Risnar: The First Encounter

Head enforcer Kren Bolep and his partner Arga have cornered a creature they’ve never seen before.

He couldn’t get over the softness of her skin. When he’d grabbed her close, her motherly breasts had mashed against his chest, molding her pliable body to the hard, armored planes. The sensation had been unsettling.

Trying to quiet his confusion, he glanced at the watchful Arga. “She’s soft. Fragile. I think I could crush her if I’m not careful. What is she? How can she exist with no defenses?”

Arga’s heavy brow had descended over his eyes, silvery orbs in the dark. “If I had to guess, I’d say she’s a Monsudan experiment. Although their monstrosities are usually nasty. This is—well, she’s cute. Like something you’d take home and tame for a pet.”

Kren looked her over carefully. She peered up at him with those frightened eyes, but at least she’d calmed down. High, delicate cheekbones, tiny pointed chin…a being of astounding beauty for all its alien peculiarities. Kren found it hard to believe that the Monsuda, which shared the planet of Risnar, could make a creature so lovely. Yet Arga was right. It was the only explanation that made any sense. Legends of the terrifying Tysu notwithstanding, there was no such being as this native to Risnar or any of the planets known to its people.

So damned lovely. Knowing what would happen to the creature if it was a result of Monsudan biological engineering tightened Kren’s chest with hurt. There was no help for it, though. The law was the law. Monsudan lab creations were destroyed without prejudice.

With regret, he jerked his head in the direction of the dartwings. “Let’s get her back to the station. Nex can have a look at her first. If he’s got no idea and we’re sure she poses no immediate danger to our people, the biologists at the temple can figure out what she is.”

Arga opened a pouch on his belt, the one article of clothing he wore on his armored hide. He took out a length of flex strapping and unrolled it as Kren spoke in his most soothing voice to the pale animal he held.

“It’s all right. This won’t hurt you. Hold still, little—thing. Little Tysu.”

“She’s not a Tysu. The Tysu supposedly has long fangs and claws,” Arga reminded him. “It eats naughty children who don’t listen to their guardians.”

“I can’t stand calling her a thing, animal, or creature. She’s too pretty.” Kren held the female’s wrists, then made her lower her arms to her sides.

Arga snapped the end of the flex strapping with a practiced flick of his wrist. It whipped out and coiled around the Tysu, pinning her arms in position. It kept winding about her, fastening her legs tight together. She’d already been helpless, but now she could neither resist nor run.

She cried out to find herself bound and began struggling again. Her wails went straight to Kren’s hearts. He hated to see any vulnerable being as scared as this Tysu was.

He imagined Arga found him ridiculous as he hummed calming noises and petted her long hair. Patches of it were silky, like the magnificent nikwen that roamed in herds on the distant plains, but much of it was matted and tangled. Monsudan created or not, she’d been living wild for several days. She needed a good washing and grooming. He wrinkled his nose. Maybe it would help the somewhat unpleasant odor coming from her too.

To Kren’s surprise, Arga joined in the attempt to quiet the Tysu. His partner awkwardly patted her shoulder and said, “Easy. Easy,” in a rough voice. “Don’t cry, little pretty. We’re not going to hurt you.”

Arga tended to put on a tough front, but he treated the Tysu with nervous care. Kren tried to not smile, and succeeded for the most part, but Arga noticed his amusement and shrugged. “Laugh, but I know you feel the same as I do.”

“Like the world’s biggest jerk for scaring her? Yeah. If we could get away with it, I’d set her loose. But if she’s of Monsudan origin—”

“Contain and destroy.”

* * * * *

He was her savior, but she was his salvation.

Jeannie Gardner escapes from her captors’ clutches only to find herself trapped on a planet far from Earth. When she is discovered by a muscle-bound warrior, she must prove to him, and the Council of Elders, that she is not a creature set free from a lab, but a sentient being from another planet.

If she succeeds, they will send her home. If she fails, she will be executed.

Risnar warrior Kren Bolep is duty bound to protect his village from the Monsuda and their creations. But this small pink-skinned female is different, special. As the bond between them grows, Jeannie’s vulnerability invokes Kren’s protective instincts, and he vows to uncover the truth and secure her future.

But there is a bigger threat looming. The Monsuda are coming to get Jeannie, and they’ll use whatever means necessary. When Jeannie is taken, Kren is forced to choose—disobey the Elders and place his people in danger, or lose the only person who makes him feel whole.

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