Read Online Creature Worlds: Solar Slick by Juliet Cardin - Free Book Online

excursion, although, they were unaware of the effects Earth would have on them. They shifted back and forth, unable to control it. But before they were discovered and caught, they did a lot of damage, sabotaging stuff, making it difficult for humans to return to Ventillia. Once the Earth ships were repaired, the first thing they did was return the Ventillian bodies to their home planet. That’s how the war began.”
    Tigg remained silent for a moment or two as he digested my story. “Oh,” he finally said. “That explains a lot.”
    “So you can see what could happen if the Ventillians discover our little secret?”
    “It could start the war all over again,” Tigg theorized.
    “Yes. No doubt with devastating consequences for Earth.”

Chapter 12
    Tigg and I curled up together under the blankets on the bed. We refrained from making love in the chance that prying eyes may be watching us. Our conversation was kept to whispers in each other’s ears for fear of exposure. Even despite being warm and cozy wrapped in Tigg’s arms, I still couldn’t quite shake the feeling we were being watched.
    “Do you think Dr. Jeneva was wise to make the cure?” Tigg asked.
    “I dunno. I can see the reason for all the secrecy though. If he and my parents were close then I guess he trusted them enough to know they only wanted the cure for my family.
    “Stuff like this sometimes has a way of falling into the wrong hands.”
    Though the thought of Earth doing to Ventillia what it’d done to dozens of other planets was alarming, the thought of Ventillia conquering Earth was worse. Ventillians had gained the reputation of being a terrifying foe to any and all that crossed it. Earth didn’t take their threats too seriously, but all the same, they’d learned their lesson—although it’d taken twenty years of war for it to happen.
    The melancholic expression on Tigg’s face revealed he was no doubt thinking about Treox. He’d experienced firsthand what can happen to a planet once it’d been conquered and exploited.
    “What was Treox like before the people of Earth came?”
    He smiled somewhat ruefully. “Those jungles you despise, they were much more vast and abundant. When I was young, they were home. My brothers and I would roam around endlessly. Teneg and I are very close. Zalix and Helix are younger and followed us everywhere. Our father used to take us on expeditions, and when we were old enough he allowed us to be out on our own for days at a time—living off the land. Life was simple, peaceful. Until they came. The masses started arriving with their huge ships and machinery, razing the jungles to make room for the domes. We weren’t given any choice. There weren’t enough of us to rise up and offer resistance. Earth’s superior technology made them an invincible force. My family fled further into the jungle, but things weren’t the same. After my parents sickened and died, I wanted a change. Hearing work was being offered, many Lizords ventured beneath the domes and gained employment. I was one of them. It’s not ideal. I’d much rather things had remained as they were, but such is the way of life.”
    People of Earth arrived on Treox about fifteen years ago. In such a short amount of time a huge transformation had taken place. It was easy to imagine Tigg in his youth. He was still so innocent, unsullied, by the reformation going on all around him. He’d adapted, as had much of the inhabitants. It was either that, or perish, I suppose.
    “All that Earth covets so much has been stripped away to the point that Treox clings to its very existence. If things don’t change soon, I’m afraid of what will happen.”
    Considering it was the very place Tigg expected us to live and raise our child, it concerned me greatly now as well. “Sometimes I wish space travel wasn’t possible. Then everyone would just have to stay on their own planets,” I said.
    Tigg kissed the top of my head. “If it were so, then you and I