Kidnapping Keela Read online

  Inhalt

  Titel

  Copyright

  Note from the author

  Glossary

  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

  Epilogue

  Kidnapping Keela

  Lords of Arr'Carthian Book 1

  by Cathy McAllister

  Science Fiction Romance

  Kidnapping Keela

  Cathy McAllister

  English Edition 2014

  German Edition 2013

  copyright © 2013/2014 by Cathy McAllister

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/McAllisterCathy

  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/McAllisterCathy

  Translation: Louise Sweeney

  © Cover Art by jdesign.at

  Fotos: bigstockphoto.de

  Note from the author

  Dear Readers,

  ‘Kidnapping Keela’ is a Sci-Fi Romance and you will therefore come across unusual names, unknown races and planets, as well as things that I have simply invented.

  To make it easier for my readers, here is a short glossary, in alphabetical order, to help you.

  ‘Kidnapping Keela’ is the first in my new series, so do not be concerned if not everything is fully explained, as some things will not be further developed or solved until the later books.

  I now wish you much enjoyment and hope that ‘Kidnapping Keela’ will give you a several hours of reading pleasure.

  Cathy McAllister

  Characters in this book

  Abziarr

  King of the house of Arr'Verkuzzi – shoulder-length black hair, brown eyes

  Alic

  Younger brother of Abziarr

  Amano

  Captain of the Carthians and Marruk‘s Cousin – Latino-Type, long black hair, brown eyes

  Amber

  Keela’s friend – brown hair, brown eyes – nurse

  Ayakala

  Fellow prisoner on Xevus3

  Bajaja

  The Carthian magician

  Balda

  Carthian warrior

  Bebenile

  Fellow prisoner on Xevus3

  Berka

  Marruk‘s Bruder – long, blond hair, turquoise-coloured eyes

  Bobus

  Auctioneer at the slave market in Betzlawk

  Ceyla

  Intelligent computer system in the Arr'Carthian palace

  Charly

  Keela’s friend – red hair, green eyes, freckles – computer programmer

  Dunba

  Carthian warrior

  Ellyod Allegrass

  Notorious space pirate

  Jeffe

  Carthian warrior

  Jukuzala

  Ayakala’s daughter

  Jusabor

  Carthian warrior

  Keela

  Main protagonist – light blond hair, green eyes – survival trainer

  Kemal

  Carthian warrior

  Kerretin

  Carthian warrior

  Knirrgn Arghagn

  Ormka warrior

  Kolisz

  Navigator on the Cordelia

  Kordan

  Carthian General and Marruk’s cousin – short blond hair, icey blue eyes, two meters twenty tall

  Kovin

  Guard at the slave compound on Xevus3

  Lamick

  Master of security at the Arr'Carthian palace

  Lamiha

  Carthian warrior

  Lomkas

  Abziarr’s close confidant

  Lory

  Keela’s friend – black hair, blue eyes –

  FBI-agent

  Lurruk

  Carthian warrior

  Luvoka

  Officer on the Cordelia

  Maara

  Intelligent computer system in the Verkuzzi castle– sensitive and a little moody

  Malaka

  Guard in Marruk‘s castle

  Mangan

  Guard in Marruk’s castle and spy for Abziarr

  Marruk

  Main protagonist – long, brown hair, turqoise-coloured eyes – Heir to the throne in the House of Arr'Carthian

  Marsael

  Abziarr’s magician

  Moreena

  Queen of the House of Arr'Carthian

  Morika

  Marruk‘s first mate (deceased)

  Mortociar

  King of the House of Arr'Carthian

  Niminita

  Ayakala’s daughter

  Olchak

  Kolisz‘ son

  Polchin ab'n Kuzarr

  The man who bought Keela, Amber and Solima and right-hand man of the space pirate Ellyod Allegrass

  Quartar

  Carthian warrior

  Solima

  Marruk’s daughter – long, black plaits, turqoise-coloured eyes – ten years old

  Trinko

  Carthian warrior

  Ulhgrang ign Ifzarghn

  King of the Ormkas

  Races

  Carthians

  The race of the main character, Marruk – royal lineage of the Arr'Carthian – cheetah shifters – lives to the south of the Jade Mountains

  Mesuthoms

  Morika’s race – Royal lineage of the Arr'Lothian – Wolf shifters – lives to the east of the Carthians

  Moliws

  A race living in seclusion – royal lineage of the Arr'Dragon – dragon shifters – lives to the west of the Carthians in the Mountain of Wisdom

