Alien Goddess: Sarah (Makaen Warriors Book 1) Read online

  Alien Goddess: Sarah

  Makaen warriors book 1

  Zina Wes

  © 2019 Zina Wes

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  Contents

  Alien Goddess: Sarah

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Epilogue

  From the author

  Chapter 1

  When the going gets tough, the tough start chopping wood. With a satisfied grin, Sarah eyed the fruits of her labor. After almost two hours of chopping wood in the barn, a neatly stacked pyramid of firewood had arisen against the barn wall. Only a few more and she’d be done. Her hands, arms and back hurt like hell, but she loved the physical strain. Slacking around the house all day wasn’t her cup of tea. It was something she had inherited from her Scottish grandmother, Martha. Right now, that woman was traveling around the world as if there was no tomorrow, which, considering the fact she was almost eighty, might be true. Sarah believed her to be in Budapest today. Or was it Bucharest? Like every week, her parents would receive an old-fashioned postcard one of these days, with a short message written on it. Only then would they know for sure where Martha had traveled to.

  Sarah snorted. While her grandmother roamed the world, she herself was standing in her parents’ barn, chopping wood. Maybe it was time Sarah got her walking boots on and did the same, now that she didn’t have a job anymore.

  Sarah had returned to her parents’ farm three months ago after quitting her job for the Earth’s Council. The Council had been established a little over thirty years ago, after Earth had been visited by aliens for the very first time. Sarah hadn’t been born yet, but she had heard the stories about the first contact in school and from her grandmother. She preferred Martha’s stories.

  According to her grandma, a lot of people had shit their pants, literally, when a spaceship had landed in…Belgium. And why not Belgium? In all the movies Sarah had seen about alien invaders, the aliens had landed in the US. But statistically, any other country or continent had just as much chance of alien visitors. This time the roulette ball had landed on Belgium.

  The beings that had stepped out of that spaceship were no more than five feet tall, with furry baby-pink skin. They looked like pink Ewoks from Star Wars. They called themselves the Zazori. The Zazori were traders who had accidentally found Earth when their ship’s computer had malfunctioned, causing them to take the wrong exit. After it was evident that the aliens didn’t want to assimilate, eat or enslave us but had really come in peace, the world leaders had crawled out of their bunkers. The Zazori, being the space merchants they were, had seized the opportunity and immediately looked for merchandise to trade. We had gotten some high-tech stuff that made our computers go faster; they’d left with ice cream and chocolate. They’d clearly gotten the better deal.

  The arrival of the aliens had almost started several wars. Every superpower on Earth called shotgun in dealing with the Zazori. To structure future trade, the United Nations, with reserved approval from those superpowers, decided to install a council to represent the whole of Earth. And thus the Earth’s Council had come into existence.

  Now that they finally had the furry pink evidence that there was more life out there, combined with the prospect of financial gain, the world leaders had their hearts set on humans traveling through space themselves. With the help of the Zazori, Earth gathered enough tech to build its own long-range spaceships in less than five years—albeit somewhat primitive spaceships, but they functioned. Humans were finally space explorers! Humans traveled to the stars, explored unknown planets and visited strange civilizations. Everything was hunky-dory. That was, until our race encountered the Makaen.

  It was ten years ago. One of Earth’s spaceships, the Lorentz, had come across an uninhabitable planet with extremely rare and valuable minerals. The crew of the Lorentz started mining immediately. Within a few hours, a small alien ship approached. Its occupants introduced themselves as the Makaen and demanded that the humans vacate the planet immediately and leave all the minerals behind. Apparently, the planet belonged to them and carried some kind of spiritual significance.

  Every smart person in the universe knows that the crew should have said: “Sorry, we weren’t aware it was your planet. We must have missed the nameplate. Mea culpa. We’re leaving now! Have a very nice day, and if you’re ever in the neighborhood of the Milky Way, do come around for a cup of tea.” But, no, that is not what was said. Instead, the humans pointed out Earth’s finders keepers, losers weepers rule. And that was when the shit hit the fan.

  On Earth, everyone was told that the Makaen fired first, but who knows for sure? Anyway, there was some shooting back and forth, ending with the destruction of the Makaen ship. Some of the passengers who hadn’t made it to the escape pods in time were killed.

  What the crew of the Lorentz didn’t know at that moment was that the Makaen ship they had fired upon was just a small cruiser with pilgrims on board. Before the Lorentz was able to get the hell out of Dodge, a huge Makaen battleship turned up. Not surprisingly, the Makaen were furious. Without hesitation, they fired on the Lorentz. The Lorentz didn’t stand a chance and was completely destroyed in seconds. The Makaen were much more technologically advanced and, again, their ship was huge. The Lorentz didn’t even make a dent. It was like cavemen with sticks fighting a tank. And so, the war had started between Earth and the Makaen.

