The Missing One

It was Shawnee's first day home after going away to finish her junior year in college and she had not yet awakened from her sleep. Despite the late morning hour, the sky remained dark and ashen, a categorization only momentarily disrupted by a brief light that shot across the sky over her home.

Eventually, her alarm clock rang a blaring sound, filtered into her ears, and forced her to open her eyes.

Reluctantly, she allowed her eyelids to flutter open and reached her hands across her nightstand to silence her alarm. As her body warmed up to the start of a new day, she could smell bacon...no, ham, no, Sausage! Sausage, she could smell sausages! Her mother had to be in an excellent mood.

She sat up, pushed her feet into her slippers, and ran down the stairs. Hurriedly she ran in to the kitchen ready to meet the source of the delicious smell that tingled her nose. She swerved around the corner.

"Morning MO- "

Except it wasn't her mother. No this disheveled shape that was too tall and too lean could not be her mother, but yet there it was wearing her mother's robe, cooking her favorite breakfast, and pouring black coffee into mugs on the counter.

"Hi, Darling", the person said with surety and as the body slowly turned to face her Shawnee ran for the door.

Legs kicking. Lungs expanding. The door knob was so close to her hands, but right before she could open the door the creature had somehow blocked her path.

Now that it was closer it seemed even more menacing. Clear, opaque skin dawned its hands. In the yellow eyes her velvety brown pupils shown bright and fearful.

"Why did you run, aren't you going to eat breakfast?"

"Um, I...where. Where is my mother... why?"

"Eat darling."

"Stop calling me that. Why do you sound like her? What are you"

"Eat darling or be punished."

With that the creature grabbed her by her long black hair and dragged her back towards the kitchen. She kicked and streamed, anything to loosen the hold that this creature had on her body but it was so strong and it seemed as if the more she fought it, the stronger the grip became.

With one hand the creature threw her into one of the dining chairs while tying her hands behind the chair with the other. Shawnee stopped struggling deciding it was better to reserve her energy for whatever came next...or whatever this was.

"You won't feed yourself, so now I will do it for you."

She noted how the voice had changed from the light tones of her mother to a deeper and raspy vibrato that rattled her to her core. The creature turned its back away from her and collected a plate from the counter. Gently, it pulled a chair from under the table and sat next to her.

"Open."

Now fully aware of the strength of the creature, she reluctantly opened her mouth. The creature began to spoon feed her the contents of the plate. Slowly she chewed the food and for some reason the sausages did not taste quite the way she remembered. As he fed her the food she noticed that her body started to feel heavier and heavier. Slowly she drifted off to sleep.

...

"You told me she wouldn't be home, now you've jeopardized everything"

"What! We told you in the mission files that the human woman had a daughter. Abogog you are the one who didn't listen so don't attempt to place responsibility on me for your mistake."

"Mistake! This was supposed to be a simple extraction. Take out the mother. Ghost the body. Find the "missing one" and get out. Now the stupid little human girl has seen my body before it fully uploaded the replication, she is a liability."

"It was a simple extraction but as always you complicate it by deviating from instructions. Where was it in the mission that you would fix yourself breakfast! If you hadn't been so busy being a calgoroid this wouldn't have happened. And why'd you bring the stupid human on board anyway. You should have taken her out."

"I would have but there was no one to replicate her so there would have been blood everywhere and I'm supposed to be undercover to find "the missing one", remember?"

"Abogog, when core hears what you've done don't be surprise if they decommission you from this mission. However, I guess we could find some use for the human while she's on board. The aquanoe is hungry..."

"Ugh. I'm not feeding her to the aquanoe and not even a human girl is stupid enough to be convinced to walk into that trap. Can't we just use her with the other captives for labor?"

"No, we have reached our quota for captives and plus she can't even understand what we're saying so she doesn't know you're going to feed her to the aquanoe. I'm just trying to save you from decommission Abogog."

"Fine. Reyeden"

With that Abogog was left with the human girl as Reyeden turned to head to the core. He stared at the limp body on the carrier, weighing the option between life or death for the human girl who just wanted some breakfast.

...

She had pretended to be asleep while the creature who had abducted her from her home argued with another creature. She was terrified and unsure of why the creature had decided to take her on board. After all, she knew that it was ridiculously strong and could have easily killed her in her home, but for some reason it had decided to drug her breakfast and bring her aboard some alien ship.

Their gonna do experiments one me. Oh No! This can't happen, I don't want to be an alien's testing mouse

She could feel the alien's arms lifting her up, she peaked through her eyelids to gain some sense of her surroundings, but as the alien carried her further down a darkened hallway she knew that knowing what the ship looked like was probably the least of her worries.

After their fourth turn down a darkened hallway she had decided that it probably didn't matter if she kept her eyes open as the creature seemed to not care or notice if she did. Finally, they stopped in front of a large silver door with a bunch of lit screens with weird letters for the keys. The alien inserted some codes and the doors lurched open into complete darkness. As he sat her down to the floor, Shawnee couldn't help the uneasiness she felt lurching through her spine.

"What is this?"

