by Mara Frost
Clearly stumped and getting more curious, Kaveth continues to press on. ”Is she Zoran? Is her planet in the Empire?”
My patience running thinner than ever, I snap, “No, she’s not.”
“Ahah! You admit it then, there’s a female and she’s not a Zoran! I knew it. Who is she then if she’s not a Zoran or in the Empire?”
Kaveth pauses for a moment, trying to piece everything together as best he can. And then, as if a visible light has been turned on, his eyes widen in disbelief.
“Is she someone that we’re trading?”
I don’t respond. I look away briefly, not trying to show any interest in what he’s saying. I apparently fail.
“Oh, you are so fu-“
Before he can finish his thought, I land one more very satisfying punch to his face.
“Maxaya, please discontinue program.”
Kaveth disappears while holding his injured nose and I’m left alone, staring at the empty spot where Kaveth’s synth-image was standing. Feeling both slightly relieved from our quick sparring, but also a bit more pissed after listening to him talk, I turn abruptly and leave the room.
“Fuck,” I grumble.
Chapter 4
Dani
After about two days of very sparse and very uncomfortable interaction between the big guy and me, and a much needed shower in something called a ‘bio-cleanser’, we make it to our final destination - much to my utter dismay.
Hours after our...interesting moment together on the diagnostic table, Big Blue barged back into the room and told me I was free to roam through the ship and enter all areas that were not locked to me, and then he abruptly left without saying anything else. And yet, somehow even though I had the freedom of the whole ship, I barely saw him again after that.
Fortunately, Maxaya proved to be a pretty lovely traveling companion, at least I think she was. Otherwise, I was just talking to myself the whole time, which totally could have been the case.
Once I feel the ship come to a stop, the gravity of my situation hits me like a ton of bricks and I feel the stirrings of a panic attack coming on. In fact, if it weren’t for Maxaya’s reassuring humming and pulsing, I’d probably be cackling in a corner somewhere right now.
“Okay, so this is happening now. It’s happening now,” I repeat over and over again as I pace the room. My eyes accidentally fall onto the looming planet floating quietly outside the window and I hiccup back a cry and slam my eyes shoot. I’ve been intentionally avoiding looking out the window being that my unfortunate doom was waiting for me down there.
But after looking at it, I couldn’t help but stare a little. It’s just so...bleak looking. It doesn’t look like a bright shiny marble like Earth or some of the other planets that I’ve seen. And it’s huge. I mean, it makes Jupiter look like a little marble. And so dirty. The entire planet is covered in a swath of brown clouds, and when I could actually peak through the clouds I could only see inhospitable desert.
I swallow deeply as my throat dries.
“It would have been nice if the planet was more Jamaica and a little less Tatooine,” I say to myself.
“What is Tattooo-ine?”
I jump at the sound of the booming voice behind me. I snap around and see my bringer-of-doom staring down at me. I’m not sure what shocks me more, the fact that he looks more constipated than usual or that he just said more words to me just now than he did in the last two days.
I blink and shake my head. “What?”
“What is Tattooo-ine?” he repeats.
“Oh uhm...it’s just...a desert planet from the movie ‘Star Wars’,” I say absently.
His interest is suddenly piqued. “What is this star wars? Earth was embattled in a war with a neighboring planet? There is no documentation of this war anywhere.”
I can’t help but snort out a laugh. Granted, there’s no reason for him to know what a movie is or even know that Star Wars is just a work of fiction, but it’s still a bit ridiculous that a big bad alien is talking about a movie as if it’s something he should feel threatened about.
“No, Star Wars is a movie...” I say, my voice trails as his face becomes more confused and stubborn looking, so I continue, “A movie is just a story told to entertain, but is played out visually with actors and props.”
His eyebrows furrow, clearly trying his best to understand.
“So a ‘movie’ is untrue events that are created by people merely for the entertainment of those who view it?”
I shrug. “Pretty much.” I won’t even bother trying to explain documentaries or bio-pics. Those would likely make his little blue brain explode.
“Movies seem unnecessary and a waste of time.”
I shoot him scathing look. “Oh, a waste of time, huh? Not like kidnapping or the buying and selling of people, eh? That’s so much more worthwhile.”
He doesn’t reply, but he takes a deep breath in, as if I struck a teeny tiny nerve, so I continue.
“Anyway, don’t knock it until you try it. Star Wars is an institution where I come from. So you should go to your little computer generator thingy and look up Star Wars sometime and then you can come back to me.”
I pause for a minute after I realize what I just said. Well, I suppose he probably won’t be able to ‘come back to me’ if I’m half way across the universe busy being owned...or eaten...by some other alien.
