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XYREK

A sudden explosion distracted the Cryons long enough for me to disembark my ship on this gods-forsaken mining planet at the edge of the universe. Here, the Cryons mined ore with slaves collected from all corners of all known galaxies. Only the most brutal and ruthless survived. I had been to planets like this thrice before. Once to free a Hettita who had been abducted from a family wealthy enough to hire a Space Guardian, and twice to find a criminal. Although, in regards to the criminals, I didn't understand why my bosses, the Ohrurs, bothered with it. To me, being on a planet like this was punishment enough. Most of the surviving slaves here were Pronex; their ruthless nature guaranteed their survival, at least longer than the average slave. There always was one younger, stronger, and more cunning to take out the other species of longer-surviving forced laborers. I did see others, though, a few Pandraxians, Melvars, and even some Khatars. Khatars weren't very smart, but they were highly sought-after fighters. Their clubbed tails were deadly, and they didn't have the sense to stop when they went into a rage, no matter the foreseeable consequences. Some believed they were like dimwitted animals, fearless in the face of death because they didn't understand the outcome of losing.

The only explanation I could come up with for why the Cryons had brought humans here was that they were using them as a distraction, stopping the stronger ones from killing each other for the time being. This made a twisted sort of sense if all you cared about was the bottom line.

None of this mattered to me, just as it didn't matter what the explosion was or who created it. My bottom line was that it brought all the Cryons running, making my job of dispatching them much easier. By the time they realized I was in their midst, killing them indiscriminately, it was almost over.

The Pronex were already banding together to attack me. I kept them back by shooting a few, but it wouldn't be long before the lure of taking my ship and getting out of here became too tantalizing to be held back by fear of me or my blasters. "Humans! I came to rescue you. Get on my ship if you want to live. Now!" I yelled, keeping my blasters trained on the Pronex and a few of the other more aggressive slaves.

I fired a few more rounds at the more daring slaves until I was sure all the humans had followed my invitation, then I backed up on the ramp while more Pronex advanced. Through my comm, I ordered the ship to disperse a blast from one of the pulse cannons to throw the Pronex back long enough for me to enter the cargo hold and close the hatch.

Countless human eyes stared at me, the reddish blinks of their collars reflected in their gaze, and I sighed to myself because I would have to take them all off and toss them out before we could take off.

"Thank you. Thank you, whoever you are," a human male approached me. "I'm Tom, the leader of this group."

I observed the humans—filthy, exhausted, bruised, and clinging to one another. They stared at me with a mix of hope and fear. I huffed. I wasn't a talkative person at the best of times, and this? This didn’t even come close to qualifying as a not best time. Hundreds of humans stared at me like I had answers. Like I was a damn welcome committee for intergalactic trauma. But I had to say something, didn't I?

I got the tool out to deactivate and take off their collars while giving what I hoped was a heartwarming speech: “I am a Space Guardian. My name is Xyrek, and you are now under my protection. I am taking you to a planet called Astrionis, where Lord Protector Garth and Lady Silla are establishing a human colony. It will be safe, and you will have everything you need. There, you can build your new lives.”

They still stared at me, waiting. I had no idea what for. I added, “Until then, you'll follow my orders. You won't interfere with operations. You will not touch what is not yours. You will speak only when addressed, and you will obey immediately. Your cooperation is mandatory. Noncompliance will not be tolerated.”

I paused. The silence stretched. One woman sobbed into her hands. A man blinked at me as if I’d just declared myself a god. I took another deep breath to say something else, but since I didn't know what, I closed my mouth and began taking collars off. I noticed a woman watching me with interest and waved her over. "Here, this is how it's done." I took hers off, then showed her how to do it on another human. "Good. Take them all off and toss them in there," I showed her the incinerator.

Something in her green eyes intrigued me, but the urge to get out of the cargo hold and rush to the bridge was stronger. It wasn't until I reached my destination that I took a deep breath. I was convinced this would be one of my only places of refuge over the next few weeks.

* * *

It turned out I was right. With my cargo bay filled with over two hundred humans, I only had the bridge and my quarters to myself. Inevitably, whenever I walked from one room to the other, I ran into them. They were always there. Everywhere. A constant coming and going, giving me a headache before the doors even opened. Several GTU days had passed, and it wasn’t getting any better.

I contemplated sleeping on the bridge tonight—it wouldn't have been the first time since I burdened myself with these refugees. Well, technically, I didn't burden myself with them. My minder, Possedion, did that for me. As a Space Guardian, I went where the Ohrurs told me to go and did what the Ohrurs told me to do. For years, I had been happy to do their bidding. My job had fulfilled me. I got to hunt down the scum of the universe and terminate it. My ability to read other people's auras allowed me to catch a glimpse of my prey's true evilness. Ridding the universe of them was more of a gift to me than a job.