"This is where we will be holding you for now"

"Who is we and why aren't there any lights?"

"Who I am is not important right now and the lights respond to body temperature so just walk down the hallway and it will light up"

"If I'm walking to my death just tell me ok, I can handle it."

The creature looked down as if weighing the decision of whether to tell her the fate of her life or not.

"I have to go now. So I would like it if you walked in without any resistance as I have no desire to harm you anymore than necessary."

With the unsaid confirmation of her demise fully acknowledged, Shawnee started her walk down the dark hallway and as the door clicked behind her...she resolved that this day would not be her last.

True to the creature's words the hallway lit up as she walked, showing emerald green walls with ceilings so high she couldn't see where they began. Eventually, the hallway opened up into a large open space and as if announcing her arrival, the lights beamed to life in the open area. It had the same walls as the corridor but the ceilings were a little bit shorter and the room was accompanied with a dank smell (that she found familiar but couldn't name) and damp floors.

She didn't see any opening where the water could have come from so she bent down to get a closer look at the small droplets of condensation beneath her feet. Using a finger, she swiped at the droplets and brought it closer to her face. It was thick, dark, and red. Finally, she recalled the dank smell in the room.

Blood. Human Blood.

...

I wonder how long it will take aquanoe to eat the human. Well if she doesn't fight it should be...

"Abogog! You're doing it again!', Reyeden shouted.

"Doing what, you imbecile!"

"You're thinking of that stupid human! You did the right thing, heck you saved her from a life of human misery!"

Those beautiful eyes, they reminded me of the archapoid ponds.

"Ugh. You're always so dismissive of humans, Reyeden. But aren't you the one who fell in love with a human and has some half Revocon kid running around on Earth."

"Pure speculation. I wouldn't bastardsize the Revocon blood by tainting it with humans. Besides if there were any human/Revocon hybrids running around on Earth they would be easily detectable."

"Sure Reyeden."

With that Abogog got up from the table and dumped his food into the receptor to be recycled. As he walked back to his resting station he couldn't help but remember the big brown eyes that he'd left to face the aquanoe. He cursed the fact the Revocons and humans were so similar in appearance as it would be easier to separate himself from his feelings of guilt if she didn't remind him of home.

For months he'd been travelling the galaxy on a mission with the Revocon retrieval fleet in search of the elder's "missing one". A mission he saw as futile as any great "missing one" would have long been found on a planet superior to Earth but alas here they were searching Earth off of the last minute whim of one of Revocon's elders that Earth was in fact the location of the "missing one".

Why this "missing one" was so important for the elders to find he did not know, Revocon retrieval rarely ever told them the cause of their mission, secured in the belief that "truth in the role of defense clouds action by judgement", whatever that meant. The retrieval force was all he'd known. Ever sense his father died in the battle of the fourth, Revocon leaders thought it would be good to groom him as a replacement for his father in the defense force. Retrieval duty was his trial run and once he completed it he would move on to the armed defense fleet, the highest organizational level in the defense force of Revocon. As a result, he couldn't afford to help small adult humans to escape their fate, but he still couldn't help but to think of those soft eyes.

He decided that night he would go to Earth and relieve his ill focused feelings through the passion of a human woman. As he looked out of the window of his resting station Abogog decided where he'd go for relief.

...

She sat on the cold ground that lay damp with the blood of members of her species. She wondered how long it would be before her life was finally taken from her and before she drew her final breaths of air. Would it be painful? Would they draw it out in gleeful torment? Were all aliens so evil? Her thoughts were interrupted by the feel of breath on the back of her neck.

She stilled in fear of what lay behind her and as if the universe was conspiring to let her go out with wet pants, the beast whispered in her ear,

"Hello human"

With a small voice she said, "um...high, you're going to kill me now right?"

"No, I'm full right now. I want to play a game.", it snarled.

"What kind of game?"

"Let's see. How about we play let's see how fast the human can run before I catch her."

Her body became hot at his words as it dawned on her this thing did plan on eating her tonight, he was just going to toy with her first.

"I will not give you the satisfaction of chasing me down like some wild animal, kill me now but I am not running."

With a quick motion the beast yanked her body and turned it towards him. She closed her eyes, afraid to see the face that belonged to the hideous voice.

"Open your eyes"

"No, if you're going to eat me please do it but I don't want to see."

"Look at me!"

Slowly she opened her eyes and soft brown eyes met glaring pools of gray. It shocked her how human it looked. Well, if humans were 8ft tall and jacked themselves on steroids, but as he opened his mouth into a smile she noticed the razor sharp rows of coral white teeth tainted with blood.

"Ok, I see you. Now what?"

The smile fell from his face as the beast's expression seemed to cower from disappointment.

"Aren't you afraid human?"

"No."

"I think you're lying"

"I'm not."

And with that the beast sat her back to the floor and turned to a panel in the wall. He pushed some buttons on a keypad and a few minutes later human like creatures entered the cave and took her out the door.

...

