U.M.O: Unidentified Male Organism

By Penelope Fletcher

Refugee humans flee a scourge that has overtaken their home world. They land on an Earth-like planet only to find they are not alone. Their hosts are anything but merely alien....

Lord Two watches a spaceship land on the haven of Kyzor Lune. She fears for the future of her people. Her creators were without conscience, forcing her kind to flee genocide. Hailing from a planet far beyond the stars called Earth, the U.M.Os pose a deadly threat. The aliens say they need a home, but will they accept the differences of Lord Two's people, or grow to fear them as their creators did? When the human Lord grows to love discovers her secret, will he give her his heart, or seek to destroy her like those before him? And if love prevails, will darker forces allow peace between what was and what will be?

Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Language: British English (BrE)
Content Warning: Sexual situations and explicit language

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stephenson & Fletcher
• Release date: Nov 28, 2015

Penelope Fletcher

Penelope Jade Fletcher is a British author of genre romance. She loves nothing more than reading. Writing comes a close second.   https://plus.google.com/+PenelopefletcherAuthor/posts https://www.facebook.com/AuthorPenelopeFletcher https://twitter.com/miss_fletcher

Book preview

0n3

The life star blazed crimson glory upon the rocky edifice that stood between it and the sparkling Citadel. Furious wind screamed through the lushly forested valley. It tore across the lake, fed the abundant, riotous flora in wild ripples. The waters swelled and broke against the silky banks of a mirrored lake.

Wildlife crept closer to the watering hole, wary at the scents of larger predators. Swarms of flying, biting insects went to ground, burrowing into the soft earth, or flitting under rough bark as the cover of night fell away in jewelled rays cast by the fiery sunrise.

Standing a head taller than those gathered, Lord Two strode proud amidst the females stood before her. She raised a fist. A cluster of agitated neon eyes sharpened. Her army saluted, ululating until she lowered her hand for silence.

Sisters. Your sacrifice humbles me. She made eye contact with those in her immediate vicinity. What I ask goes against the fundamentals of our beliefs. I…. I am sorry for it. Head drooping, she shook off the heavy burden that came with enlisting their aid then squared her shoulders. Here you stand because you know, as well as I, we can no longer absorb the blows they strike. We have family to protect. Young to protect.

The sea of resolute faces nodded.

Jaw clenched, she glanced at her trembling hands. They stilled. She inhaled the crisp morning air, savoured the heady tang of green growing things. Loyal. Her people were loyal to a fault. That she had no further guidance to give, no words to ease what was to come almost brought her to her knees to beg forgiveness.

She was not a stranger to the ugly truths of war, but the lack of option other than fighting thrust splinters of fear through Lord Two more than the certainty of pain and death.

Such a short time had passed since they made landfall as free people.

The rich soil and exotic landscape of the moon seemed more a dream than reality compared to the cold, sterile existence they’d hailed from.

They had built a life, a beautiful life of freedom, and its end was nigh. Her soul wept. Now there was nothing she could do but lead them.

Her expression hardened, resolve firmed to see her warriors through. Suit up. Shields on. She slammed a palm to the flat diamond at the nucleus of her harness.

Thin, indestructible segments unfolded from the cross hugging her breasts. It expanded down her torso and the curve of her waist. She was protected from the soles of her feet to the crown of her head.

The electric blue MechJak armour exposed the strip of her eyes from temple to temple.

Liquid crystal arced across her vision. Solidifying, the tinted visor obscured her baleful gaze, now fixed on the enemy craft.

Lord Two shook out her arms. She expanded her chest to stretch into the overlapped, slatted plates covering her ribcage. Neck twisting, she rotated her padded shoulders, lifting sleekly muscled thighs in quick hops before bouncing on her booted heels to test the accordion shaped joints at her rounded hips, v-shaped sex and ankles.

Flexing her fingers to remind herself of the limitations in grip and sensation, she ran a basic systems check.

The females surrounding her verbally confirmed readiness as their code names were communicated through the open comm channel.

Distinctive voices buzzed through her earpiece.

A memory of their creators pierced her concentration. Voices brimming with vitriol spewed vile accusations, claimed her people were a hive mind bent on global destruction, when it was well known each Sy Kyzu was a unique individual. The unwelcome remembrance sent shafts of anger through her biologic operating mechanisms.

As she readied for war, she could hardly believe the sun-drenched morning had begun as it often did. The inner Citadel had woken in high spirits. Those with tasks beginning in the pre-dawn travelled with happy smiles and warm greetings. Lord Two had left the confines of the fort to better enjoy the organised glory of the cultivated fields, and the shimmering lake that fed them.

A hollow boom from above startled a flock of birds. They shot into the sky in a streak of iridescent feathers and outraged squawks.

A screeching wail ripped through her contemplations of the original ruckus as the energy field protecting their airspace was torn through. The ground shook. Skeletal trees swayed under violent gales, and a winged shadow engulfed the valley.

Rising into a half crouch, meditative pose abandoned, Lord Two had watched the spacecraft descend from the upper atmosphere like a comet wreathed in fire and smoke.

Its engines roared like thunder, and a dented hull glinted in the early morning sun. Vapour left a trail in its wake before it slowed to a crawl. Thrusters spewing flame, it decelerated as it lowered, coming to a juddering halt not a hand’s span from the Citadel’s outermost fortifications.

For a moment, Lord Two, leader of the free Sy Kyzu of Kyzor Lune was struck dumb. Wind buffeted her informal cloak. The obsidian fabric swirled and snapped around her ankles, the draped cowl fluttering back to expose her face. She was utterly shocked at the sight of the craft. It was the sole vessel to breach their airspace since their arrival on the fertile moon.

