Alien Shifter Ch. 03

It had, actually, been one of the company's vice presidents - curious at what the email was about - who had ventured into the man's office to find the body.

Since he, and several other vice presidents - two of whom were no longer among the living - were implicated in the email - and upon investigation by the Board of Directors - also in some of the future plans - there was a small delay in determining who would be Acting CEO while the company figured out their way forward.

The weeks tumbled by and Silva & Marmon completed their final exams and started looking more closely at their plans for the winter break.

Marmon judged that he should be able to make a quick back-and-forth to Mimkri before they needed to head to Hawaii.

At the beach, under a moonless December sky, he gave Vala a light hug and asked her to help keep an eye on her sister for the few days he would be gone.

Silva got a full-body hug and a 'til-death-do-us-part kiss.

Marmon pressed his forehead to hers and promised he would be back before she knew it.

She cursed in several languages and made him hold her tightly as he repeated those promises.

He sprouted gills, started forming webbing between his fingers & toes, and headed into the surf.

The girls stood, hugging in the cool, night air - until they saw the cloaked ship break the surface of the water - to head, unseen and undetected - to the far side of the moon to form the small wormhole it would need to pave the way to Marmon's former home.

Siri brought him in-system and revived him from his stasis-slumber to prepare for landing.

Cleared by the Mimkri space authority, he landed at the public port near his home and found a shuttle to his parents' house.

He hugged his surprised mother and gave her an overview of his adventures.

He caught a shuttle to the Archives while she summoned interested (and available) family members to their home for dinner and stories.

Marmon spent much of the rest of the day, delivering his (edited) research and filing the required paperwork.

By the time he left the office, he had a receipt for his submission - and a promise that his title would be issued once the records were authenticated.

He did manage to confirm that no one else had submitted anything for Earth - so his acceptance should just be a formality.

On the way home, Marmon tracked down a spare combat suit that - hopefully - would work for Vala.

He returned to the place where he grew up to find his mother was preparing his favorite foods for the big meal.

He answered all of her questions - mostly - but was vague on certain things.

He admitted that he had fallen for a "local girl" and would like to bring her to meet mom - but - obviously - Mimkrins weren't overly supportive of those types of relationships - so it would have to be managed carefully.

Like most mothers, she watched his eyes as he talked about those parts and - as much as any mother worries - she could see that he had found a home for his heart. The girl, would, of course, never be what her little boy deserved - but mothers love their boys and have to trust them - a little - even though it's hard.

Marmon snacked as he and his mother visited - while she worked to prepare the food - which was good because - when everyone arrived and the meal actually began - nobody left Marmon alone long enough for him to even finish half the food on his plate.

His mom's parents, of course, came.

His father's parents dropped by, congratulated him, and then headed off to whatever important business they had planned.

Marmon's mother wanted him to stay the night.

She was not overly-delighted when he told her that he'd have to sleep to head back to Earth and that he'd rather be on his way - to take advantage of that down-time - and get back to his soulmate.

After several tears - a threat or two - and more hugs, she allowed him to board the shuttle and head back to the spaceport.

Siri got them cleared and lifted off.

While he was busy with his family, Marmon had gotten notification that the final hurdle - for acceptance to the Archives had been cleared - and they were just waiting for regular business hours, the following day, to issue his credentials.

He would be Marmon Savro, Archivist.

His paperwork spelled out the location of the world he had discovered and researched.

Any Mimkrin who wanted to follow-up on his research would need to check in with him first.

Considering the number of unexplored worlds, that possibility was highly remote.

Siri created the wormhole to head back to Earth and Marmon was asleep before stasis even took over.

By the time Marmon came strolling up onto the beach, Google had already notified Silva and she was standing there, waiting for him with tears in her eyes.

"Don't ever leave me again," she demanded, throwing her arms around him and suffocating him with a kiss.

"I love you, too, huntress."

"Don't start your shit with me, devil-tongue."

"Yes, mistress."

"We're going home. Now. We're shifting to Mimkrin - and then we'll see if you remember how to really use that tongue of yours, Lucifer."

Marmon picked his lover up by her ass-cheeks and pulled her into another kiss.

Silva threw her legs around his waist and clung to him as he tried to plod through the shifting sand towards the waiting car.

He made it about two steps before he turned around, walked across the firm, wet sand, and carried her into the waves.

They swam down, through the cave, and took the lift to their cliff-bound home.

The lovers spent the day fucking - first as Mimkrins, then as human, then as Volkrans, and - early the next morning - as humans again.