Abogog walked the streets of New York City staring at the masses of advertisements that adorned the walls of buildings, shops, and electronic screens. He smiled to himself as he found humor in the fact that the models humans held so highly as the pinnacle of beauty would be a normal affair on Revocon (and a lot more muscular too as thinness was frowned upon). Long ago the ancients had perfected the genetic pool of the Revocon people so much so that beauty was normalized on the planet. From the darkest to the fairest skin all was perfect on Revocon and their grit and knowing was idolized in the place of the beauty of physique.

As a result of the ancients' success in the genetic realm, Abogog had little trouble picking up human women. Tonight he decided on a Latin number with well-endowed breasts, a firm bottom, and soft brown eyes...

As they walked back to his hotel room, Abogog couldn't help but think about the beautiful human girl with similar soft brown eyes that was probably currently being mulled to death by the aquanoe on his ship.

Abogog opened the door to his room and deciding to skip on the before sex talk that humans loved to engage in, he started tearing at the woman's clothes. She moaned with delight at his aggression as he teasingly stripped her down to only her bra and panties. Abogog carried her to the suite's kitchen counter. Slowly he trailed his tongue across her throat, biting and sucking as he went. She moaned in ecstasy at his contact spreading her legs wider to wrap him tighter around her. He continued to lick at her skin admiring the way it flushed at his touch. Tentatively, he suckled on her nipples making sure to end each lick with the firm graze of his teeth. The woman dug her nails into his skin, moaning incessantly against his ear. His fingers began to caress her inner thigh and slowly he trailed them until they stood against the entrance of her sex, rubbing the wetness. She pushed her pussy into his exploring hand only for Abogog to respond by stopping his movement.

"You're so wet, beautiful", Abogog whispered against her ear.

She squirmed at his teasing and begged for him to put his fingers inside of her. Gently, Abogog gathered the fabric of her panties into his hands and ripped it from her hips. Slowly, he curved a finger inside of her testing the tightness of her pussy as she moaned with delight.

RING. RING.

Abogog's receiver rarely rang when he visited a planet as Revocons knew that this could compromise their cover. He excused himself from the woman and stepped outside of his door. He pushed a button and the image of his commander shown in his eyes, from an outsider's perspective it looked as if he was talking to himself.

"Yes, Sir?"

"Stop playing around with the human women, we have a situation on board. Return immediately."

Deciding it was best to resist temptation by not going back into his room and asking his muse for the night to leave, Abogog walked toward the elevators and headed back to his pod.

Upon his return the deck was quiet. He knew that more than likely the crew was in the Core discussing whatever this emergency was. He made his way to the core and sure enough the entire crew was there but as he turned to his right there stood the human girl.

...

"Glad you could finally make it Captain Abogog", the commanders voice boomed from the front of the room. Abogog took a seat and tried his best to keep from gaping at the brown eyed girl that he'd been wrestling with guilt about all day. The commander continued speaking.

"We are here today because it has come to our attention that this human girl is not entirely human at all. In fact, she is half Revocon and half human. As we all know any being that is 50% or more Revocon cannot be executed without the written consent of an elder, and had it not been for the due diligence of our aquanoe this Revocon hybrid would be dead. Does anyone want to explain to me how a hybrid ends up being fed to the aquanoe instead of being directly reported to me as per the laws of the Revocon defense?"

Well I'm officially decommissioned.

Slowly he raised his hands to signal his guilt to the commander. It was time to face the consequences of his actions. He knew that the nagging feeling of guilt he had when he tried to feed the human...ahem hybrid to the aquanoe that he shouldn't have gone through with his decision and now he must pay.

She was confused as she stood in front of the room. Why had her death been interrupted by the very same people who had sentenced her to die at the hands of that beast? It was strange as she tried to make out what they were saying in their alien tongue. She hadn't noticed it that much when she first heard them talking in their language that every so often she could pick up on the words they were saying. Out of the commander's monologue she could only make out the words: Revocon, elders, hybrid, and human. This didn't help her that much in understanding why her life had been spared so close to the hour of death.

She looked around the room as her eyes settled on the blond, blue eyed man who'd came into the meeting late. She couldn't help but notice how attractive he was and she wondered why she felt as if she'd seen his face before.

"Abogog! Explain your actions!"

"I was executing the plan as outlined sir. Sargent Reyeden and I had outlined the girl's home as a prime location to conduct our undercover operation as the location of the "missing one" had been assumed to be close to that position. Part of this plan, as you already know, consisted of taking out the inhabitants of the home, ghosting their bodies, and collecting intel. When I entered the home everything went as planned, but I had forgotten to eat anything before I started the mission so I decided to make some breakfast sir. That's when the girl found me while I was in the middle of the ghosting process of her mother's body. I was afraid that the mission had been compromised and rather than report my mishaps to you sir I decided the best course of action was to attempt to correct my mistakes on my own."

There was a long pause as the captain stared wearingly at Abogog with a look of contemplation etched across his face.

"That was pure recklessness. Not to mention cowardly and completely against the Revocon's defense code of conduct. I have no choice but to—"

The commander was interrupted as the blaring noise of the ship's security indicator warned all on board of the approaching presence of an enemy war vessel.