Chapter 18 Harb’k

Instincts had me tucking my female behind me and baring my fangs with a low growl of warning, the need to protect her overpowering my bond to my brother-in-arms. “She is not your enemy,” I hissed.

“She is from a hostile group.” Lok’n bared his fangs right back, the need to protect his family just as strong.

“Zoey is Xarc’n friendly. Her nomad group did not target hunters.”

“You do not know this. She could be spying on us. Learning our secrets. Pip claims she’s a traitor.”

The fact that our two species could interbreed wasn’t really a secret. It was, however, a secret that there was such a child on this base. He was worried about his family, and I didn’t blame him.

“Zoey is not a spy.”

“That doesn't mean they can’t get the information out of her later.”

Lok’n had a point. Would the others at Sanctuary torture it out of her? Some humans were unscrupulous. They had kept Kan’n prisoner.

I felt Zoey’s hands on my back as she peered around to look at the other hunter.

“I’m not a spy. My group was not anti-Xarc’n, and not everyone from Sanctuary hates you guys. But I understand why you’re cautious. I don’t have any ill intentions. Mina’s really cute. I’ll never do anything to hurt her. I promise.

“Clark at Sanctuary trusts me; he’ll take whatever information I offer without question. I won’t mention any of this at all. And Heather is my friend, and she chose to stay here. I’ll never put her friends in danger willingly.”

The other hunter just stared back at her and growled. I growled back at him. There was no reason to suspect Zoey of wrongdoing without proof.

“I do not trust her. Remove her, or I’ll do it myself.” He took a step toward my female.

“Touch her, and we will fight,” I warned.

Mary came up to grab his arm. “Lok’n! Stop it. She hasn’t done anything to hurt us, and she’s right; not everyone who lives there thinks the same way. She’s trying to be friendly.”

But Lok’n was beyond reason. He took another step toward my female, and I lunged at him, shoving him against the wall.

“Do. Not. Touch. Her,” I warned again.

He whipped around and shot a fist out at me, which I evaded easily. I punched right back, catching him in the jaw. But I tempered my strength. He was still my friend. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I did want to knock some sense into him.

He snarled and swung his fists several times at me. I avoided most of the shots, but he managed to land one on my shoulder.

Mina’s sharp wail suddenly filled the air.

“Stop it, Lok’n!” Mary cried. “You're scaring our daughter.”

“It’s okay, Harb’k. Let’s just go,” said Zoey.

I vaguely felt her pulling at me.

“Stay back, Lok’n. I don’t want to fight you. But I will if you threaten her.”

But the other hunter didn’t seem to hear me or anything else around him. He reached for Zoey again, and I blocked him with my body, keeping her behind me. I didn’t want to fight if it was scaring Mina.

Another shrill cry from Mina finally snapped Lok’n out of it.

He turned to his mate and his now-wailing offspring. That was one thing about youngsters. They cried. Loudly. I wondered if Xarc’n offspring had done the same on Xarc. I’d never met a real Xarc’n child, and I never would.

All of us living now had been cloned from the original ten thousand engineered hunters. We’d all been grown in artificial wombs and spat out fully formed. I’d seen videos of Xarc’n children and babies in our archives, and they didn’t look like the mixed children I’d seen here on Earth.

“Can we go now? Please?” There was worry in Zoey’s eyes as they darted back to the stairwell from which we came.

“I will continue our tour,” I said, ignoring Lok’n’s presence. “Most of the rooms closest to the stairs belong to the humans who stay here and don’t have a shuttle to sleep in. Except for that room which belongs to that rear orifice there.” I used the English words the translator provided in my ear, which earned me a chortle. “Females mated to hunters share the big room at the end if they spend the night here instead of in their shuttles. We also have some spare rooms for guests when they visit from Franklin.”

I took her hand and started leading her past the glowering Lok’n. Another low growl ripped from his throat, making Zoey hide behind me, which I rather enjoyed. I liked being her shield.

This time, Mary had had enough. “Stop it, Lok’n. You are being a big meanie.” She shoved past her mate and came to us despite the other hunter’s protests. “This is Lok’n,” she said to Zoey. “He’s not always such a butthole. I'm sorry for his reaction. He gets super protective of us.”

“It's okay. I understand,” Zoey said. “There are plenty of anti-alien folks who’d have a fit if they saw this. But I’m not one of them. I won’t say anything. I promise.”

“Thank you.” She led Mina, who had stopped crying, forward by the hand.

Lok’n looked ready to start a fight again. His knuckles were almost white from how hard he clenched his fists.

Zoey knelt to Mina’s level. “Hi, Mina. I’m Zoey.”

Mina just waved, which is something she recently learned to do. She spent the last week or so waving at everyone and would get upset if you didn’t wave back.