But lately, I was beginning to question it. Not the job so much, as it was still fulfilling, but my part in the universe. My life. My work for the Ohrurs. It started innocently enough. I had woken up bathed in sweat from the most terrifying but beautiful dream I had ever had. I was out of breath, and my head was pounding as if I had run for days without water. The dream returned a few months later and soon became more frequent. Now, it came every night.

In the dream, I was running through a forest so beautiful and familiar that it unlocked a yearning in me that didn't let go even when I was awake. The longing became so strong that I caught myself dreaming about it during the day.

With the ache, a plan began to take shape in my head. Twenty-five years ago, I went to work for the Ohrurs. I figured five more, and I could probably cash in on the credits the Ohrurs had been putting away for me all these years. I would be well set to go and do as I pleased. Thanks to my dreams, I had an idea of where I wanted to go; I just had to find that place.

A few months ago, I began to search the databases for suitable planets. The list of candidates was growing, but none of the places looked like the one from my dreams. Over time, my restlessness to find that place had grown into a desire I found harder to fight with every passing day. The place from my dreams called to me like a mother to a long-lost son.

That wasn't all of it, though. More than the dream tortured me. Questions I couldn’t answer. Like that analogy, like a mother to a long-lost son. Mother? Son? I must have had a mother, but I’d never thought about it before. Once I did, an avalanche of uncertainty enveloped me. Who was my mother? My father? Where the frygg did I come from? I didn't remember anything of my life other than the past twenty-five years. That was impossible, though. I couldn't have just woken up one day at the age of twenty—or however old I had been—and decided to start working for the Ohrurs. I knew my abilities; I had to have learned them somewhere.

All I had was a foggy memory of a training facility and other males who looked like me, but I didn't know any of their names or how long I had been there. It was mind scrambling. So much so that whenever my brain searched for answers, my head began to hurt. The more I dug, the greater the pain.

I didn't know what exactly made me do this, but a year ago, at one of the space stations, I bought a new comm, one the Ohrur didn't know about. One that I connected to all available networks except the Ohrur's. I even entered a fake name. I used this device to find out more about Space Guardians, but there wasn't much to find other than that we had been working for the Ohrurs for millennia and were an elite force used to rid the universe of its scum. There was no mention of our species or where we came from. That had set me even more on edge.

I was scrolling through more nonsense on my secret comm—I don’t know why, but I started watching a stupid holocast from a holostreamer named Nock who was arguing with one of my fellow Space Guardians about some massacre at a market—when my regular comm announced an incoming call from an Ohrur—Moddekdum, an unfamiliar name.

I accepted the call, and Moddekdum's form materialized on the bridge with me.

"Space Guardian Xyrek Draalor. I am Moddekdum, your new minder."

I frowned. It wasn't unusual to be assigned a new minder, but it normally didn't happen twice in the span of a few months. Not too long ago, my normal minder had been replaced by Possedion, the Ohrur in charge of the Space Guardians assigned to rescuing humans.

"What happened to Possedion?" I asked. It was not something I did under normal circumstances; my job was to follow orders, not to question them, but things were changing; I was changing.

"Never mind that. I'm here to give you your new orders."

Frowning, I gestured for him to continue. "As you know, three other Space Guardians were assigned to the human rescue mission alongside you." He didn’t pause for my response before pressing on. "All three have betrayed us. They must be captured and brought to justice on Ohrur. From this moment on, your orders and those of every other Space Guardian are clear: bring them in, dead or alive."

A foreboding feeling turned my stomach into a knot. Three Space Guardians had turned traitors? One was unheard of, but three? All my instincts fired a red alert through me. Something wasn't right.

"What about the humans I have aboard? Do I still take them to Astrionis?" I asked to give myself time to digest Moddekdum's words.

"You have humans on board?" He looked instantly alert.

"Over two hundred," I filled him in. Possedion knew that, so shouldn't he?

"Show me your arms," he demanded, confusing me more.

"What?"

"Show me your arms." His voice had a hard edge to it.

Bewildered, I did as he asked, rolling up my sleeves.

"Good, good." I had no idea why he looked so relieved. His hands busied themselves in the air. He must have pulled up cubes on his comm. "Hold on…" he browsed through what to me looked like thin air before he decided, "Take them to Morrakbarr; I will have a contact meet you there to relieve you of your burdensome cargo. From there, you will find those traitors."

"Morrakbarr?" My frown deepened. Morrakbarr was a trading planet specializing in the highly illegal trade of slaves. I had been there before to terminate one of the most notorious pirates. Moddekdum wanted me to leave the humans there?

"What will happen to them?"

"That is none of your concern; your only concern now is finding these traitors. Their information is being sent to your comm as we speak. There will—" A loud boom made him turn. "You have your orders," he barked before he discontinued.

I hadn't been able to see what caused the loud sound, but it had sounded like an explosion. It wasn't my place to try and comm him back, but my instincts were to do just that. I was a protector. But Moddekdum was my minder, and my job was to follow his orders. If he needed help, he would contact me.

