Alien Incognito, page 1
ALIEN INCOGNITO
Forbidden Bonds 2
Cara Bristol
Alien Incognito (Forbidden Bonds 2)
Copyright © August 2023 by Cara Bristol
All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this e-book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
eISBN: 978-1-947203-60-0
Editor: Kate Richards
Copy Editor: Nanette Sipe
Proofreader: Celeste Jones
Cover Artist: Sweet ‘N Spicy Designs
Formatting by Wizards in Publishing
Published in the United States of America
Cara Bristol Website: https://carabristol.com
This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
An Old Earth Fable
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Other Titles by Cara Bristol
About Cara Bristol
Acknowledgements
He betrayed her once, but he’s her only hope.
Being saved from a slave ship and given life-saving medical attention by a tall, muscular furry alien with large curling horns is enough for Giselle Cartier to think she’s found a hero.
Having him deliver her back into the clutches of the same traffickers shatters her trust and the belief that anything she’d felt was real.
But just as she’s rescued by the League of Planets and is about to be repatriated to New Terra, Joule reappears with the devastating news that Giselle’s sister has been taken.
What’s even more shocking is his promise to find her. He’s already betrayed her once; what’s to stop him from doing it again? How can she trust anything he says?
Regardless of the risks, she has to go with him. He’s her only hope for finding and saving her sister. This time, she won’t let her guard down. She also won’t make the mistake of falling in love with him again.
Long ago, Joule hardened his heart to the cruelty, misery, and death he’d witnessed in the alien species trafficking trade. As an agent with the League of Planets working deep undercover to combat the trafficking of sentient beings in the galaxy, he can’t afford empathy. To benefit the greater good, he’s often forced to make difficult, even reprehensible decisions.
But something about the vulnerable, critically ill Giselle Cartier pierces through the protective wall surrounding his heart. Choosing to save her life is startlingly easy—too easy. He should have known better than to let himself get attached.
Because circumstances force his hand, leaving him no choice but to take her back to the slavers. He couldn’t risk blowing his cover for a single human woman—even if he had fallen in love with her.
Now he’s involved all over again. When he learns Giselle’s sister has also been abducted, he can’t hold back from offering his assistance. Unable to reveal his real role, he must continue to let her believe he’s a trafficker—one who’s already betrayed her.
Giselle will never trust him again…which is smart.
Because she still can’t.
An Old Earth Fable
Once upon a time, there was a scorpion who wished to cross the river. But the scorpion couldn’t swim. So the scorpion asked a frog to ferry him across.
“But you’ll sting me!” said the frog.
“No, I won’t. I promise.”
So the frog let the scorpion hop onto its back, and the frog began to swim. Midway across the river, the frog felt a sharp sting and realized the scorpion had stung him.
“What have you done?” the frog cried. “Now we’ll both drown.”
“I can’t help it. It’s my nature,” replied the scorpion.
And they both drowned.
“The Scorpion and the Frog,” attributed to a Russian fable
Chapter One
Joule
“So, who did you say you represent?” Marsec, a Copan commodities trader, sounded nonchalant, but beneath his ridged forehead, his beady eyes had sharpened.
“I didn’t.” I surveyed the interior of the freighter, turning my head to capture it all. Stars only knew from what scrap heap the space crawler had been salvaged. With a name far grander than its condition, the Aurora resembled a junk hauler, the hull a patchwork of questionable material. How it was even space worthy defied logic and engineering. Lights, climate, and grav controls winked in and out. Random fluctuations in speed suggested a worrisome glitch in the piloting software.
Unless its jerry-built appearance and instability were all for show. Who would suspect a scrap hauler collecting space flotsam of anything nefarious? The vessel would sail through League of Planets checkpoints with hardly a glance. Brilliant. I reassessed my first impression.
I shrugged. “My client is a wealthy Namidian.”
Air whistled through Marsec’s yellowed teeth as he sucked in a breath. “Is the ovwet intended to be a pet or a playmate?”
“How does that concern you?”
“The ester…”
Now he developed a conscience? Namidians sweated a toxic ester through their pores. Frequent or prolonged skin-to-skin contact with a Namidian—such as during sexual relations—often proved fatal.
“If it doesn’t…work out, she could not be resold. Ovwet aren’t easy to acquire.”
Ah. My bad. This was about money, not conscience. Although illegal, sentient alien species trafficking boomed in the galaxy as jaded elites with more money than scruples purchased various life-forms for their personal zoos, menageries, and fetishes. The Copan-Cerulean Cartel to which Marsec belonged was among the largest syndicates fulfilling that need. Until recently, it had operated virtually unchecked due to the apparent tacit approval of the Copan queen and the Cerulean government.
