Page 1 of The Alien Warrior's Heart

One

Simone

Shadows clungto her perspiring body, curling around her slender arms, her legs, and her chest. She struggled to move, to get her feet in gear but it was just too difficult. Heavy weights dragged her down. Pinned her in place.

Simone couldn’t tell what was in front of her or behind her.

She couldn’t tell if she was in a dream or a nightmare.

No. This was definitely a nightmare.

A strange smell wafted to her nose and she almost threw up. The odor was chemical and putrid. It sent a shiver down her spine and warning bells clamoring in her ear.

Suddenly a jelly-like hand wrapped around her shoulders. Her eyes were still closed, but it felt like an octopus had a grip on her. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out.

Why didn’t she have control of her own body?

Why couldn’t she move?

A strange, alien language filled her ears. It sounded rough and coarse and yet the fluency with which the octopus spoke was anything but barbaric. A thin prick in her arm told her someone had gone to ham with a needle.

She struggled as a dizzying feeling overcame her. Wispy memories paraded through her mind. She saw a sweet face. The face of the mother she never knew.

Despair overwhelmed her. Her mom had died when she was five and her dad… she’d never had one in the first place.

Simone was truly alone.

She was—

No. This is a dream. All of this will go away when I open my eyes.

Simone heard the scrape of wheels against a smooth floor.

The octopus’s argument got louder as they moved her out of the spaceship. Jelly limbs brushed against her legs and she shuddered. The cot shook violently and clanked against a metal base. The sound clamored through her body.

Her eyes opened without warning.

She looked up, hoping—noprayingshe saw her bedroom ceiling. The lightbulb with the chain that dangled so close to the bed she often got tangled in it. The posters on the walls.

Instead, she saw a brilliant black sky. A sprawling expanse that touched one end of the horizon and seemed to go on forever. The stars were brighter and closer than they’d ever been. So close, she could reach out and touch one.

If she could move.

Simone hissed when she saw her hands and feet were bound to the cot. A warbled cry escaped her lips and she flopped back, a vein straining against her neck as she tried not to freak out.

A jelly-limb touched her again and she turned her head to the side. The scream that escaped her mouth made the alien creature’s grey skin curdle.

The octopus swung around, pinning its one bulbous eye on her.

What the hell was that?

Where was she?

Simone’s senses were picking up information that was all wrong.

Above her, there was a yellow moon and a twin planet hovering in the distance like an evil monster waiting to pounce. Beside her, there was an octopus with an ant-eater snout and translucent skin who wielded eight limbs.

A crazed laughed built in her throat and threatened to spill out of her.