Page 34 of Made For The Alien Warrior

Symphony shuffled behind them, keeping a distance so Tiegan didn’t scold her. But how could he expect her to stay completely behind? She couldn’t do it.

Tiegan crouched to fit inside the cave and disappeared. Symphony waited outside, her heart in her throat. Finally, she heard Tiegan’s footsteps and saw him emerging. She hadn’t admitted it, but she’d been worried for him when he was out of sight. That meant something, she was sure, but Symphony didn’t want to question it.

Her attention shifted to the woman Tiegan carried in his arms. She had pale skin and red hair cut in a bob. The arm that hung off Tiegan’s bicep was covered in woven bracelets and dark spots in the shape of stars.

As Tiegan walked nearer to her, Symphony gasped. The other woman had prosthetic legs. Was it a coincidence that she was missing limbs too?

Symphony turned to Adhi and did a quick scan. She seemed to have all her arms and legs. Either she’d gotten her hands on futuristic prosthetics or there was no part of her missing.

Tiegan spoke low in his throat. “Sim-pony, I must contact the Healer. We need to let the others know about this.”

“Is she okay?” Symphony asked.

“She is dying. Thejideziis eating away at her system. It has already spread too far. She does not have long.”

“Even if we move her, she might not get there in time.”

“The sacred damas is her only hope,” Tiegan said.

“There has to be something we can donow,” she shrieked. Symphony saw herself in this girl. They might have different skin colors, hair textures and maybe they even grew up in different parts of the world. She didn’t know.

What shedidknow was that she couldn’t give up on this girl. So many people had dismissed her or looked down on her because of her missing arm. She felt a deep passion for those who shared her experience.

“What is he saying?” Adhi asked anxiously.

“We need to move her to the Healer. He’s like an alien doctor and his powers come from the sacred damas.”

Adhi crinkled her nose. “Sacred what?”

“It’s a sacred lake,” Symphony explained. Her fingers shook as she knelt beside Tiegan. He was setting the girl on the ground.

Up close, Symphony saw the freckles over the woman’s alabaster-white skin. She had thick eyelashes, red lips, and round cheeks.

“Is that real?” Adhi was staring at Tiegan’s holographic communication device. It was funny how unmoved Symphony was by the sight of it. Given all the things she’d seen here on the planet, ‘holo comms’ as Tiegan called it was the least of her concerns.

“Healer,” Tiegan’s voice was low and urgent, “I am with Symphony near the cliffs. We have found two more females. One is severely injured.”

“Two more females?” The Healer—in holo form—stroked his beard.

Tiegan nodded gravely.

“Who’s that?” Adhi whispered.

“The Healer,” Symphony explained.

The redhead began to moan. She noticed sweat beading on her face. Thejideziwas spreading up her neck, forming thick patches of bruises all over her skin.

Adhi gasped. “That doesn’t look good.”

“Tiegan!” Symphony called. “Tiegan, look!”

Tiegan rushed to her side and lowered his wrist. “Healer, what do I do? We do not have time to bring her to the sacred damas.”

“Use the Zahranian medicine.”

“Will it work?” Tiegan asked, his eyes darting to Symphony.

“If she has Plutonian blood, it will fight thejidezilong enough for your zapten to find you and bring you all back.”