning of the word studying everything pertaining to him. The drugs had finally begun to wear off a little when a shorter masked person walked up to his right, making eye contact with the man on his left.
“They want a sample as soon as he’s ready.”

The masked man nodded quickly as he tightened the creature’s restraints.
“Yeah, I heard. They’re anxious to chart reproductive information. I’ll bet if they could, they’d try to manufacture more like him…. They’ve been heavy into defense these past few years….” The man shook his head, finishing tightening the restraints on the creature’s legs before glancing back up at the woman.

“Are they makin’ you do the dirty work?” he inquired, voice raising in genuine curiosity.
She cleared her throat, shrugging her shoulders.

“Guess so… Make sure those straps are really tight. I’ve got little more than half an hour to figure out how to gather a sperm sample..”

She quietly wondered just what it was about her that she was always elected to do the job that no one else wanted. From the days of her training she recalled that it was always her who had been chosen to collect the saliva samples from the canines, the mucosa samples from the lab monkeys and the venom samples from the reptiles. And now…. she thought with a bit of worry, she’d be collecting a sperm sample from a creature completely foreign to her and unfortunately very hideous.

The man across from her removed the contraption that had been holding the creature’s head still, checking the arm restraints once more before standing back.
“Do yall need some privacy?” he chuckled.
The woman glared at him from over her mask. “David…I am so not in the mood for your humor. Why don’t I just tell Ben that you’d rather do it instead..”
The laughter immediately died down as the man headed for the exit in the far corner.
“Nah, that’s okay. Buzz me if you have any problems…” he encouraged as took one last glance back at her before leaving.

The silence that filled the air was just a little unnerving as the dark-haired woman turned to the creature lying before her, reaching forward with her gloved hand and resting it on the thing’s hip. There was no way she could see to undo the strange buckle there. It was several moments before she figured out how to unlock the ridged gear protecting its genitals. She looked up at it once, surprised that it was staring back at her, its severe features blank.

She cleared her throat, speaking more to calm herself than it.

“What I’m doing right now is proceeding to collect a sperm sample from you. If you’ll just relax, we can get this out of the way and defense can get off my back about it. Now uh…. I was told that uh…..you were male. Unfortunately, you’re not a human male so…..I….ahem….. may need a moment to figure this out….”

He hadn’t really thought about what she was saying. He was thoroughly intrigued by the fact that her features were similar to Sharon’s. With the exception of falling just a few inches lower, her hair was the same texture as the captured woman’s, her voice just a little higher, her build almost exact.
Tzukra blinked in confusion as he felt small fingers gently undoing his loin, peeling it back to expose his genitalia. He made a groan-like noise in protest.

What the hell was she doing? Her gloved hand rested carefully over the organ and his eyes lit up as he shook his head.

No…

He didn’t want them poking and prodding at that. The last thing he needed was for the soft creatures to fuck something up so he couldn’t make offspring in the future…. She drew her hand up and down the length, trying hard to hide her aversion.

Why was it always her….

She’d had one lover in her past, just one…and there were a few thing’s she’d learned that a man liked. She bit her bottom lip. This thing in no way resembled her lover, but it was male, it was more humanoid than animal….

She shook her head, wishing there were a manual. She knew little about the powerful creature splayed out before her, much less how to excite it.

She sighed.

Well, she might as well give it a try…

___________


He’d had to practically nab any information regarding the new subject from the man standing at the large blank entrance to the grey windowless building. The metal beams lining the front reflected a faint blue from the darkening sky.

Gary sighed as the man with the gun stepped aside and the door opened inward.
His gun and badge had done little for him here, the only thing left for him to rely on being Jones’s name and Garber’s authority. He wouldn’t be allowed to see the creature until the stern woman with the bright eyes and auburn hair had begun to question it.

Ha.. question it…. like it was a human.

According to sources, they were quickly wrapping up the last of the experiments for the day and he would be allowed to watch the interrogation from behind a two-way mirror. Of course, the thing would be restrained. His nerves danced with a child-like anticipation. He couldn’t wait to meet the bastard responsible for so much commotion. The one that Jones had caught had gotten away before he’d had a chance to meet it, the day of his scheduled visit cut horribly short by its escape.

He swallowed as Garber led him through a series of small hallways before they paused at the entrance to a stark white elevator. The radio on his hip beeped and he pulled it from its strap quickly, pressing a small red button on its side.

“This is Garber over to management, how are we doing?”

There was a slight static pause before the voice on the other end spoke.

“The medical team has just finished the last experiment. The subject has been transported to the basement observatory.”

“Excellent.”

“We’re ready for you and the Chief. Proceed to level E.”

