Chapter Twenty-Six

*Reggie*

The Gilgamites look like giant praying mantises and I hate bugs. The two men holding me ditch me so fast that I end up hitting the ground, my legs shaking so badly that they simply collapse. Looking up at the bug-like aliens is worse than looking at them straight on.

Climbing to my feet, I can’t even run fast enough. Long, spindly gray fingers latch on to my arm with an iron-like grip. Screaming I throw punches and kicks, but they are ineffective against the much larger and stronger alien.

Unlike my mate, this alien has no redeeming features. Swinging me up into its arms, I nearly swoon from being so close to its giant bug eyes. Thank God for small mercies though, it doesn’t have mandibles. The top half of its head is 100% bug, but the lower half is weirdly human despite the gray skin.

None of this does anything to cure my fear as more Gilgamites swarm into the room. Some of them are holding weird tablet looking screens and others are armed to the teeth with foreign weapons. All of them turn and watch a singular one enter the room. It is bigger than the rest and is dressed differently. Their bodies are shaped similar to bugs though, as they have four legs and four arms, each ending in those spindly fingers. Their torso shape is vaguely human. For some reason, the mixture of human and nonhuman traits is far freakier than something completely inhuman.

Sam rushes forward, hovering to the side of the giant that has me wrapped up in two of his four arms. I want to punch his stupid face, blaming him for this. Why couldn’t he have just let us leave peacefully? As if he can sense my glare, he shifts his gaze to mine before mouthing ‘sorry’. Sorry? Sorry doesn’t cut it in this situation.

“Is this the female?” The larger one asks, moving towards the Gilgamite that holds me but addresses Sam.

“Yes. Her name is Reggie.” Sam responds, the traitor. The big one turns to me, his lazer focus examining me from head to toe. For some reason I get the feeling that he finds me lacking, though he says nothing, just nods.

“Greetings Reggie, I am General Chlithinaxa of the Gilga United Militia and Scientific Federation.” He bends into a quick bow before straightening once more. My only response is a squeak, but I shouldn’t have bothered. As quickly as he acknowledges me, he turns to walk away. My whole-body tenses when I see that he is headed straight for my mate.

Like a switch is flipped, my fear of these aliens dissipates, and my righteous indignation returns. Thrashing once more, I catch the Gilgamite by surprise. I’m not free, but I am able to shift to watch the general’s every move. If he so much as touches Ragnar, I will lose my shit.

“You used the sedative we sent?” The general questions Sam while motioning one of the tablet carrying aliens forward.

“His vitals are strong, though there is significant blood loss present.” The tablet alien spouts off, tapping away at the screen.

“Was it necessary to nearly kill him in the process?” The general demands, not even waiting for the response to his first question.

“We had reason to believe he wouldn’t come quietly. He is very protective of her.” Sam mutters, stepping back when other Gilgamites swarm around my mate. He joins the rest of his men in the shadows, tensely watching as they wait.

“Start the reversal process. Is there anything else we need to worry about?” The general asks of no one in particular.

“Venom. He was bitten on the throat by a Naga while trying to protect me.” I say out loud, shrinking back when all eyes turn to me.

“Nasty creatures. We had to give them the same chance as all the other species, but Nagas were one of the ones I held no hope for. Their violence towards females is the reason their world is in dire straits to begin with. Thank you for the information. Take her.” The general says, motioning at the one holding me. Without a word, he twirls to head for the door.

My heart stutters to a stop at the speed of movement and at the thought of being taken away from my mate. Protests spill from me, turning quickly to begging. It all falls on deaf ears. The alien holding me doesn't even flinch.

An ear shattering roar shakes the warehouse and I look over the alien’s shoulder to see Ragnar awake and staring straight at me. His big body fights the bonds, his whole focus on me. I renew my fight, kicking and punching as hard as I can to slow the damned alien down. He pauses for a only a moment before rushing out into the darkness, taking me away from Ragnar.

“Put me down!” I scream, bashing my already bruised hands into the alien’s shoulders. It doesn’t even flinch, simply adjusting its grip before striding purposefully towards a motherfucking spaceship. My brain short circuits at seeing a real-life alien spaceship with my own two eyes. It is exactly what I expected it to look like and completely unexpected all at once.

Harsh angles and foreign metal make up the entire front, the only light coming from a spinning disk towards the bottom, nearly touching the ground. It is the vague shape of a kite with a spinning circle orbiting it so quickly that I can’t see the individual lights, just the inhuman glow. Horror grows inside of me when I realize the alien is headed straight for it, a small doorway appearing within the spinning light disk.

