4 Rowkin

Darsus sneaks off the ship right after me, eyeing the fluctuations in my skin. He gives me a hand signal, asking what I'm thinking.

I mouth back and point in the direction that has my attention. "Nebs, hiding somewhere here. Their cloaking has substantially improved in the last few months."

He takes a weapon and calls out for them to close and shield up. The ramp seals, and a blue blanket of light crawls around the ship.

Together, we sneak into the brush. He conceals faster than I expect in the shadows with as muted as his scales are in color. But he still sticks out on our mostly brown and red planet.

"Stay behind me." I creep out in front of him, listening to the pull in my chest. I do not want to start a war between our planets after they just offered their assistance.

I catch the movement and see the muzzle of a Neb's necrogun sweep a branch aside. On instinct, I spin, grab Darsus, and throw him to the ground. A shot burns through our recent position.

I roll onto my stomach and take the shot. The blast lights up the bushes and slings a Neb back.

Three others stand and return fire. A shot burns past my arm, but misses me. It still carries an acidic heat that leaves a mark. My monster Revs up and the world blurs with my speed. Three shots make all three shadow soldiers fall. Still, the discomfort in my gut doesn't ease.

A shot goes off behind me. I turn to see Darsus has taken out one more, who was creeping up on us from behind.

"Crazy that didn't rip a hole in your arm." Darsus gets to his feet and inspects the scorch mark, his blue eyes filling with eerie light. "I guess what they say about anomalies like you is true."

I calm myself with a deep breath, then leave to collect the bodies of the Nebs and their weapons. It will be useful to have to study and fight with in the future. It's uncommon for them to remain behind. Then, as I approach and eye them, a sizzle disc lights up on their backs, disintegrating everything.

"Damn it."

Darsus helps me scour the area then motions me back to the ship. "At least you get to go home on a rest rotation. Maybe get some love from your girl back there?"

I grimace. "My sister?"

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know. She's a different color, more pink."

"She is not an armorderm Alustri like me. I am one in a million. Our females do not want a tough male. They want a soft-skinned one, like human men." It is just the way things have been since I can remember. But I am still bitter about it.

Lanika greets me with worried eyes and takes my arm in her hands as the ship rises from the ground. "You were hit?"

"I'm fine."

She huffs when I pull away. "Darsus will get us back in time for you to get to the Alien Bride Race depot in time."

Darsus pauses and looks back at me. "You're racing?"

I want something to keep me company, something to look forward to when I am stuck out here fighting. But as I scan the body bags lining the drawers, I'm heavily reconsidering.

"I know that look," Scrapper holds an icepack to his face. "You're thinking about backing out."

"Is that true?" Lanika sits and motions to the seat beside me.

"I cannot leave our kind to continue the battle while I play silly games, trying to impress a female just to soothe the Rev. Who would want to come out here?"

Scrapper sighs. "He's right. Why—the fuck—do you think I'm here fighting with you? Ex left me for a dark green Retterwan and moved into his floating city house. She hated Earth and didn't want anything to do with the Nebulous infected area of the galaxy. I can't enter Abr, so here I am. Well, because of that and the jackass that I coded for never gave me any credit. I bet he's still running the same system I installed."

"Maybe we could create an HHR, a Human Husband Race," Darsus teases.

"No one would enter," Lanika jibes.

Scrapper sniffs the air then gets up and moves three seats further away. He lifts a hand in her direction. "Point."

"What is your deal?" Garsel asks, studying Scrapper's hacked together weapon with curiosity.

"Lanika should not be out here," Scrapper pouts.

I'm honored to have him so defensive of my sister. But he won't look at her. "At least respect her by looking at her when you speak of her."

"I— I can't." Scrapper rubs the back of his neck. "Her scent is driving me crazy. If I look at her, I'm going to lose my head right now."

Garsel stores Scrapper's weapon in the back. "You can detect the difference in her scent? But you're human."

Zoshun chuckles as takes a nearby seat and patches up a cut in his forearm.

"What?" Scrapper snaps.

"When anyone lives on our planet long enough and eats enough Rasvine, they develop our ability to know each other by scent. And you, my weird little human friend, you have felt the reckoning for Rowkin's sister. That's some—how do you say it—big shoes to fill."

I glare down the aisle at Scrapper. "That's impossible." I do not want my sister falling for a human or anyone. I want her to stay my little sister forever, safe, protected, at home where Nebs can't hurt her.

Lanika blushes when I look at her, and I realize she has felt the change, too, but has kept it quiet.

We are a family of soldiers. That is our duty, passed down by generations. But few of us are left in each family house. My sister is all I have. I know it is critical for us to bond and keep the family duty alive. But I cannot accept what I am hearing.

"One, sorry, Scrapper, I don't believe it. Two, no."

"Rowkin!" My sister glares at me. "I cannot change how I feel about him even if I wanted to. What is your problem?"

Darsus watches me closely. "Hypocritical, don't you think?"

"No," I say with confidence. "I'm not leaving my people. We don't have time to waste. When we are back, I will transfer to another ranger team and go out again."

"You're going to kill yourself." Zoshun's red eyes dart to the scorch mark on my arm. "None of us really know your limitations."

I grumble, even though I know I am a freak of nature.

"Do you even know how much you can take?" Scrapper asks.

I throw him a glare, more because I want to be sure he knows his place.

Scrapper slides back in his seat. "Okay. I get it. Don't Revup on me, please."

Darsus taps a com in his ear. "Great. I'll help as soon as we're back." He turns to those of us left on the ship. "We've got a fleet on approach, hauling in a load of lightbombs and fireworks for your ships that will help keep the shadow soldiers off your backs until the shields are installed a few weeks from now."

We're a beat-up, charred mess of war-weary soldiers. I know I can take more than most. But that doesn't mean that I don't desperately want to rest.

"Great. So you can go to your race!" Lanika nudges me with an elbow. "And I can—"

I stop her with a gentle hand. "Please."

The dejection in her eyes breaks me. But I don't trust many outsiders and, least of all, the stars above us.

"You're going to Abr to find a human ," she whispers low. "Why can't I?"

"He's been left once before. I don't know why. Maybe she was no good. Maybe it was him. Find out first. That's all I ask."

I don't want to tell her the truth—that I feel unwanted by my own people, cast out to a soldier of the fields, of deep space, of whatever terrain is furthest from our home. I will spend only hours in the city, surrounded by quiet gossip and wary looks from bystanders. The only place I have felt safe and appreciated is with her. And if I lose her because some horny human lost his head, I'll never forgive myself, and he will meet a terrible fate.

Lanika folds her hands around one of mine. "Find a fighter like you. But find someone who will love you back. I would really like to have a sister, no offense. But it gets lonely in the homita without anyone to talk to."

I know the look in her warm eyes. When I see scratch mark on her neck, I'm certain she's been in the field more than she lets on. "Lani—"

"Stop worrying." She leans back in her seat, and I notice a Nytheralian weapon tucked in her armored bodice. "I will protect our home while you are gone. Trust me."

But it's not her I don't have faith in.

Zoshun offers me a ceremonial bottle of Rasvine. "Take the edge off. You still look like you're ready to run into battle."

I am. And Rasvine never works on me, not like it does the others. I drink it anyway and savor the fruity burn as it goes down. Then I pass it on to Lanika. While the others rest or monitor the injured, I watch Darsus and the navigation screens. I am an outcast, and I trust no one.