Garber smiled.

Finally….

_________


Tzukra had still been in the process of catching his breath when they had begun to move him, down the dim hall and into a dimmer room. Their actions made little sense to him. They'd been studying him ever since he arrived, their movements quick and efficient. They had said little to him during the exams and then suddenly everyone had left. Instead of subject him to more machines, the dark-haired female had made a mockery of mating with him, the reason for her actions still beyond him...

His eyes rolled with confusion as he was strolled into the corner of this new room and a button was pressed on the side of the surface he lay on. It immediately began to shift, the back lifting him to a sitting position, area beneath his knees folding down so that he was sitting straight up in his restraints.

In this room, they had attached several strange and small things to him, a tall dark-haired man in black standing beside the equipment to monitor it. The air in this room seemed different…or rather tense. He could feel as though something were about to happen…something he didn’t like.

There was silence for about fifteen minutes before the door to the left opened, brighter light streaming across the tiled floor. The shadow of a woman filled it before the door closed behind her. The next sound was familiar, heels clanking against the floor in a pattern.

The voice too, was familiar.

“Good evening….” the woman smiled.

He understood her greeting, unsure of what to make of it. He didn’t trust her. Something begged him not to.

“First things first…” she crossed her arms. “Who are you?”

Tzukra studied her for a moment, her right heel beginning to tap in impatience as she repeated the question.

“Who. Are. You….” her voice was louder.

The young warrior’s brows drew down as he debated answering her, wondering if it mattered if she knew his name or not.

She stepped closer to him, leaning forward.

“I said….Who…are….you?”

He opened his tired mouth slowly.

“Tzukra…..”

The woman’s eyes widened for just a moment at the sound of the voice and she stepped back.

“That’s better. Now, tell me Tzukra…how did you get here?”
He shook his head slightly. He wasn’t willing to discuss anything about both himself or his devices. He needed to contemplate when next he could get a signal out.

The middle-aged woman sighed. I’m only going to ask you one more time.

“How. Did. You. Get. Here?”

His thoughts had already been on the ship, wondering if his party had set the coordinates for his location yet already. That’s when his thoughts were cut short by a pain he was not accustomed to. All he knew was that he felt as though he were on fire, every cell in his body screaming for relief. A cry of pain was caught in his throat as a switch was flipped and the pain ceased. His breathing was deep, chest heaving as his thoughts scrambled to figure out what the hell was going on.

“Painful enough for you?” the agent cocked her head sweetly. Tzukra coughed once, anxious to burst from his restraints and rip her head off. Fuck having no weapons, he had hands, an iron grip and a temper on the verge of boiling over. She wouldn’t stand a chance….

He wasn’t allowed to indulge in the pause for long as another wave of pain coursed through him and his muscles tightened, back arching as he groaned. Once again, it was halted.

“I can do this all day…” she chose to declare. “I’d prefer not to, but I will unless you give me the answers I need.”

Tzukra took a few deep controlled breaths, the sound of her voice grabbing his attention.

“Now……. You’re going to tell me how old you are…”

He knew his exact age, something many of his kind didn’t care about. He’d known warriors who were around his age, or near the age of his brother, but no one bothered to keep a numbered tab on too much of anything other than how many trophies you owned…

In human years, he was young, the equivalent of an 18 year old male. K’tch was a very experienced and head-strong 34 and Arug’rak a wise and strong 51. These were the types of numbers that they would expect, the type of life-spans that the soft creatures were used to. He knew about the charted behavior of those in his age-group. They were known as rash and their actions attributed to their youth. He didn’t want that title. Instead, he spoke the number of his literal age and not the equivalent, slightly amused by the amount of excitement that filled the woman’s features.

“Three-hundred….”

Her eyes briefly glanced to the man standing behind him at the controls, his face mirroring her intrigue.

“That’s a pretty long time to be a murderer…..” she concluded. Tzukra merely watched her as she paced once before coming to stand before him.

“……The others…. tell me where they are.”

It took a moment for him to understand her. It didn’t matter in the end as he turned his gaze away from her, refusing to answer.

Did she think she could just inquire about his kind? No. There were rules. There were things that the humans were allowed to know and things that they weren’t. The whereabouts of a hunting party was never revealed to the prey.

The woman looked up at his silence, motioning to the man behind him.

“Garber, set it to level 7….”

The man swallowed. They hadn’t gone beyond level 5 with the first one and even that had had the desired effect.

This time several switches were flipped and the creature in the chair tensed in shock, a roar of agony filling the small space as the pain coursed through him.

This time, his vision darkened.