“Oh, hell no!” I shout, fighting with everything I’ve got. It does no good and I bite back another scream as we enter the lights. An unreasonable fear of being fried alive paints a painful picture in my mind, but after a few moments I happily realize that we weren’t fried like Oreos at the state fair.

My eyes take a few moments to adjust to the glaring brightness and just as soon as I do, the light changes once more. The alien’s feet land on a hollow sounding metal grating, drawing my gaze to the sterile looking hallway we are in. Everything gleams in different shades of metal, reminding me of a hospital or a research lab.

To his or her credit, the asshole holding me hostage doesn’t even hesitate to continue walking. It can’t be an easy task considering I use every opportunity to beat their ass…. even if I can’t bring myself to touch the bug-like face. Not even to punch it.

Tired of my bullshit, or ready to be done with me, the alien picks up their pace. A loud whooshing sound echoes out and I watch with awe and trepidation as part of the wall splits open and a huge, cavernous lab is revealed.

Machinery beeps and whirrs, the sound so familiar in such an unfamiliar setting. More aliens fill the space, peering down at their tablets. A few surrounds a two-way window, watching another alien prowl around in the room beyond, it is huge and covered in spikes and the Gilgamites take note of its every movement on their tablets.

The Gilgamites here are dressed in grey suits and are much smaller than the monstrosity holding me tight. A science lab full of scientists. Every b-rated horror movie about aliens plays on a loop in my mind. Am I to be dissected and experimented on? Those thoughts barely register when I am unceremoniously dropped onto a cold metal table. Fight or flight is a bitch and for some reason, I settle on both.

My alien turns their back to me, talking quietly with one of the scientists. It is almost offensive that they consider me such a low threat that I’m not even being watched. Taking the opportunity to prove them wrong, I try to jump off the table. A screech of surprise squeaks out when metal cuffs shoot out of the table, wrapping around my upper arms, wrists and thighs. Against my will I am slowly pulled down until I am lying flat.

Curses fly as I try to fight the panic that has my chest heaving with every breath. Every positive mantra I try to chant in my mind is shut down with every second that passes. Taking a note from my mate’s book, I growl long and loud, letting my frustration out in a feral way. It changes nothing but I feel better…until the science bugs move towards me with their tablets, long fingers and bug eyes.

My growl turns to a panicked scream as I fight the cuffs. The aliens either do not care or can’t understand me because they don’t react. They move their machines towards me, scanning me from head to toe.

“For God’s sake! Back off! She is going to have a heart attack at this rate!” A voice shouts, a very human voice. Twisting my head to the side, I watch as the science bugs part to let a petite, beautiful, dark-skinned woman push through their ranks. She has a kind face as she moves to the side of my metal prison.

“Help me!” I beg, my eyes wide and frightened as I look at the aliens surrounding us. With a cluck of disapproval she reaches for the cuffs, tapping the side of them a few times. A quiet click and then they are falling off of me, disappearing back into the table. Taking advantage of my freedom, I launch myself upwards, intending to escape.

Her hands are surprisingly strong as she pushes me back down, grabbing my wrist to check my pulse. Confused, I just stare at her, wondering what her role in all of this is. Why she is here.

“You’ve been through a fright. Stay laying down so that I can make sure you are alright.” She aims her words at me before whirling on the scientists. You heard me, back off and give her some space before she kills herself trying to escape.” She snarls, confronting the hovering science bugs. They scatter, cowed by her take charge attitude. I instantly like her, though I still have a thousand questions rolling around in my mind.

“Who are you?” I ask as she grabs a tablet from a table off to the side of my bed. She gives me a quick smile before tapping on the tablet a few times.

“I am Dr. Shields, but you can just call me Laura.” She murmurs, distracted by something on her screen. “How are you feeling? A few of your vitals are concerning me.” She asks bluntly, moving to my side so that she can scan my left hip.

“My name is Reggie and yes, I feel fine. As fine as I can considering that I’ve been captured against my will. What are you doing?” Her scanning moves a little too close to my groin for comfort and I shift away. She grimaces before fixing her gaze on my own.

“I am scanning you.” She deadpans and I fight the urge to grin.

“No shit, Sherlock. Why are you scanning me? I don’t remember giving consent and last time I checked, human doctors must have consent before treating a patient.” I match her energy, giving sass as good as I get it. It helps to keep my mind off of the fucked-up situation I am in.

