Viper (Naga Brides Book 1)

Daisy being sacrificed. Whether the locals want to eat us, experiment with us, or something far worse... I don’t know. And I refuse to find out—the same goes for Daisy.
She’s a petty officer, whereas I’m Chief Communications Officer of our ship’s bridge crew. The Dreadnaut is now outside the moon’s orbit, hiding on the dark side so we don’t alert the Ketts to our plans on Earth.
Until now, Earth has been a dead zone. A place to avoid at all costs. Occasionally humans ignored space law and visited the human mecca, but most never returned. The lucky few who did morphed into something… not human.
Alien technology did that, and a whole lot more. Long ago, back before I was born or humans even knew the Ketts existed, a species called Lurkawathians descended to Earth and made a pact with mankind.
For a while, their arrival had been good for humanity. Mankind established its first space port and got to study the Lurkawathians—dubbed Lurkers. We learned about the universe and reaped the benefits of their advanced technology.
They helped us develop as a cosmic society and introduced us to intergalactic travel. They cured our diseases and traded us resources that were in short supply.
In return, the Lurkers set up their own port on Earth and were allowed to study us.
Through all of this advancement, they kept their technology secret. The Lurkers gave us just as much as they needed for us to comply with them and no more. They took us into space but never helped us expand or allowed us a foothold elsewhere. They discouraged it. They resented us for trying.
According to my history discs, we were their special pets and they wanted to keep us that way.
As for my ancestors and the rest of humanity… Well, we don’t like being told no.
I stare at Peter head-on. “Once Central Command finds out about what’s happening, you’re going to lose your title, your ranks, be stripped of your credentials. You won’t even have the certificates to work as maintenance staff.”
His brow furrows before smoothing. “You don’t understand the pressure we’re under, Gemma. The pressure I’m under.”
“Try to make me understand. For all our sakes, try.” I know he’s taking heat…
But how much heat?
He shakes his head and looks out the window. Daisy wipes the snot from her nose and does the same.
I take a deep, unsettling breath.
Humans expanded anyway, despite the Lurkers limitations. Relations with them soured. Sanctions, taxes, killings. In the end, the Lurkers, realizing that we couldn’t be controlled, offered us a Trojan Horse of a deal. They offered to return Earth to its ancient glory. To purify our oceans, to give us back our forests, and to clean our skies.
The government accepted this ‘gift,’ not realizing that to do so meant our destruction.
The Lurkers unleashed devastation into the environment that manipulated and changed everything it came into contact with. Everything died. Everything.
Those humans out in space were the only survivors, watching as our blue and green world turned brown.
Afterward, the Lurkers left, never to be seen again. That was nearly fifteen hundred years ago.
Lurker technology remains on Earth though, and now that Earth is safe to travel to again, it’s ours for the taking.
There’s just one problem: finding it.
“Peter, please,” I urge, trying hard to remain strong, when inside I’m panicking. My pulse drums in my ear. Peter ignores my plea. He ignores me completely.
The Dreadnaut and Peter’s team—us—aren’t the first to land on Earth in the last century, and we won’t be the last. But we’re the first team to land near the old Lurker and human military base.
According to records, that’s what the facility was, the same one now growing small in the distance behind me. We’d just begun to explore what was left of the ruins when a whole other problem presented itself.
A shiver of fear skitters up my back.
The locals.

Three


Serpent Men
Gemma
My gut hollows out, and I swallow down the bile creeping out my throat.
A shiver courses through me, and try as I might to hide it, Daisy looks up at me. Our eyes meet for a moment, and she hugs me back. I take the comfort she offers.
All we have is each other.
Before yesterday, we had never spoken. Today, we’re sisters.
I’m trying to be strong, but it’s hard. I’m scared. I know what’s awaiting us when Peter and Collins drop us off. I know what—who—will be there.
Him.
The red-scaled creature hiding in the forests beyond the facility. I saw him the first day I arrived. The facility had been deemed safe and clear, Peter and his guards inspected the place thoroughly enough, and the rest of the crew was given allowance to leave our transport ship.
I hadn’t even stepped off the ship’s ramp when I spotted him. He hid in the shadows of the trees just beyond our jurisdiction.
His dark eyes took hold of mine, and I knew it was a him, his large physique unmistakable. I’ve seen many alien worlds and have even encountered a Kett blob, but I’ve never met a being like the one in the woods.
Earth wasn’t supposed to have sentient life on it. Or human life for that matter, but I can’t deny what I saw.
A half-human, half-serpent male staring at me.
My skin prickles with the memory.
He had been large and ruby red, a red that I’ve never seen on another creature. He was a jewel, a bizarre, glistening beacon among the green of the forest, and I was shocked to discover later that I was the only one who saw him.
Because he was huge! With discerning human features and a male’s chest, a man’s musculature. Though I couldn’t see all of him, I now know he has a tail because soon after I saw him, another one of the local aliens approached our compound to talk, causing a riot.
And the serpentine male who dared enter the compound had the largest, longest tail I’d ever laid my eyes on. Unlike the scary red demon from the trees, the one that