Abducted by an Alien Savage Read online

  Abducted by an Alien Savage

  Ivy McAdams

  Abducted by an Alien Savage — Kutarian Warriors Book 1

  by Ivy McAdams

  Copyright © 2019 Ivy McAdams

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locals is entirely coincidental.

  https://ivymcadams.com

  Kutarian Warriors

  Abducted by an Alien Savage

  Emerald Falls Series

  Kidnapped by an Outlaw

  Seduced by a Wrangler

  Captivated by a Gunslinger

  Emerald Falls Novella

  Rescued by a Desperado (prequel)

  Contents

  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

  Epilogue

  Note to Reader

  Also by Ivy McAdams

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Gemma

  No one told me when I signed up for this assignment that there were huge barbarian aliens walking around.

  The university program that sent me mentioned the “native inhabitants,” which I must admit my brain turned into a mashup of little green men and ugly neanderthals. What else would live on a distant planet inhabited by dinosaurs?

  But my tour guide describes them as huge, silver-skinned men in loincloths.

  “They typically avoid us,” the scientist in a boring khaki safari get-up says. “But do keep a lookout. We don’t want to lose someone to an abduction.” He laughs.

  He damn well laughs! Like it’s funny.

  The girl next to me tucks her hands further into her lap and looks like she might puke all over the floor of the rock cruiser.

  “What about the dinosaurs?” the man sitting across from me asks.

  Todd is a fellow neo-paleontologist student, finishing up his degree so he can study on Xion V full time. He seemed quite devoted to his studies until our two-month-long trek across space to get here. Then he turned into some crazy horndog sniffing around my room door every night.

  It’s good to hear him back on task.

  “We’ll be coming up on them shortly,” the guide says with a grin.

  Xion V is a small but beautiful planet one galaxy over from ours, recently discovered, and wouldn’t you know it? It’s inhabited by honest to God dinosaurs.

  Scientists predict the planet is quite similar to Earth except millions of years behind. It’s having its own dinosaur age, and we can’t wait to study them. I hopped over into a neo-paleontology program as soon as it opened up. Being chosen to go on an internship semester to see the dinos up close is an absolute dream come true.

  “Should we be worried they’re going to eat us?” the trembling girl next to me asks.

  The tour guide moves his shoulders in a noncommittal shrug as if he's reluctant to say one way or another.

  “We’re just going to take a peek. We won’t be getting too close.”

  The real studying of the beasts is left up to us interns. Or at least the dinosaur ones. Besides Todd and I there are two other neo-paleontologists. Plus a small group in other programs. Anthropologists, geologists, biologists, botanists. A whole mix of us, crammed into a space shuttle for a wickedly long ride over from Earth, then packed into the cruiser in neat rows like a pack of crayons for our first tour of the planet.

  I stare out the window next to me as we bump along the rough terrain. It’s rather rocky on the plateau where the base camp is located.

  It’s a small operation from what I’ve heard. The moon and Mars have much bigger bases and populations of scientists. Ours is the first here on Xion V.

  Green and purple grass and brush line the ground on all sides of us. I can see in all directions down below the edges of the plateau, and honestly, it's beautiful. The sky is light and a mix of blues that swirl like smoke in the breeze. The sun isn't too bright.

  The place is downright comfortable.

  Except where is all the wildlife that’s supposed to be around? The place was advertised as a haven of wildlife.

  You can’t dangle Jurassic Planet in a girl’s face and then snatch it back again. Well, maybe not all girls, but at least not this dino-nerd.

  I’m so ready to run into something exciting that I can’t keep my heel from tapping on the cruiser floor.

  “Aren’t you just about to pop?” The girl sitting behind me asks as she leans around the edge of my seat.

  “Are you kidding?” My skin is tingling.

  Eva loves dinosaurs as much as I do, and it’s all I can do not to snatch up her hand and squeeze it until we both pop.

  She’s been my best friend since freshman year at Columbia. We hit it off over our love of monster movies and caramel popcorn. My first Halloween off at college was a little lonely until I ran into Eva stealing a peek at the new Godzilla movie playing on a frat house lawn.

  I wasn’t about to admit I was there because I heard that one-of-a-kind big boy bellow and came looking, until she asked for a bit of my popcorn and we spent the rest of the night watching that giant lizard smash shit and becoming insta-best friends.

  We’ve roomed together ever since, and as soon as we heard about a new program studying dinosaurs, you can bet both our asses were on that list. We’ve been even more inseparable since.

  She’s as excited as I am, or maybe more since she’s grinning like an idiot. She’s just more patient.

  I want my damn dinosaurs.

  The cruiser rolls over another small ridge of jagged rocks as it reaches the edge of the plateau. Someone on the nearest side gasps, and half of us jump up and climb onto our seat neighbors to look out the windows.