  Ormkas

  Giant species from the planet Kergnirr9 – mainly pirates, slave traders, weapons dealers or drugdealers

  Spurk

  A humanoid race dwelling on Xevus3, but who originated on a planet that was destroyed several hundred years ago

  Verkuzzi

  The race of Abziarr – Royal lineage of the Arr'Verkuzzi – tiger shifters – lives to the north of the Jade Mountains

  Further key words

  Arr'Carthian

  Royal lineage of the Carthians

  Arr'Verkuzzi

  Royal lineage of the Verkuzzi

  Betzlawk

  Capital city of Xevus3

  Black Guards

  Clothes maker

  Police unit of the United Galactic Federation. They control all main trading towns and space ports on the planets in the Federation.

  A machine that automatically produces and fits clothing.

  Cordelia

  Desert koloch

  The Carthian space ship

  Small lizard-like species on the desert planet Xevus3

  Federation Time

  7067 years ago the planets in the United Galactic Federation agreed upon a common division of time, as follows:

  The Federation year has 11 months, each with 34 days.

  1st Month – Dezeno

  2nd Month – Farris

  3rd Month – Kindur

  4th Month – Jakus

  5th Month – Manao

  6th Month – Ferras

  7th Month – Lumino

  8th Month – Gablas

  9th Month – Kunes

  10th Month – Jenebe

  11th Month – Finales

  One day consists of 25 standard hours

  A standard hour consists of 50 minutes

  A standard minute consists of 50 seconds

  Glider

  The mode of transport on the planet Karrx7 is about as wide as a jeep but twice as long. The vehicle looks like a sledge with a g
lass roof and has three rows of seats and a large luggage compartment at the back. It can be driven hovering above the ground or flown high in the air.

  Jade Mountains

  A mountain range lying between the Carthian and the Verkuzzi regions.

  Karrx7

  Home planet of Marruk. A planet, that is largely wooded with several big mountains and lakes. A third of its surface is made up of the sea.

  Kondorr

  Marruk‘s pergamo

  Luvr6 Moon

  A moon on which shady characters spend time. A place for all possible types of illegal businesses and pleasures.

  Mananao7

  A planet in the Y-Quadrant – seat of the High Council of the United Galactic Federation

  Medical unit

  A small room containing a regeneration bed. In

  the medical unit all illnesses and injuries can be automatically recognised through scanning and they can also be treated. The medical unit contains various independantly functioning machines, lasers and monitors to watch over, operate on and treat the patients.

  Pergamo

  Animal similar to a horse with a horn on its forehead that changes in colour according to its mood.

  Poku

  Carthian ball game, similar to football.

  Rennmokus

  A fast animal on Karrx7 – round, furry body with six legs – long, bald neck and bald head.

  Shanika

  Snail-like animal on Karrx7

  Sillinge

  Long, small fish – prefers shallow streams – yellow meat, high in protein and low in fat.

  Tajaka

  Refreshing drink containing wine and various fruit juices

  Trommy

  Solima‘s pergamo

  Uluah2

  Home planet of Ayakala, Jukuzala, Niminita and Bebenile

  United Galactic Federation

  Union of planets – seat of the High Council situated on the planet of Mananao7

  Wakazabu

  Card game played with high stakes

  Xevus3

  Desert planet in the Kanavirius System

  Chapter 1

  Somewhere in Montana, USA

  15th May 2027

  Keela pushed back against the trunk of the huge oak tree behind her. She took a tighter grip on the hunting knife that her dad had given her for her twelfth birthday. It was a good blade but it was going to be impossible to kill all of these creatures with it. She may manage to kill one of them but there were definitely far too many. She could not believe that she had not brought her gun. It would have certainly helped in this wretched situation rather than uselessly lying around in her cabin. But what was the point of beating herself up over her lack of fore-thought? She could not change things now. If there was one thing that she had learnt in life, it was that you cannot correct all of your mistakes. And the way things were looking this was going to be the last mistake that she ever made in her life.

  “Go away! You wretched beasts! One of you is going to die before I do, be very sure about that. You disgusting creatures! Down! Go away.”

  The beasts growled threateningly. The sound went right through Keela. The hair at the back of her neck stood on end and her breathing came heavily and irregularly. It was her anger that stopped her from collapsing. Even if she had no chance, she was not going to go down without a fight.

  “Yes, that’s right! I’m really angry that you’ve ruined my evening and when I’m angry I can be very unpleasant. So, do yourselves a favour and go away! GET LOST!”