The sheer audacity of the pilot to land, without permission, on Kyzor Lune, and within arms reach of their settlement confounded her.

Smoke from the overheated engines thick in her nose, she was so stunned, it took long moments to realise Hunter Nine, running from the Citadel to her aid, skidded to a halt beside her.

The air around the female hummed with the sweaty aroma of animal spoor and spicy tree sap. She trembled with the force of her anger.

They dare, she gasped. "They dare."

Shaking off her shock to replace it with a sense of urgency, turning at the waist, Lord Two gripped her sister’s shoulder.

And Hunter was a sister, the first and finest she’d known.

Sound the alarm, she ordered. It was her duty to remain calm in the face of what they feared most: annihilation. Meet me at the gate with those willing to fight.

Hunter hesitated, the bright neon of her eyes dimming in concern.

Lord shoved. Go.

Spinning, Hunter Nine took flight, rushing through the mirror way and into the embrace of the shining Citadel courtyard, bellowing as she went.

Lord Two lifted the ridged expanse of her forehead skyward. The muscles around her mouth tightened. She spread her legs, stood braced against the foe daring to trespass.

"It was not enough to hate us, she hissed into the rush of light and noise. Not enough to hunt us as if we were unthinking, unnatural beasts!" She glared at the looming threat.

Its engines died, dust and debris settling about a robust chassis that encroached on the lake. Banked shores of sand buckled under the craft’s heft. Pristine waters lapped at a metal hull.

Lord Two’s eyes narrowed into slits of neon blue. This time, I will not run, she whispered. If it is a war you want, I will give you one.

7w0

Streams of data and telemetry readings filtered through in vertical lines onto the VDT tabs overlaying the borders of Lord’s helmet mounted display. Her sensors pinged, integrated night and heat vision modes switching on and off.

Telescopic recorders swivelled on her MechJak, rotating an upper third of the display in a panorama. A tinny chime logged completion of the checks. Solid green, an icon appeared in the top left corner of her VDT. The crosshairs of her weapons targeting system came online.

Lord Two signalled to Hunter Nine, recognisable by the red diamond nucleus of her MechJak. It reflected the intense hue of the female’s eyes.

Then she fell back, freeing herself to observe.

Lord was unnerved, and unable to pinpoint what troubled her. Was it the lack of activity from the Vaders, or the building sense of anticipation?

Handing the unit over to Hunter during the mission came with the benefit of confusing the enemy as to the chain of command, but mostly, she needed time to think. A strong, immediate reaction was needed to intimidate and contain the threat.

Sy Kyzu had to send a clear message they were not to be bullied.

Still, Lord Two just needed time to think.

The task force crossed the distance to the unknown vessel in a wave of metal that contrasted against the natural, softer beauty of the jewel-studded loam.

Covering the rocky earth in giant strides, she ran alongside Petal Twenty, a lithe female in yellow armour Lord Two knew in her Calling tended the crops with Farmer. Her purpose in life suggested a psyche too gentle for war, yet as a rare Linked female, Petal had a reason to fight, a beloved mate to protect.

As they drew near, the secondary viewfinder centred on Lord Two’s right eye zoomed in on strange characters denoting the craft’s classification.

Confusion zinged through her. The symbols were indecipherable.

Snapping shots of the hull sequence and running the symbols individually, and at differing angles through the catalogs, her screen flashed an orange ‘unknown’ icon. The database was unable to isolate the root words the foreign script derived from.

The second sign something was not right.

First was the construction of the spacecraft. Had their foes of the past come to finish the massacre of her people, she expected blocky warcrafts to rain fiery oblivion. Updated munitions, operating procedures for ground troops and upgraded flight controls, yes, as significant time had passed. Technological advances were inevitable, but the ship before her possessed a sleek curvature she’d never before seen, nor would she have expected it of the angle and straight-line-loving race her kind had fled.

Accustomed to the added weight of her MechJak, she calculated the angle and force needed to leap over the lake to its far bank.

Lord Two redistributed her weight to her toes, shifted her centre of mass in preparation of catapulting up, and then soared. Her legs and arms freewheeled. She landed with a heavy thump, knee to sand. A gritty dust cloud exploded from under her boots.

Dominant hand shooting over her shoulder, she unclipped the laser rifle anchored to her back. Shouldering it, she scanned the locale for hostiles as the rest of the unit completed the crossover.

Built wiry and tough, quick as she was sharp, Hunter Nine was a fraction of a moment behind. She was invaluable as second-in-command.

Helmet slowly turning side to side, metallic rays refracted off her visor. She took up a compact, defensive pose. A shield ideal for deflecting small laser fire flickered to life from a carapace on her forearm. The long oval was half her height and breadth, striations of red energy rippling from its centre.

With a firm nod from Hunter confirming the area secure, Lord Two broke formation. She strode forward to issue a last chance for the Vaders to retreat.

The lack of movement or obvious preparation to attack was worrying.

What if they remained silent to allow the charge of a world-killer weapon that would annihilate the Citadel in the blink of an eye?

Why had they not demanded Sy Kyzu surrender?

Entering their atmosphere in a stealth ship and landing without permission a stone’s throw from their settlement was the height of aggression. Now an ominous silence.

What did they plan? Why had they come?

Questions and no answers.

It made her leery, but no less ready to demand they observe Sy Kyzu right to exist unmolested in hard won peace.

With a thought, the triangular front plate of her helmet receded into her MechJak. Though her head was left vulnerable to a kill