  What I see steals every ounce of breath from my lungs.

  Down a rocky cliffside is a wide valley of green grass and purple trees, spreading clear out to a shoreline alongside the gray ocean. A herd of large dinosaurs dots the field. Colossasaurus. They look like our long-necked Brontosauruses back on Earth, tan with thick blue dorsal stripes running down their backs, blue and green spots flecking out along their sides.

  Beautiful.

  My nerd meter is totally going off, and I can’t wait to see them up close.

  “We’re going down there right?” I all but shout. It’s hard to contain the excitement in my voice.

  The tour guide skews his lips, considering as he gazes down into the valley. “I’d really planned more of a short tour today…”

  “Are you kidding?” Another of the women in our group speaks up. “There are dinosaurs down there.”

  I grin at her. She’s not even a neo-paleontologist. I think I heard her mention she worked with plants.

  The guide regards us as others nod and point at the windows.

  The mousey girl that’d been sitting next to me earlier is still shaking. “But there are dinosaurs down t
here.” Her repeated words hold an entirely different inflection. She’s terrified.

  “You’re right,” the guide says, pressing his palms together with a nod of relief. “Perhaps we better―”

  “Those are herbivores,’ Todd throws in. “They shouldn’t mess with us.”

  The tour guide looks flustered again. He glances over at the hired gun sitting next to him.

  The mercenary, the likes of which we’ve seen everywhere since arriving, is dressed in black and strapped down with weapons. Despite the constant promises that everything was perfectly safe on Xion V, except for the occasional dinosaur, the base camp is heavily armed.

  The man gives a casual shrug, and the tour guide swallows before he speaks.

  “I suppose we can make a quick trip down, but we’ll stick with the cruiser and not wander off, understand? You’ll get your chance to explore your areas of expertise with your own department at a later date.”

  Sure, sure. The general “it’s not my fault if you wander off and get eaten” spiel. Let’s see some dinos!

  We only landed on Xion V two days ago. After proper meals and some much-needed sleep and acclimation, we went out that morning for our first tour of the planet.

  The place is hospitable and has some breathtaking views, but overall our tour has consisted of the guide running his yapper about plants and the few dinosaurs that’d been studied so far. And the alien race they’ve seen from afar but haven’t made contact with yet.

  I can't deny I'm a little curious about that. An entire race that lives alongside the dinosaurs? They must be pretty badass.

  The cruiser driver turns onto a rocky incline, and we inch our way down the edge of the plateau.

  “Ohmigod, can you believe it?” Eva gasps as she sidles up next to me and takes my hand. “There’s real live dinosaurs right down there. I might touch one.”

  I laugh and clench her fingers harder. Eva tends to get overexcited about things, but I’m right there with her.

  After two years of studying them, even actual photos taken on Xion V―as in, real dinosaurs, baby―we’re finally going to get to see one in person.

  Even staring at them from a mile away makes my heart hammer in my chest.

  “You have to take my picture as soon as we get down there, okay?” Eva whispers. “I’m going to forward it to my mom pronto. She’s going to lose her mind.”

  “She sure as hell is.”

  Eva's mom is a nice lady and all, but she gives us the biggest load of shit when she comes to visit. Like we're studying dragons and werewolves or something.

  I know it's hard for some of the older generations to come to terms with there being dinosaurs in existence again, but it's not like they were ever mythical creatures. They're not dragons. They're just, you know, dead.

  “My dad isn’t all that interested,” I add in. “He told me to send him a dino egg.” I roll my eyes.

  I can’t say my father is the most supportive, but he does at least ask about school when I come home for the holidays. I’m glad he’s not a skeptic too, but I could do without the lame dad jokes and all that.

  “Your dad’s funny,” Eva throws in. I’ve never been able to figure out if she really thinks that or she’s just trying to make me feel better.

  “Oh my God,” the squeaky girl yelps as the cruiser dips and rumbles down the plateau’s sloping edge.

  Eva and I exchange a glance. How did this girl make it through flight training?

  We snicker our amusement under our breaths to one another, then clutch our fingers tighter together to stare out the windows.

  The whole cab is humming with conversation as the cruiser draws closer to the ground level of the giant valley.

  The vehicle thumps onto ground level, and the world looks insanely bigger. We’re at the bottom of our plateau, which seems to stretch hundreds of feet into the air. The trees are huge, the rocks are huge. And in the not too far distance, the long-necked beasts are monstrous.

  “They’re beautiful,” I murmur, unable to take my eyes off the animals.

  It’s like seeing a unicorn. Never in my childhood years did I ever expect to see a real dinosaur. Even as a teenager when the planet and new world dinosaurs were discovered, I never imagined I’d get to see them.