_________


He'd come by quietly to take him from the human female as she slept soundly, getting a kick out of their arrangement. The way she was curled up against him, head resting against his chest and arm about his torso was funny. You were lucky if a female from the home world looked twice at you after mating.It had taken him a moment to gather his wits, thoughts still hazy from the interruption of much anticipated sleep. He could already guess what it was about, even as he was led down the hall and to the control room. He hadn't realized the severity of the situation until Arug'rak finished bringing up the monitor, his back to him as he filed a progress report. K'tch was merely standing in the entrance when the older warrior leaned back against what looked like a desk, right arm idle as his left thumb hooked into the belt around his waist, dark eyes meeting his.

Before he could inquire, his superior spoke.

"Aid Tzukra," he then motioned to the monitor behind him.

He nodded.

"Yes..."
The information that the monitor suddenly flashed made his eyes widen. According to the last scan, Tzukra's life-signs had flickered. That was enough information for him to act on. Whether his brother wanted to be rescued or not, K'tch would be going in after him. They couldn't afford to lose anymore from his blood-line.
Despite appearances, Tzukra wasn't a pushover and was actually quite strong. Whatever the humans had done to cause his life-signs to nearly fail had to have been pretty devastating.

He groaned. He was actually enjoying his sleep. Oh well, Sharon would just have to deal with his sudden absence.

__________


About an hour later and Arug’rak charted the woman’s movements about the ship.

She had become increasingly concerned, her fear so strong he could smell it. No doubt, her feelings were aimed at the warrior he'd sent below. K’tch had suited up rather quickly, anxious for a little bloodshed. It hadn’t been too long before Sharon moved from his quarters, curious to know where he’d gone.

It was rather entertaining how human females became attached. He'd known for a fact that K'tch had despised her initially, his progress reports every bit condescending. If the woman could only read half of the stuff he'd written pertaining to her, she'd have probably refused to help him. He briefly imagined what it would be like to court a human female. His brow muscles drew down. Ugh... such soft and weak creatures... what the hell was K'tch thinking.

He was just on his way to his quarters when he was surprised to see the female already coming back down the hall toward him looking quite distressed. She was upset, worry in her voice but her vulnerability made her cautious.

"Oh, its you... Arugurak?" she questioned.

He nodded slightly. Very slightly...

"Did K'tch leave to get Tzukra?" she continued.

He nodded once more, about to turn his back to her before her small voice halted him.
"Is he alright?" she said quickly, anxious to keep his attention. He surprised her by shrugging his shoulders, reaching forward and grabbing her by the chin not too roughly, but not quite gently either. She froze for a moment, wondering if she'd done something to offend the abnormally cross creature. He turned her face from left to right slowly, peering into her features for several moments. After piecing out the thoughts racing through her head she finally found her voice.

"Is there something wrong with my face?" she asked.

He was quiet as he trailed one long thick finger against the side of her face, stopping just above the collarbone. The silence combined with her curiosity was too much to bear and she couldn't help but voice her concern.

"Why are you studying me? You never touched me before, much less even acknowledged that I exist. Now that you're the only one here I'm suddenly visible?"

There was more silence.

"I don't have to speak your language to know that you don't like me for whatever barbaric reasons... Probably something stupid if I'm right. I bet I remind you of an ex of yours who burned down your mud hut and took all of your brats to shack up in a cave with a man holding a bigger club..."

If K'tch had been there, he'd have probably closed his mouth tight to suppress a chuckle.

Arug'rak growled, or purred, not exactly threatening.

"Geez, man..." she held still as his hand moved to her throat, her voice becoming softer with fear. "What are you trying to figure out?"

He stepped back slowly, releasing her as his dark eyes remained calm. For the first time since she'd met him he spoke to her, his words quick and rough...muttered as if the very action of speaking her language were a disgusting ordeal.

"What...he sees..in you..."

Her eyes narrowed defensively. His voice was just as grouchy and caustic as his glare. She raised her voice just a little, shocked as she replied:

"Something you obviously all lack..."

It was Arug'rak's turn to narrow his eyes, making a rough sounding noise of displeasure as he turned his back to her, swaggering calmly back down the hall and toward the control room. He turned partially after several steps, glancing at her over his right shoulder and staring at her for a moment in thought. He could have her come too. Just this time... In the event that K'tch needed help, there would be no one left to watch the ship and there was one procedure for an emergency he thought she might benefit from.

After making his decision, he motioned for her to come with him. She looked behind herself in shock, assuming he couldn't possibly be talking to her. Finding no one, she turned back to him, pointing to herself.

"Me?"

He nodded once more, this time with an impatient grunt as he repeated the gesture with a little more force.

"Okay..." she scratched her head as she began to follow him tentatively.