By the third time, Marmon was feeling drained but his sexy lover managed to get him rehydrated - and stiff enough to accomplish her task - every, single time she was ready to go again.

Between love-making sessions, he told her about the trip, his conversations with his mother, and the time with his family.

Mid-morning the following day, they finally made their way back across the beach to catch their ride to go spend time with Vala.

She had taken advantage of Silva's disappearance to go dancing with Lorenzo.

Since they were still getting along so well, Silva had added him to their travel arrangements for the upcoming trip to Hawaii.

He was looking forward to the adventure and had been spoiling Vala even more than he usually did.

She was eating up the attention like crazy.

Early on, Google had crafted an injection - that Vala used once a month - that guaranteed she could enjoy "playtime" without having to worry about some Earth-boy knocking her up with a litter.

Lorenzo had asked - making sure he wasn't overstepping - but she assured him that she was more than ready for his full-court press.

She had, apparently, had a lot of fun - when they went out the night before - so she wanted to go dancing again.

She talked Silva & Marmon into tagging along - but they stayed at the table, holding hands and kissing - while Lorenzo & Vala tore up the dance floor.

Lorenzo was teaching Vala the tango.

Marmon had to admit that it looked like a lot of fun.

Vala made the dance very stimulating to watch.

Silva noticed and rubbed the bulge in his pants and nibbled his ear.

When his attention left the dancers and turned to his mate, she gave him flirty, lust-filled kisses and whispered fiery promises for a passionate joining when they got back home.

A few days later, they were sitting near their gate and Vala was trying to talk Lorenzo into helping her join the mile-high club during the trip.

Silva cautioned her not to attract attention to herself but Vala was being Vala.

Several hours later, they landed in Kahului, Maui, Hawaii and their private driver picked them up and took them to their villa near Paia.

This location had been selected for its small stretch of private beach - even though the two couples only really ended up there in the evenings.

Siri had arranged for a chef and housekeeper to arrive each morning to prepare breakfast and tidy the place up.

Lunches were arranged by their driver - and sometime tour guide - as he ferried them between destinations.

The private chef was back to prepare dinner most evenings - except on those nights where they enjoyed a luau or sunset dinner cruise.

They began the week learning to surf, snorkel and stand-up paddleboard.

Marmon and Silva would have preferred to skip the snorkeling and go with gills and webbed-feet - but that wasn't an option with Lorenzo tagging along.

They visited the Nakalele Blowhole and explored the tidepools for shells and fish.

They went for a swim under the waterfall at Twin Falls.

They took a kayak snorkeling tour at Olowalu Beach to observe the sea turtles, monk seals, large fish, and the pristine reef.

Their driver suggested banana bread from Aunty Sandy's - which was delightful.

They visited the black sand beach at Wai'anapanapa and swam with sea turtles.

Midway through their week, they took a day trip to Lanai where they went on an underwater boat tour to explore shipwrecks teeming with sharks.

The huntress and the explorer vowed to return - sometime in the future - sans guests - when they could transform and have the opportunity to interact more directly with the wildlife.

They chartered a private sailboat and went to watch humpback whales - hopping overboard long enough to submerge and listen to their songs underwater.

They enjoyed the bamboo forest on the Pipiwai Trail.

They were pretty worn out most nights - but still found several opportunities to enjoy their lovers' bodies on the soft, comfy beds - or on a blanket down by the waves.

Eight days later, the weary travelers were back in California.

They got almost a full day's rest before Google notified them that a Volkran ship was inbound - this one bigger than a single-person ship.

Vala made excuses to Lorenzo and the three aliens boarded their air-transport to head back to Colorado.

Marmon was getting better at not hating the skydiving portion of their trip - but he would never enjoy it like the girls did.

The landing site was getting enough traffic that Silva wondered if they should just install some lights and make it official.

Vala returned to her cave - as if that was the only logical place where an inter-planetary exile would spend all the days of their punishment.

As over-simplified as that was, it made it easier dealing with Krina - or whoever the newest visitor was.

Marmon was at the landing site this time (with half of the droids), Silva was outside of the cave (with the rest of the droids scattered around the area), and Vala was waiting patiently in her "home".

Google had, actually, added a wall to the entrance - with a door and a window - crudely built as if Vala had scavenged it together. The interior also had a few basics to give at least a minor impression that somebody actually did live there.

The ship landed and - after a few minutes - Krina emerged. Behind her walked three humans. A hover-sled brought up the rear of the procession.

By the time they got to the cave, Vala was standing outside in a warm jacket - to protect her from the cold, Coloradan January breeze.

