Page 81 of Stripped By the Alien

Sleep refuses to come. The future feels uncertain in ways I have never experienced before. I should dislike that feeling. Uncertainty is dangerous. Uncertainty gets creatures killed. Every lesson I have ever learned tells me to eliminate it whenever possible.

Yet as I listen to Nora breathing against my chest, I can’t entirely convince myself that I want certainty. Not if it means knowing how this ends.

24

- Nora -

“Try to grab me,” I tell him.

Krix’vorr tilts his head. “It seems so dishonorable. You’re half my size.”

I take up the ready stance. “Oh, are you scared? I’ll toss you at the wall.”

“I am actually scared of hurting you,” he says as he turns his side to me. “But I’ll do my best not to.”

“Come on,” I goad him, part of me wondering how smart this is. “I think you’re afraid I’ll beat you up.”

“Yes,” he admits. “I’m deathly afraid of–” He suddenly lunges and reaches out to grab my shoulder. It's exactly what I expected. Bigger opponents always want to grab higher up first, and once they have hold of you, the fight is usually finished.

I quickly step aside and catch his wrist with both hands, pivot underneath the arm, and pull. His weight and movement unbalance him and he stumbles past me. I let go and push at his back with all my might, sending the giant locust alien crashing to the floor, defeated by his own momentum.

“Ah,” he says as he gets up, “That’s interesting.”

We’re in a training chamber deep inside the Beast. It’s basically a cube with walls of living tissue, and the ceiling is high. There’s a big rack of extremely alien-looking weapons and other items I can’t identify. Krix’vorr took me here to make me ‘less defenseless’, as he put it. Well, I guess I’m not as harmless as he thought.

I back off a few steps, tensed up like in training. I’ve never fought anyone in earnest, but I’ve spent a good number of hours in Space Force gyms practicing unarmed combat, often with larger opponents. It’s an entertaining way to stay in shape. “Yeah? Losing a fight is interesting to you?”

Krix’vorr strokes one antenna. “No, you misunderstand. I was simply doing a surprise inspection of the floor. Thank you for assisting me with that.”

“Mhm. Checking that it’s soft enough for next time I drop you?” The taunting comes naturally when practicing combat. Or maybe it’s a Space Force thing.

“No,” he grunts, “making sure it won’t crack your skull when–” he lunges again, and goes for my arm. It’s not a bad move, and if he hadn’t signalled it so clearly he would have caught me. I just manage to avoid his hands and try the same move as last time, but this time his balance is better and he just stumbles before he catches himself and whips around, grabbing at me with his other hand.

I yelp and instinctively back off, but I’m too close and his reach is very long. He grabs me and swings me around until I’m staring up at him. “You’re fast.”

His other hand slides down my back and briefly strokes my hip outside the tape. “And you’re slippery.”

I snort and twist sideways, trying to free my arm. “No, just agile. Different things.”

He lets go of me. “The result is the same: I caught you.”

I adjust the tape that’s wound around me. “Don’t get used to it.”

I immediately put more distance between us. The fact that he lets me go annoys me far more than if I'd escaped on my own. “Now try to predict what I’ll do.”

I begin circling him again, trying to work out how to describe something that most humans do automatically. “You keep watching my hands. That's sensible, because hands are dangerous. But you're focused on what I'm doing right now. Opponents usually give away what they're about to do before they do it.”

“How?”

“Eyes. Weight. Breathing. Tiny movements.” I deliberately glance toward his left side.

Immediately his attention follows my gaze.

I point at him. “There.”

“I see what you mean. You pulled my eyes to the side.”

“That’s right. If I’d had a weapon in the other hand, you might not have seen it for a tiny moment. That could have been enough.”