“Well, I guess getting back to me may not be possible if I’m dead or a slave, but...you know, you should watch it sometime...” my voices trails as a lump forms in the my throat.
Oh God, I’m scared. I just barely swallow down the whimper that is threatening to burst out of my mouth. I can’t break down now, I tell myself. If I break down now, I’m going to be a catastrophic mess the second we step off the ship. I should at least try to save my screaming and crying for when we’re actually on the planet. Figures, just when I’m just starting to get used to being on a living ship and the Terminator Smurf...
As if he can hear my thoughts, his eyes soften a fraction, but then quickly hardens. “We must go now. We’ve been delayed and are already late.”
“We’re late? Why are we late?”
As he turns and begins to march out of the room, he replies lowly, “Lleryia’s Eye caused a delay.”
This makes me pause for a second. Lleryia’s Eye caused a delay? It’s not like we had to go there or anything. Why did we go there if he knew it was going to cause a delay? I imagine his precious money has to be more important? Weird.
He stops before going through the open door and looks back at me.
“Come,” he commands.
A shock of panic runs through me. Suddenly the idea of screaming and running around the room and hiding from him seems like a real viable option. Just because I didn’t break down and cry hysterically like Jordan doesn’t mean that I’m not scared shitless. I’m not brave. And I’m certainly not feeling very brave right now.
“What if I say that I’d rather...not? I really don’t mind staying here. Maxaya and I have been getting to know each other and –“
“I will bind you and carry you if I must,” he growls, his voice sounding low and stern.
The truth of his words strike me into silence. I look into his eyes and my lower lip quivers. It doesn’t matter how hard I try to show him that I’m not some insignificant object to be traded, it doesn’t matter that he showed me the most painfully beautiful thing that any human has ever laid eyes on – he is still a cold animal. He has no heart.
My eyes begin to burn from the tears welling in my eyes. I walk over to him slowly and stop once I’m only a few inches away. I feel the heat of his body and can smell his alien scent. I look up and see his scarred face and only see a heartless alien.
“I hate you.”
And I really do. At that exact moment in time, there is no other being in the entire universe that I hate more than him. For some reason, I thought after we talked, after we...I don’t know what I thought. It was stupid. But I truly despise him r
ight now.
He meets my gaze and then nods once in acknowledgement, as if accepting my clear loathing and wearing it like a badge. Basically, about what I was expecting from him. I sigh once in futility and reply, “Alright, lead the way! No need to hogtie me or anything. I know I don’t have any other options.”
Big Blue looms over me and searches my face, as if trying to find the truth in my words, trying to see if I’m really giving into my fate. Well, I’m not giving in. I’m just choosing to face it with some dignity. You can still have dignity if you pee your pants, right?
“Good. We will have to take a cruiser to the planet, and once we dock I will have to bind you, but that’s just procedure.”
I nod silently. Untold horrors are probably going to befall me in a few short hours, why should a little tying up bother me, right? We proceed to walk through the ship and I follow along in a daze. I explored the alien corridors of Maxaya several times in the last few days and I got the sense that I only saw a fraction of the ship, but as we walked through a new section, I couldn’t find it in me to be even slightly interested.
Once we reach the loading dock, my insides tighten into knots. I watch silently as he loads up on what I can only assume are weapons. He puts a gun into a holster on his thigh, loads a cartridge into a big blaster and then puts extra cartridges into his belt, he grabs a handle and twists it and a giant jagged dagger appears. Satisfied, he twists it again and the dagger disappears and then he places it on another holster on his leg.
This continues for another minute or so and I just watch on silently, my eyes wide with amazement. How can you put so many things on your body? I would say it looked silly, but somehow he manages to pull off the look.
After the last weapon is placed in its home, he walks to the open cruiser and motions for me to follow. I look around the docking bay one final time and reach out and touch a nearby wall.
“Bye Maxaya, thank you...” I whisper lowly, hoping that he doesn’t notice. The spot I touch instantly becomes warmer and a wave of comfort sweeps through me and for a second I don’t feel so terrified.
I stroke her lightly, a silent thank you, and smile sadly as I pull away. I take a deep breath in, steel myself and walk to him.
“Alright, let’s get this over with.”
To be continued...
Alien Space Pirates Book 2:
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About the Author
Mara Frost is a small town girl living in the big city where she spends most of her time either daydreaming about sexy aliens or just writing about them. When she’s not doing that then she’s fighting evil or buying yarn and knitting ugly scarves. She also likes to refer to herself in the third person. She’d love to hear from you! You can reach her at [email protected].
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