  The four pairs of yellow eyes staring at her through the dusky light of twilight seemed to be unimpressed with her little burst of outrage. She heard growling again and the beast to the left of Keela was baring its long, yellow teeth. The beast’s mangy fur was standing on end and it had assumed a crouching position, lying in wait. Keela had already worked out that this must be the leader. If this beast attacked, then his companions would follow. She thought she could actually smell the beasts’ anticipation. She could not see a lot in the twilight, but she was certain that saliva was already dripping from their jaws.

  Keela had been in her boss’s little hunting cabin for two weeks, trying to recover after her separation from her fiancée, Jake. They had already fixed the wedding date when this pig suddenly decided to fall in love with her best friend. So now she was no longer her best friend! May she be happy with this cheating, lousy, lying son-of-a-bitch. Other mothers had nice sons, too. Right now she was not thinking of trying again, though. Men could keep right away from her for a while. And anyway, it looked as if this was not going to be a problem any longer: she was not going to survive this, so there was no need to worry about men now. If only she had not come here. Instead she could have accepted her friend Susan’s offer and spent two weeks with her in Miami. But she had not been in the mood for sun, beach and beach boys.

  Here, in the seclusion of the mountains, she wanted to find herself again. She had taken a four-week holiday from her job as a survival trainer for bored managers. Her boss had been very understanding about her emotional state and at the moment there was not a great deal of work on anyway. So he had offered Keela the chance to recover a little in his solitary cabin. She was an outdoor type and she knew how to cope alone in the wild. At least she thought so – until now. It had been silly of her to leave the cabin so late, more or less unarmed. She should have known better than to do something that she had always warned her clients against: never make the mistake of feeling too safe!

  She knew that there were wolves here. But she had just wanted to fetch something from her car that was in the shed a good half a mile below the cabin. Normally the wolves did not come this close to it. On the way back she had been aware of movement to her right and to her left, but she was exactly half way back: no matter which direction she chose, she would not be able to escape from the beasts. Her only chance was to protect her back with the thick oak tree and try to defend herself with her knife.

  Who are you trying to fool, Keela? You don’t stand a chance!

  As far as she could work out, there were four wolves - too many to expect to survive. Strangely she felt no fear - only anger - anger towards Jake because she had only come here because of him - anger towards herself because she had left the protection of the cabin without a weapon - and anger towards these disgusting beasts who had chosen her for their dinner.

  “GO AWAY! GET LOST!” she roared at the top of her voice. “I’m going to make wolf stew out of you!”

  Suddenly the beasts started whimpering and pulled their shaggy tails down. With a howling they disappeared into the darkness of the forest. Keela could hardly believe it. Had she really driven the beasts away?

  “Ha! If I’d known that you’re cowardly bastards!”she shouted after them.

  A growling behind her, quite different from that of the wolves, made the hairs on her neck stand on end. Her stomach knotted and this time fear crept with icey-cold fingers over her tensed body. Now she could understand how some people wet themselves in situations where they were scared to death. She only hoped that she would spare herself that humiliation.

  “Oh, shit!” she whispered in horror.

  Part of her wanted to turn around to see what sort of beast was after her this time, but another part of her did not want to know. It sounded too terrible. She had never before heard such a frightening sound. No animal known to her made such a sound. It was not good. It was not at all good!

  The undergrowth cracked behind her and she could now hear strange hissing and growling sounds that almost sounded like a language. There were clearly several creatures, and it sounded as if they were talking. Her heart was pounding and her knees shaking as she turned to look behind the trunk of the oak. What she saw made her blood freeze: three huge, terrifying creatures were coming towards her. They were built more or less like humans, but with only a vertical slit for a nose, red eyes and pointed teeth filling their mouths. Their long, felt-like hair looked more like a lion’s mane and wa
s a greyish-blue colour. The beasts must have been two and a half meters tall and built like fighting machines. They were wearing a type of uniform and carrying strange weapons.

  “Oh! My! God!” cried Keela.

  Please let this be a dream - or make me unconscious.

  But nothing of the sort happened. The creatures were real and her damn body could do nothing but simply stand paralysed and wait. She could not even close her eyes to the horror. What she was looking at was either the result of some experiment by the US army or these were – she did not even want to consider this possibility – aliens!

  ***

  Somewhere in the far reaches of the universe

  Keela’s head was thumping horribly and she was groaning in pain. She was freezing and she felt strangely giddy, as if she had drunk too much. What had happened? Had she had an accident? Where was she? She tentatively opened her eyes and whimpered as bright light blinded her. She turned to the side and saw a young woman sitting opposite her on a plank-bed, smiling at her pitifully.