  Any war is bad, but a war with a much more advanced alien race truly sucked. Humans were no longer free to roam the universe. Every confrontation with the Makaen ended in a destroyed Earth ship. So, instead of roaming, humans went more like tiptoeing through space, avoiding the Makaen as much as possible. Also, other alien races didn’t want to trade with Earth anymore, afraid of angering the Makaen if they did.

  Thinking of the war made Sarah grimace. It had influenced her life greatly. What hurt most was the loss of her brother in battle two years ago somewhere far, far away. She missed him so much. And then there was her dream of becoming a professional dancer, a dream she’d had since she was a little girl. Due to budget cuts, the college of modern arts and dance she had tried to get in to had closed down. Sarah had heard the news on the exact day she would have had her audition. In wartime, the government didn’t like spending money on what it considered frivolous, like arts. Going to one of the few remaining private dance schools wasn’t an option because of the simple fact that Sarah didn’t have the funds. If she had asked
her parents, they would have gotten a loan somehow, but she couldn’t do that to them. Her parents were mostly self-sufficient and had never borrowed money in their lives. Sarah certainly wasn’t going to be the one to get her parents into debt. So, no professional dance education for her.

  But Sarah wasn’t one to curl up in the fetal position and cry. For long, that is. After many talks with her parents, she’d decided to study xeno-psychology. It was the most logical choice. Sarah loved to know what made people tick, and finding out what made aliens tick was a thousand times more interesting. Also, she would get a full scholarship. It was a no-brainer.

  Meanwhile the Earth’s Council had gotten more and more powerful. So powerful that the Council had become Earth’s highest decision-making body. And right there on top stood John Malcolm.

  Sarah had met Malcolm when he’d given a guest lecture at her university. The lecture hall had been packed. Everyone wanted to hear the most important man on Earth speak. Sarah had found a place standing in a corner. And truth be told, Malcolm, with his distinguished gray hair, intelligent eyes and authoritative demeanor, was indeed an inspirational speaker. He had spoken about space travel and the progress it had brought to Earth—mainly emphasizing the pros, Sarah had felt, and downplaying the cons. Like, for instance, a war with a warrior alien race that had cost thousands of fathers, mothers, sons and daughters their lives. No longer interested in what else this man had to say, Sarah had tried to walk out of the lecture hall.

  “Is there something the young lady wants to add to my story?” Malcolm had remarked, seeing Sarah walk away. Obviously, he wasn’t used to anyone turning his back on him.

  Everyone had stared at her. It was so quiet in the hall that you could have heard a pin drop. Sarah had turned around to look in Malcolm’s eyes. He had dared her to react. This man knows how to manipulate, Sarah had thought. Well, if he wanted a reaction, she would give him one.

  “In my opinion, we weren’t ready for space travel. As a species, we are self-centered and greedy. That’s how we got into this mess with the Makaen in the first place. They hate us, loathe us, and perhaps rightfully so. The Makaen believe that we have no honor and don’t deserve a place in the universe. That’s good enough reason for them to blow every human spaceship they encounter to smithereens. And there’s nothing we can do about that because the Makaen are far more advanced. They could overtake this planet in hours. To my mind, the only reason the Makaen haven’t invaded us yet is because they regard us as insignificant insects, not worth the trouble. Like mosquitoes that circle around their heads and they slap them away. But truthfully, I’m scared of the day they get enough of the buzzing and use the bug spray on us. So no, I don’t see the benefits as strongly as you do. Sir.”

  Malcolm nodded. “That’s a very interesting point of view, young lady.”

  He then thanked everyone for coming and ended his speech. When Sarah waited in line to exit the hall, she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Malcolm.

  “Do you have a moment?” he asked.

  Sarah stepped to the side. If he was going to reprimand her for speaking her mind, he had another thing coming, she thought. But he hadn’t reprimanded her. Instead, he had offered her a job.

  “I would like you to work for the Council, for me. You dare to speak your mind. I’m surrounded by people who only tell me what they think I want to hear. I believe you will tell me what I need to hear. You study xeno-psychology, don’t you? And you are about to graduate?”

  “Yes, to both.” How had he known that?

  “Perfect. We need to understand more about the aliens we encounter to avoid possible misunderstandings in dealing with them. If you accept my offer, you are free to do your research as you see fit, and you’ll report directly to me.”

  And so had started her career working for the most important man of the world. A career that had ended three months ago when Sarah had left, angry and frustrated.

  As a xeno-psychologist, one of Sarah’s tasks was composing psychological profiles of the various aliens known to the Council to make future interaction with them easier. The Makaen had turned out to be the most difficult to profile, as there was very little available information Sarah could use. The Makaen weren’t particularly prepared to give humans more insights into their motivations. But Sarah had done her best with the little she had.

  Three months ago, Sarah had found out that all the years she had worked for him, Malcolm had passed along all her research to the Department of Alien Defense behind her back. Inadvertently, she had contributed to developing more efficient and effective weapons against and means of torturing aliens.