“Do you know why they are interested in you?” She asks instead of answering me. Rolling my eyes I nod. “Then you know why I am here. They want to study you, to see what the effect mating with monsters will have on humans. You are subject 01 in this region. Congratulations.” Her tone is more ominous than her words let on.

“Well, it’s none of their fucking business.” She gives a humorless laugh.

“They already know the answer, they just need the data to justify all of this.” She waves her arms around the room, as if that explains everything.

“I wasn’t aware that aliens needed justification for a global take-over. It's not like we could fight back.” Anger fills me at the senseless devastation, a whole world destroyed so they could play matchmaker between other aliens and humans.

“They do when the Galactic Federation didn’t approve it beforehand.” She mutters, earning her a few glares from the surrounding science bugs. “They are touchy about it.” I’ll say, a few make annoyed sounds. Tiredness threatens to overwhelm me. I feel Ragnar’s absence like it’s a physical wound and I want this to be over. Either they kill me, or they let me go. All this information is causing a throbbing headache, trying to figure it all out.

“Can we cut the shit? Why do they have a human doctor and what do they want from me? Am I going to be cut to pieces or can I go back to my mate?” Lifting a hand to my face, I pinch the bridge of my nose. Laura sighs, tapping a few more times on her tablet.

“They want to know if you have had intercourse with your mate. If the answer is yes, they want me to do a full pelvic exam to make sure that you aren’t being injured.” She doesn’t make eye contact while she is speaking, and I am not prepared when she squeaks in alarm and widens her eyes at whatever she is reading. Her eyes shift from the tablet to me and back again.

“What? What is wrong?” I demand, freaking out at her reaction. What did she read to cause such panic in her eyes?

“You are mated to a Memnar?” Horror twists her pretty face and I hold back the laughter that threatens to spill out. It would be unkind considering she jumps into action, clearly concerned for my health. I’m also aware of the curious looks the space bugs send my way.

“His name is Ragnar and yes…we are fully mated.” Bright red spreads across my cheeks when she turns to stare at me, dumbfounded.

“Surely not.” She turns her tablet around so that I can see the digital rendering of Ragnar. She spins it with a flick of her wrist. She zooms in so that his body is outlined perfectly, the statistics about his height and weight scrolling beside the picture. Hmm I wasn’t far off. Fifteen feet and two inches. Always had a thing for tall men. This time I let the giggle happen, the ridiculousness of the situation finally settling in.

My giggles morph into manic laughter as it all comes crashing down on me. Tears stream down my face as I wrap my arms around my middle, as if that is enough to hold my crumbling pieces together. Laura sets down her tablet to wrap me up in an awkward hug.

“It's going to be okay. You aren’t going to die; they just want data and to observe you. They need this experiment to succeed, you are their key. They aren’t going to risk messing that up.” Her whispered words don’t mean much, they could be as empty as my energy reserves, but I must trust her. Otherwise, I will lose what little hope I have left. This whole experience has been a lesson in trust. I used to pride myself on my refusal to lean on others and yet I am forced to do so at every turn.

“What do you need to know? I want to get back to my mate and go home.” I murmur, defeated. Laura nods, stepping back into her crisp professional role. Taking up her tablet once more, she clicks onto a screen that shows a picture of me.

“My experience with human anatomy allows me to make sure that nothing is amiss. Will you answer a few questions for me?” I nod, urging her to continue. “Have you had sexual intercourse with the Memnar male that includes but isn’t limited to penetration?” Her voice never waivers, keeping its professional tone. I, on the other hand, feel like melting into a hole in the floor. Dozens of eyes are on me, waiting with bated breath for my answer. It makes me feel icky and gross.

“Yes, I have.” I murmur, wincing at the numerous gasps of surprise that ring out through the room. Gag. This is far too much interest in my love life for my comfort.

“Have you experienced any pelvic or abdominal pain following intercourse?” I shake my head no. “Would you consent to a pelvic scan? I want to make sure that nothing is wrong before we move on to the next set of questions.” She looks at me expectantly and I reluctantly nod.

The scan is relatively quick and painless, just a flash of light from the tablet aimed at my groin. Laura turns the tablet so that I can see my own image, different data points flashing across the screen. Nothing is blaring red with warning signs, so I take it as a positive.

“What’s next?” I ask, almost afraid of what she will say next. My blood type? My number of sexual partners? My weirdest date I’ve ever been on? It seems nothing is off limits. When she grimaces, my fears are validated.

“A pregnancy test.”