“You have to wave back,” I whispered to Zoey.

She did, and Mina smiled, deciding she liked her.

Yeah, I know, young one, I like her too.

“Mina, this is Zoey. Can you say Zoey?”

Mina tried. “Zo-wee!”

“Hey, that’s great!” Zoey said, clapping lightly.

“Zoey. Zoey. Zoey.” Every time Mina learned a new word, the entire camp knew. She repeated it again and again ad nauseam for at least a day or two. I was told this was normal.

Many Xarc’n mixed children matured and hit their milestones faster than fully human children, but Mina seemed to be an exception. She was right on time with all her development to date. In other words, if you ignored the horns sprouting from her head, skin color, and other physical features, she was a healthy and very normal human youngster. Wholly unremarkable but perfect in every way.

Which, according to Mary, was exactly how she liked it. It made the offspring-raising guides she had found more relevant.

Mina waddled over to a stuffed animal on a chair and picked it up. It was a furry and anatomically incorrect version of the animal the humans called an octopus. Octopuses did not have fur, and also did not have a smile. The mouth parts should be at the center, where all the appendages join. I was told that this misrepresentation of their planet’s fauna was also normal.

Little Mina waddled back over and handed Zoey the deformed stuffed animal. “Tepuss!”

“Why, thank you, Mina.” Zoey grinned. “Yes. That’s an octopus!”

Seeing Zoey interacting with Mina made me envy Lok’n’s relationship with his mate. When they’d first gotten together, I’d worried that the female had brainwashed my fellow hunter. He’d acted so strangely around her and still did. It was like she’d stolen his ability to be logical and replaced it with thoughts of her.

We’d been told all our lives that we only had one ultimate shared goal: to destroy the scourge. But for Lok’n, that goal had changed.

At first, I’d thought he’d lost his way. But that was many years ago, and now I see what they had and wanted it for myself. I wanted someone waiting for me after every hunt. I wanted someone to hold in my arms through the cold winter nights. I wanted a family.

But more importantly—and this took me much longer to realize—I wanted a purpose other than the one given to me by some creator I’d never met. It was true the scourge needed to be wiped out, but I was sick of it being my only objective. It had been a worthwhile goal once, but that was before we’d found Earth. Before I’d seen hunters with their mates.

Back then, I didn’t care if I lived or died, as long as I took down as many scourge as possible. I’d been to other planets, but none had entranced me like Earth. Even before we’d found out that humans were genetically compatible with us, I found Earth to be excruciatingly beautiful.

Out here on the Great Plains where my group and I had been stationed, there wasn’t much to look at. But other hunters around the planet started sharing images and recordings of the biomes they’d been sent to. I was enthralled by the dense jungles, snowy mountain peaks, sandy beaches, and everything else in between. I even started seeing the beauty of these never-ending fields, especially in the spring, when they were covered in colorful blooms.

There was so much beauty here, and it reminded me of the recordings our Xarc’n creators had programmed into our shuttles so we could have a taste of home. Except Xarc wasn’t really my home. I’d never been there.

It was Mina trying to headbutt Zoey’s leg that shoved me out of my thoughts.

“No, Mina,” Mary chided. “You know you’re not supposed to do that. I’m sorry. We’re still trying to kick that habit.”

“It’s okay. It didn’t hurt.”

“It doesn’t hurt now because her horns are teeny tiny, but as they get bigger, it will. We nip this habit in the bud now. Apparently, growing Xarc’n children are quite destructive. At least that’s what Louisa told me.”

“I think I met her briefly before the movie.”

“She came with the others from New Franklin. I was one of the original Great Plainers with Lok’n, Haax’l, and Harb’k. I used to joke that we were the Great Com -Plainers because they hadn’t sent enough hunters to the area to manage the nests here. Anyway, Louisa was an early childhood development specialist from before the bugs. She helped raise the mixed kids over there, and now that they’re a little older, she came to help out with Mina. She’s gathering as much information as possible so she can write the definitive guide on raising mixed Xarc’n/human children.”

“It must be hard with so little information.”

“Yeah, it is. But I know I have support from everyone here. And Lok’n is a great dad.”

Mina started to fuss, and Lok’n bent to pick her up.

“It's her bedtime, so she's extra cranky,” Mary explained before glaring at her mate. “Your growling didn’t help. You know how she takes hints off us. Now how are we going to get her to relax again?”

“I will tell her a bedtime story,” Lok’n said resolutely.

“Nothing too violent,” Mary said. She turned to Zoey and rolled her eyes. “These guys think gory, violent tales of past battles make good bedtime stories. Enjoy the rest of your tour. And I'm sorry again for what happened.”

I made a mental note that detailed accounts of past battles did not make good bedtime stories. We said good night, and the family of three returned to their room.