  Her work had always been about understanding aliens better, not hurting them. When she had confronted him, Malcolm had shrugged her objections away. He had told her that it was necessary to be prepared for every outcome when it came to dealing with aliens. It was better to be safe than sorry. Furious about his betrayal, Sarah had poured hot tea in his lap and quit the same day.

  “Hello, Sarah.”

  Startled by the voice she had hoped never to hear again, Sarah froze. Holding the axe motionless over her head in midair, Sarah slowly turned around. Near the barn door stood the object of her anger and frustration.

  “Malcolm? What are you doing here?” Sarah lowered the axe and let the tip rest on one of the logs.

  “Over the past three days, I’ve left over half a dozen messages for you, asking you to call me back. But no response from you whatsoever. You keep ignoring me. So, I had no choice but to come to this place—and you know how much I hate the countryside—to speak to you in person.”

  Malcolm stepped forward, looking very displeased.

  “Does my mother know you’re here?” Sarah asked. “Right now, you’re her least favorite person in the world and she might want to kick your ass.” When Sarah had returned home, she had only confided in her mother about Malcolm’s actions.

  Malcolm smiled smugly. “Yes, your mother knows. She told me you were in the barn. And she’s a pacifist. Therefore, she doesn’t use violence.”

  “I’d gladly make an exception for you, Malcolm,” said a soft voice from outside the barn. Sarah chuckled when she saw Malcolm’s surprised expression. That smile was wiped off his face. “Everything okay in there?” the voice continued.

  “It’s fine, Mom. You can go back inside the house,” Sarah said.

  “Okay, sweetie. If you need me, just scream.”

  Malcolm waited till he heard the kitchen door open and close before he started talking.

  “What have you told her?” Malcolm asked, somewhat disgruntled. “I hope your mother didn’t check on us because she believes I would hurt you.”

  “I think she was more worried about your safety. I’m the one wielding an axe, remember?” Sarah said, twirling the axe for emphasis. “She doesn’t want me to go to jail for murder.”

  Malcolm cleared his throat. “Well, in that case, it’s nice she came to make sure I was still alive,” he said lightly.

  “Don’t kid yourself, Malcolm. She probably wanted to know if I needed help disposing of your body. So you’d better go before I lose my calm.”

  Malcolm ignored the warning. “Like I said, I need to talk to you.”

  Sarah sighed. “A normal person would get the message, Malcolm. I don’t want to talk to you! Now, go away and leave me alone.”

  Sarah turned around and put a new piece of wood on the chopping block. She raised the axe and with one swing split the log in two. Yep, imagining that the wood was Malcolm’s head got the job done.

  “Fine, then I’ll talk and you can listen,” Malcolm said when it was clear to him that Sarah was giving him the cold shoulder. “For a few months now, we’ve been talking to the Makaen in secret about a peace treaty. If everything goes according to plan, there could be peace within a month.”

  Sarah stiffened. Peace? No more needless deaths? No more families losing their loved ones? It was too late for her brother, but thousands of others could be saved
. Sarah didn’t want Malcolm to know she was thrilled about this news, so she shrugged.

  “That’s nice, but it has nothing to do with me.” Sarah continued chopping.

  Malcolm continued, not the least bit discouraged by Sarah’s uninterested attitude.

  “A week from now, a delegation from Earth will meet up with a Makaen delegation for the final talks. We hope that a treaty will be signed very soon after. Our primary concern right now is to meet the official pre-talks requirements.”

  Malcolm stopped talking.

  After a prolonged silence, Sarah shook her head and sighed. “Okay, I’ll bite.” She rested the blade of the axe on the chopping log but didn’t face him. “What’s the problem?” Malcolm wouldn’t have come all this way if there wasn’t a problem. A big problem.

  “As soon as the treaty is signed, a human ambassador will be appointed to live on Makaen-Prime. That was one of our explicit demands. There are factions within Makaen society that don’t want a peace treaty. They want our total destruction. Even with a treaty, the peace will be a frail one. We need human feet on Makaen soil to let them see we’re not the vermin some Makaen believe.”

  Sarah was surprised that the Makaen would even consider a peace treaty. Total annihilation sounded much more logical, considering their hate for humans and their force majeure.

  Sarah turned around. “And?”

  Malcolm took in a deep breath. “Up till now, we haven’t been able to find a suitable candidate for the position of ambassador. And time is running out. The requirements are strict. It has to be someone on or working for the Council, who doesn’t have a military or secret service background. The Earth’s Council was very explicit about the first part, and the Makaen about the second. They don’t want a spy in their midst. In the end, they settled for a scholar.”

  Sarah snorted. The Council wanted influence on Makaen, thus the need for the ambassador to be one of them. Very cunning.

  “I don’t understand what the problem is,” Sarah said. “What about Paul or Prem? They’re xeno-anthropologists and know more about the Makaen than anyone on this planet. They’re both respected scientists and are affiliated with the Council.” Sarah had often worked with the two and knew that both men were more than qualified for this job.