The new orders didn't sit well with me. The ship's course was set to Astrionis, and right now, we were actually closer to Lord Protector Garth's planet than to Morrakbarr. It would be more efficient to go there.

Daryus, the Emperor of the Pandraxians, had contracted the Ohrurs to rescue humans, and they were paying the Ohrurs handsomely for that. So why in the seven suns would Moddekdum tell me to go out of my way to take the humans somewhere else?

Did the other Space Guardians' defection have anything to do with the Pandraxian Empire? Curiosity nagged at me as much as my natural urge to investigate, dig deeper, and find out what was happening. Orders were orders, though. Apprehensively, I changed the ship's course to Morrakbarr. It wasn't that I was fond of my cargo or anything like that. Not even close, they were a pain in the ass, but I had taken on responsibility for them, and I would see it through. The idea that I was taking them somewhere other than where I had promised didn't sit well with me either. I told them I was taking them to a safe place, and now my new minder was making a liar out of me. Morrakbarr was anything but safe.

I was so deep in thought that I left the bridge without remembering my cargo, but I was reminded of their presence the moment I stepped into the hallway, where a group of twenty-five lingered. Some were waiting for their turn in one of the three available bathrooms; the others were just talking, as usual. They were a chipper bunch. Their mouths never stood still.

"I really need to go, Xyrek. Can I please use your bathroom?" A female named Josie begged. There were so many of them, I had no idea why I remembered her name out of everyone.

"Absolutely not," I pushed by her.

"Please, Xyrek?" she clambered after me. The distance to my quarters had never felt that great before. It was only a few paces, but, worried she might simply push inside with me, I detoured toward the breakroom, where a larger group of people was congregating.

A low bang, smoke, and the distinct smell of melting metal turned my attention to the corner where the nutrition dispensers stood. Coughing, a small female emerged from underneath the machine. Large green eyes blinked against the smoke, and a black streak of soot ran down the right side of her face. She looked utterly perplexed. Blond hair had escaped a high ponytail and framed her heart-shaped face with unruly curls.

"Oh my God, Alice, what the hell?" Josie exclaimed next to me.

"What the frygg are you doing to my ship?" I demanded, taking large steps to stand in front of her. She wiped her teary eyes—the smoke must have gotten to her—and more black smudges appeared, making her look almost adorable.

Unfortunately for her, I was in no mood for adorable right now; I needed to see what she had done to my ship. I pushed her small frame out of the way. Going down, I stared at the opening underneath the food dispenser. Under no circumstances would I fit in there. Using my comm, I called a repair drone. So far, no alarms had gone off, so that was a good sign.

"You're going to blow us all up," a man, Tom, if I remembered correctly, snarled, getting into the female's space and waving a fist in front of her.

Instantly, I was on my feet, grabbing his fist and pushing him back. "This is not your concern."

"If she blows up the ship with me on it, it is," the man insisted. His face was turning red. I had no idea humans could do that.

He wasn't wrong; I had just thought the exact same thing, but strangely, it raised my ire coming from him. I tried to explain it by thinking it was because I didn't like seeing a female threatened, but it was more than that. My stomach, which had been in knots since I talked to Moddekdum, was on fire now, burning all those knots to ashes as illogical anger wiped away all rationality.

His hand reached around me, taking hold of the female's arm, and I lost it. One hard punch of my fist against his chin was all it took. He let go of her and tumbled to the ground.

"Oh my God, you killed him," another female cried and rushed forward.

"You," I turned on the female who had caused all this ruckus, "What the frygg were you doing?"

She was so short that she had to crane her neck to look at me. Her green eyes were large, slightly tilted, and mesmerizing. They were as green as one of the lakes I had seen in my dreams. I tried to refocus my anger toward her, but it didn't seem to work. All I could do was stare at her.

"I was only trying to see if that machine could produce something else besides unappetizing slime." She defended what she had done.

It took me a moment to make her words make sense in my brain. Mesmerized, I watched her lips move. Full, red lips, lips that did things to my cock they shouldn't. It took a moment for her words to penetrate my mind, because my blood was busy with my cock.

"Unappetizing slime?" I heard myself retort. I wondered why the hell I picked those words when I should have been yelling that she should be grateful to have something to eat. I should have asked her what the Cryons fed her. But none of those words left my mouth.

She crossed her arms over her chest, shifted her weight to her left leg, and doubled down, "Unappetizing slime."

Slowly, I became aware of the growing audience watching us and the hostile glances thrown toward the female. An irrational urge to talk to her alone overcame me. She was such a small little thing.

"Come," I turned, expecting her to follow me.

I was already by the entrance when I realized she was still standing where I had left her. With a huff, I went back, picked her up, and carried her under my arm like a bag of produce.

"Let me down," she squealed. "Right now." She squirmed, but she weighed hardly anything. With my arm firmly around her tiny waist, I carried her to my quarters.