Silva was thankful the snows had cleared or it would have been difficult to mask their foot-paths. Maybe this would be their last visitor for a while - hopefully?

"Krina."

"Vala."

"What the fuck is this?"

Vala pointed to the human male.

"Pack-Mother Nira's investigation determined that Toidi poisoned their birth-mother."

Vala's eyes opened wide in a look of surprise that was not feigned.

"I have orders from her, for you. Are you ready to receive them?"

Vala stood as tall as her petite, human form would allow.

"I am."

"By order of the Pack, Toidi is to live the remainder of his life in exile on this planet. Two of his toadies have willingly chosen to join him in this sentence. The prisoner is less than a drone - he has been castrated and gelded. If he escapes his exile - or this planet - or makes any attempt to do so, his life is forfeit. He is to be killed in the most excruciating manner possible."

Krina took a breath to continue.

Since a response was not, yet, required, Vala remained silent.

"By order of the Pack, this planet shall serve as prison for the accused and for the exiles - and shall be cordoned off from exploration or expansion. Vala Rageheart shall serve as warden. She shall ensure that the prisoners make no attempt to escape. She shall guard against any and every attempt - by any person or force - to free him from his sentence or remove him from this planet."

Vala waited for the question.

"Are you willing and able to accept these obligations - and carry out this duty to the furthest of your abilities?"

"I am."

Krina pointed to the travois.

"I have been authorized to equip you to ensure that you are able to do all that you have promised. Step forward."

Vala stepped in front of her former pack-mate.

"Your sentence remains in force - in that you are still exiled to this planet for the remainder of your life. However, your promise gains you some freedoms."

Krina extended a device and touched Vala's collar, holding a button. The collar gave a long, shrill beep, the LED went out, and the collar released.

Vala took the collar in her hand and looked at it. She held it out to Krina, who took it.

Krina turned to gesture to the four crates on the sled.

"These are your supplies: a food replicator and resource-packs, a resource processing unit, a fabricator and some basic resource packs, two combat suits, a second clothing replicator, and a handful of metal ingots that should be useful for trading with the locals."

Krina grabbed one of the crates and headed towards the cave entrance, setting it on the ground outside. Vala grabbed another and took it there as well.

In a few seconds, Vala was enormously better off than she had been at the beginning of the day - well - except for being saddled with a venomous former-lover and two brainless twits.

Krina turned to Vala and extended a device, holding a button on one end.

"This controls their collars. Press your finger to the sample-plate."

Vala complied and succeeded in not reacting when it took her DNA.

"This device allows you to immobilize them if they don't do what you want - whatever that is. Nobody will be here to argue whether what you decide is acceptable or not. Their fate is entirely in your hands. The clothes they are wearing are fabricated. When they wear out, you can decide whether or not to make them more. They are not to be given a clothing replicator or - obviously - a combat suit."

Vala took the device.

"The sycophants have not been modified - they just, apparently, think they wouldn't be able to survive on Volkra without this idiot. You can do whatever you want to them - except allow them to escape. Toidi, however - as you agreed - should be made to suffer before he is allowed to die."

Vala nodded, not even looking at the man.

"If you do kill him, I would suggest you use some sort of device to record the evidence. I don't think anybody will ever come to free you from your exile - but you might as well cover your ass. Personally, I would kill him before the day is out - and just use the supplies to make your exile more tolerable. I'd force the bimbos to suck my cunt - and kill them as soon as they stopped - but you do whatever you want. If you decide to let Toidi live, I'd recommend cutting his tongue out first thing - he likes to whine."

Vala looked over at him for the first time - making sure he was listening.

Krina turned to head back to the ship and the hover-sled followed along behind her.

"Be well, sister," she called back without looking.

"May the Huntress guide you," Vala replied.

Krina laughed grimly and said, "Maybe this will earn me enough favor with Pack-Mother to keep me from having to come back to this god-forsaken planet again. What do the locals taste like?"

"Greasy and bitter," Vala replied.

Krina belly-laughed, "Sure. Whatever. Good-bye, sister."

She passed over the ridge - out of Vala's sight - and returned to the ship.

In a few minutes, she was gone.

Once Vala knew the ship was headed out of the planet's atmosphere, she turned to her new charges and asked nobody in particular, "Now what the flying fuck am I supposed to do with you dumbasses?"

In the pregnant silence, she reached up and touched her bare neck.

When her body had finished shifting to her true form, she reared-back and roared at the cold Colorado sky.