The ovwet’s novelty and relative rarity made them prized. “Ovwet aren’t cheap, either,” I pointed out. “You’re being well compensated. Show me the product.”
“Of course.” All business now, he picked up the pace, and we entered a secure area reeking of misery. The babble of alien tongues ceased as if someone had flipped a switch. They know someone has entered the unit. I envisioned the cargo huddled in their cells, wondering what fresh horrors awaited them. Marsec marched to a nearby holding cell and deactivated the electrified force field.
The female I’d come to acquire lay motionless on the cold metal floor. Ovwet did not grow fur like Copans or Arasetans, our genetic cousins. Their bodies were near naked, except for head hair. Obscuring this one’s face was a cloud of matted, blonde silk. Alarm shot through me.
Giselle! I leaped forward to sweep the hair away from her cold face. Not Giselle. Thank the stars. This wasn’t the human I’d betrayed and abandoned, but another of her species with a similar build and coloring. As my racing heart slowed, I scrutinized the captive, taking in her utter stillness and the purplish bruises discoloring her backside, visible because of her scanty clothing. I palpitated her stiff limbs.
Anger surged. “What kind of scam is this? You didn’t think I’d notice lividity, rigor?”
Marsec blinked. “I don’t understand. What do you mean by lividity?”
“The deep purple beneath her skin?” I gestured at her bare heels, thighs, and arms, which pressed against the floor. “The artificial gravity has caused the blood to pool in the lowest part of her body.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, so?”
“It means she’s in livor mortis. She’s dead!” I pressed my fingers to her neck to confirm it. No pulse. Cold skin. I stalked away.
“No! Impossible. She’s sleeping. Wake up, ovwet! Wake up!” He shook her shoulder. “She was alive this morning. I brought her the daily rations myself.” He pointed to an uneaten bowl of gruel.
He probably told the truth. It fit the timeline. Livor mortis set in within a few hours of death—in humans. In the past few months, I’d undertaken a crash course in all matters involving the species—which still left huge gaps in my understanding. But I knew about rigor and livor mortis. I’d encountered enough dead humans to recognize the stages.
“You would defraud Gruut?”
“Gruut is your client?” Fur drifted in the air as he shed in fear.
“I
“No, no!” His arrogant posture collapsed into contrition and accommodation. “I’ll make it good, I swear. I have ovwets better than this one.”
“They would have to be, since this one is dead.”
“Let me show you. Come. You can have your pick. I’ll even add a complimentary nonhumanoid.”
With a disgusted snort, I followed the trader out of the cell. Glancing back at the dead ovwet, I felt pang of…not sympathy. Sympathy had no place in the illicit species trade. Emotions were inconvenient and dangerous. If you felt anything other than avarice, you’d be eaten up. The job would consume you.
But the female so much resembled Giselle, she could be a relative. The odds of two individuals from the same family being taken had to be infinitesimally slim. Giselle had been abducted because she’d been aboard the Star Cross, a fake cruise vessel used to lure humans away from New Terra. If not for that, she would have remained safe and sound at home.
Probably.
Rubbing my right horn, I focused on the dead woman, burning the image into permanent record then followed the trader.
I seemed to recall Giselle mentioning a sister. I hadn’t asked for too many details. Probing into her personal life would have invited questions about mine, and that had to be avoided. Of course, I could have fabricated a family, but to keep matters clean and simple, I avoided unnecessary lies. I had enough to keep track of.
Giselle would be on her way back to New Terra by now. I needed to forget her. Focus on today’s acquisition.
In a stupid mistake, the Copan-Cerulean Cartel accidentally had ensnared Crown Prince Aeon of Araset from Planet Nomoru. I’d underestimated the entitled, spoiled royal. Proving more enterprising than I’d expected, he’d managed to contact his father the king. Passengers and human crew of the Star Cross had been rescued and repatriated.
Losing that much cargo had to be a major financial hit for the Copan-Cerulean Cartel, but it would take far more to cripple the syndicate and galactic slave trade. Few had any idea how widespread and entrenched it was. This freighter’s cargo served as proof. I peered into each cell as I ambled along.
“Are you coming?” Marsec said impatiently.
“What’s the rush? I’m checking out the goods. You did say you’d throw in a free one, didn’t you? I want to see what you have.”
The aliens originated from the four corners of the galaxy—and beyond. Some species I recognized; most I didn’t. Bipeds, quadrupeds, no legs—some rolled on wheels, while others with serpentine bodies crawled. Some swam—one cell contained a tank with water creatures. All different, except for one commonality—their eyes. Their intelligent, despairing eyes.