  Now here they are. In front of my face.

  As the cruiser gets closer, I clench Eva’s hand harder.

  The prairie looks immensely bigger now that we’re down on ground level. Trees and groves, small hills and rocks. Right smack in the middle of the clearing in front of us is a herd of seven long-necked dinos. Below their immense feet run a few smaller two-legs.

  When we’re a few hundred yards away, the tour guide motions to the driver and the cruiser slows. I’m disappointed we’re not closer, but it’s hard not to have a good view of the massive creatures.

  Eva and I press ourselves against the closest window to look out. My breath fogs the glass as I stare.

  “Holy shit,” I murmur.

  “I know, right?” Eva chokes out.

  Looking up at the head of the nearest beast is like looking up at a skyscraper. Is there air up there? How’s that thing breathing?

  Although I don't know how the creatures breathe anyway. There's very little oxygen in the planet's atmosphere. It's full of other things, including some metallic elements one of the scientists spouted off at us that I'm unfamiliar with. We got a few test breaths of the air before strapping on our masks, for emergency purposes, they said, and it damn hurt. Stung my lungs and made me cough, which hurt even worse. So we have to carry our own oxygen when we go out.

  Figuring out what the animals breathe is high on our list of study.

  As I watch the beasts move with a stupid grin on my face, a smaller one―a juvenile I suspect―rubs its head alongside a larger one's shoulder. An itch maybe? Or affection? I'd love to find out that the creatures are living among family and showing intimacy toward one another. What an amazing discovery.

  I'm lost in an excited haze and don't even notice the side door has opened until the tour guide shouts.

  “What are you doing?”

  Todd stands in the small airlock with his oxygen mask on. He gives a dramatic shrug. “I’m going to see dinosaurs.”

  The guide dances in place like he’s going to piss his pants. “We need to stay together.”

  “Then get out here,” Todd calls as the exterior door opens.

  Most of the group look utterly shocked, but a few are excited, myself included. Eva and I vault off our seats.

  We scramble with two others to pull on our gear. A clear mask sits over my mouth and small tubes run behind my ears to a lightweight pack on my back. It’s not too cumbersome, but I’m still getting used to it.

  Nothing will keep me inside now though.

  Eva and I squeeze into the airlock together and wait for the interchange. Todd stands just outside, hands on his hips as he regards the creatures.

  Others are stepping forward now, even the tour guide.

  “Come on, ya’ll!” Eva shouts through the thick plastic with a grin.

  We plop out into the grass and join Todd. I feel like I’ve stepped out right into Jurassic Park.

  I slip a slim camera from my pocket and snap a few photos.

  "Colossasaurus," Todd says matter-of-factly as if Eva and I haven't been studying as long as he has and have forgotten what the hell it was called.

  He stands tall next to my petite five-three frame, but I hold myself high, arms crossed over my chest, and pretend he doesn't bother me a bit.

  Even if he grinds my gears.

  Others are flocking out of the cruiser and gathering behind us.

  The gasps and titters of excitement make me warm with pride. Even those that don’t study the animals are still in awe, and that feels good.

  “Think our guy will go bonkers if we get closer?” Eva whispers with a giggle.

  For sure, yes. The tour guide is a weenie. But do I want to? Hell yes.

  “L
et’s go,” I snigger as we steal away.

  Just a few steps, a little jog.

  Todd makes a disapproving noise by the sound of it. Some others gasp. Then comes a horrid sound that must be the cruiser horn.

  I roll my eyes as we slow down.

  Get a grip, dude. It’s not like we’re going to go play under their feet.

  Eva and I stop and turn. I cast an annoyed glance over the cruiser, but the tour guide is outside and not even looking in our direction.

  Actually, no one is.

  I frown and follow the gazes to the nearest purple grove. The trees shake, raining down a cascade of violet leaves, as another blast of sound hits us. It shakes my bones and makes my skin crawl.

  Eva’s hand finds mine again.

  Is it a giant carnivore dinosaur, come to chase us across the plains?

  Damnit, now I really feel like I’m in a Jurassic Park movie.

  But something even worse bursts through the treeline.

  Three huge creatures on two legs sprint toward us. They're tall, slim, spiny. They have two huge eyes on either side of their flat head, but the orbs protrude enough that they can see us from head-on, and they're coming right for us.

  Screams erupt around me and people leap for the cruiser. Before I know it, Eva and I are clinging on one another, staring up at the monsters as they run across the field. They’re getting bigger by the second. And more horrifying.

  “Aliens,” Eva breathes.

  The word makes my blood turn to ice. The things are long and spindly like some black, slick serpenty aliens I’ve seen on TV, only these are brown with hard, rough-looking skin and huge eyes.

  But they’re just as terrifying.