Trafficking in sentient life carried stiff penalties—but only if you got caught—and the League of Planets lacked the manpower to police the entire galaxy. It was too expansive.
A few mistakes notwithstanding, traffickers were good at what they did.
I should know.
“The ovwets are in this cell here.” The trader marched to a small cell holding three females and a male. Some people preferred males because they could fight them, but their strength and aggression made them harder to control, so females outsold males.
“How did you manage to get these?” I asked. New Terra had been deemed a closed world by the LOP, which had forbidden contact with the planet.
“We have our ways,” Marsec said smugly.
Something akin to Star Cross? The space cruise ruse had been criminal genius—a bold, innovative campaign that would have succeeded except for that one error—picking up Aeon.
Unable to venture into outer space under their own power, New Terrans had taken the bait of a free space cruise. Three hundred passengers and a human crew had been lured aboard the traffickers’ space cruiser.
When the Great Nuclear War had wiped out all life on Earth, it also technologically crippled the New Terran colony, which had relied on Earth’s tech and manufacturing. Centuries later, the surviving humans still hadn’t caught up. Worse, more than tech had been destroyed in the Great Nuclear War. Trillions of lives, millions of species had been erased from existence. If not for the New Terran colony, the human race itself would have become extinct.
For the safety of the galaxy’s denizens who didn’t engage in warfare to near-extinction, the LOP had placed New Terra on permanent quarantine. They couldn’t even buy tech from other planets.
Humans’ status in the galaxy was unique: they were protected by the LOP, reviled by most people, but coveted by slave traders. Until encountering Giselle, I’d never gotten to know one. Zigqat if she hadn’t ruined the job by turning humans into real people with feelings. I didn’t need that.
I glowered at the ovwets inside the cell.
“Will one of these satisfy Commander Gruut?” Marsec asked.
My gaze shot to a female with reddish-brown hair and pale eyes smudged by fatigue and sickness. The stench of vomit and feces rolled off her. Her skin hung on her bones. She slumped against the wall, too sick to fight or flee. She wasn’t going to make it.
But Giselle had been sicker—
“Let me in the cell,” I replied.
“You wish to enter the cell?” he repeated.
“Is there a problem? After the dead one you tried to pawn off, I’d better examine the merchandise.”
“Of course. Anything to please Commander Gruut. Keep your stun stick handy, and don’t hesitate to use it. Keep an eye on the male. And watch her, too.” He waved his stunner at a muscular, glowering dark-haired female. “Is there one in particular you’re interested in?”
“Maybe that one.” I jutted my chin at the female on the floor.
“Uh…” The trader scratched a horn. “Um. There are no refunds, but we want our customers to be 100 percent satisfied. That one would not be the best choice for Commander Gruut.”
“How do you know what Commander Gruut desires?” I snapped my stunner against my thigh.
“I-I don’t.” He licked his lips. “But, but it appears to be ailing—not that I’m an expert in ovwet biology. I assumed maybe one of those…” He pointed to the two healthy females.
“The one on the floor has the coloring Gruut prefers,” I said.
“I am merely trying to advise you. All sales are final once you leave the ship.”
I sought his gaze. “If Gruut requests a refund…a refund will be given.”
A pouf of fur floated in the air. “Of course, for Gruut we could make an exception.”
“Enough. I wish to inspect the merchandise.”
He cut the force field, and, brandishing his stun stick, stepped into the enclosure. “Get back—all of you!” he commanded in Ara-Cope. None of the prisoners could understand our language, but they couldn’t mistake the threatening jab of the stun stick.
I entered and held my weapon in an offensive position. The two standing women retreated, but the male held his ground, stepping forward. This was why people didn’t want males.
“Get back!” Marsec swished the stick.
“Chuck, don’t give him an excuse to shock you. That’s what he wants,” cautioned a dark-haired woman in Terran Universal, one of the languages on my translator. “Do what he says.”
Listen to her. I don’t need a fight right now.
The male hesitated but then backed up. “If that fucker didn’t have a stun stick, I’d kick his ass into next week.”
“You and me both,” said the woman. Tall, robust, and muscular, she appeared capable of doing it.
I knelt beside the ailing female. Her eyes rolled in her head as she struggled to focus.
“Leave her alone! What are you doing?” said the female who’d spoken to Chuck.
“None of your business! Get back!” Marsec commanded in our language, clearly not the brightest star in the universe. I pegged him as a minor cog in the operation.
I pressed a hand to the female’s forehead. She was burning up the way Giselle had been, although she was still conscious. But probably not for long.
