Stolen by the Alien Raider
A Novel of the Silent Empire
Leslie Chase
Stolen by the Alien Raider
Editing by Sennah Tate
Copyright 2018 Leslie Chase
All rights reserved
This is a work of fiction intended for mature audiences. All names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Created with Vellum
Contents
1. Kadran
2. Amy
3. Kadran
4. Amy
5. Kadran
6. Amy
7. Kadran
8. Amy
9. Kadran
10. Amy
11. Kadran
12. Amy
13. Kadran
14. Amy
15. Kadran
16. Amy
17. Kadran
18. Amy
19. Kadran
20. Amy
21. Kadran
22. Amy
23. Kadran
24. Amy
25. Kadran
26. Amy
Epilogue
About Leslie Chase
Sci Fi Romance by Leslie Chase
Paranormal Romance by Leslie Chase
1
Kadran
Going undercover aboard a slaver's ship hadn't sounded like a good idea when I first heard it. The reality was even less pleasant, but if the trade in sentient life was to be wiped out, then someone had to do it.
And that meant me. I couldn't complain about that. I had more reason to hate the slave trade than most, and I would make any sacrifice necessary to destroy it. Pretending to be at home on a slave ship, though, that was a hard sacrifice to make.
Taking part in a slave raid was harder still.
"Come on, Kadran, focus," Athazar snapped at me from the pilot’s seat of the Crimson Princess. I dragged my attention back to the mission, trying to keep my mind on what I was doing.
Athazar and I went way back, and he was the closest thing to a friend I had amongst the slavers I'd infiltrated. Sometimes I wondered how he could stand this life after what we'd both been through.
Different people learn different lessons, I told myself with a shrug, taking up the tractor beam controls. Beside me, Athazar got ready for a rough transition out of hyperspace, a predatory smile on his face. Where I'd learned to hate slavery, he seemed only to have learned to hate being a slave. As long as it was other people who suffered, he was okay with that.
Athazar's concentration on the controls was absolute, his whole body tense. When we reentered realspace none of our technology would function for crucial seconds, and he had to be ready for anything. That wasn't enough to explain his expression, though — he was a good enough pilot to be used to that risk.
Something else worried him, and I wondered what danger we were jumping into. As the newest member of the crew, I'd only been told the basics of this mission.
Our small ship had left the Red King's Revenge, the main slaver vessel on which we served, for a lightning raid to get past the Anti-Slavery Patrol's scanners. The Revenge itself was too big to stand a chance, but apparently the Princess might. Small enough and fast enough, it could make whatever dangerous maneuver was needed to get in and out undetected. Captain Drezz thought so, anyway, and we were going to find out if he was right.
I noted, not for the first time, that the captain hadn't chosen to come with us.
Whatever clever trick we were trying, there was nothing I could do to help Athazar. I tried to focus on my own work, ready with the sensors. As soon as they recovered from the transition out of hyperspace I'd be able to give Athazar directions. The bioscanner at my station would point us towards the nearest target for abduction. Never mind why we were looking for some particular targets on this planet — I didn't need to know that for either of my jobs.
The real reason I was here was to pay attention when we came out of hyperspace. If Captain Drezz really had discovered a way to avoid the sensors monitoring uncontacted worlds like this one, it was my job to find out how it worked. The Anti-Slavery Patrol couldn't protect uncontacted worlds if we didn't know how they were being raided.
Breathe, I told myself, focusing between my heartbeat. Letting peace flow into me as I rested my hands on the sensor controls. The meditative techniques I'd spent years studying cleared my mind, letting me focus on the data in front of me. My sensor station doubled as the gunnery positions, though I hoped that I wouldn't need to use the weapons. Ending up in a firefight with a Patrol vessel would be embarrassing.
The strange, multi-colored lights of hyperspace gave way to reality outside the Crimson Princess. Around us, the ship shuddered. Lights dimmed, the targeting sensors in front of me went to static. For a moment, the ship was dead, falling powerless towards the planet that loomed in front of us.
It filled the view in front of us, beautiful and deadly as we dropped towards it. Bright blue seas, white clouds, unfamiliar continents. I tried to place it — I'd studied the various worlds in the sector as part of my assignment, but this one didn't ring any bells. The most important thing was that we were far too close and falling quickly. Next to me Athazar muttered under his breath. Prayers or curses, I couldn't tell. Either would have been appropriate.
The ship's systems started to come on line as we tumbled into the atmosphere, and Athazar pulled at the controls. The ship shuddered again, fighting him. We were moving fast, too fast, and as he struggled to get us under control we tumbled towards the planet.
My own hands clutched at the sensor controls as I watched helplessly. There was nothing that I could do, it was all up to Athazar now.
The trick they were using to avoid the Patrol was simple but insane. We'd come out of hyperspace practically inside the planet's atmosphere. Low enough to be mistaken for one of the primitive satellites I saw orbiting above us. The trick would work — but it could also very easily kill everyone aboard.
We're just going to have to accept that slavers might take suicidal risks, I thought grimly, mentally filing the data for my report. Assuming that Athazar managed to get our fall under control in time not to kill us both.
The Crimson Princess steadied just in time, a forest flashing past under us as Athazar whooped in triumph. He deserved his celebration: a little less skill on his part would have been fatal. Time for my part of the mission now.
Were the inhabitants of this planet really that valuable as slaves? This was a big risk to take for the sake of a little profit. Captain Drezz clearly thought it was worth it, but he was secretive and not about to share his reasoning with me. Well, I'd see soon enough. The bioscanner finally caught scent it was looking for and I gave Athazar directions. Of the dozens of targets the bioscanner had found, a trio were close. That was good, the less time we spent here the better.
Below us, a sea of trees flashed past and I hoped that our cloaking device was working properly. We were low enough that even primitive air defenses might be able to reach us, and if they were lucky they might shoot us down. That would be bad news all round — part of the point of the ASP was to keep planets like this out of contact with galactic society. If they caught us and found out there was life in space it could do a huge amount of damage to their society as they adjusted.
Better to let them develop on their own until they could reach space and make contact on their own terms.
Fortunately there was no sign of the local air defenses. Either our cloak worked, or the loc
als were relying on systems too primitive to see us.
"Let's show the Patrol who's boss," Athazar crowed as we approached the target and slowed down. "Grab them, Kadran."
My feelings conflicted, I readied the tractor beam.
2
Amy
Who thought camping was a good idea, anyway? I grumbled to myself as I tried to follow the instructions to set up my tent. I couldn't make too much of a fuss though. Kelly looked like she was on the verge of tears as it was.
Just the three of us, getting away from the city and the bright lights. It had sounded great when Kelly had suggested it, and we'd all been keen to spend a while out of touch with the world. That had lasted until we got out here.
"Why does nature have to be so wet?" Abigail complained, shaking herself off. The rain shower hadn't been heavy, but it had been cold and uncomfortable.
"Never mind that, why does it have to be so..." Kelly trailed off, and threw up her hands in disgust, lost for words. I saw that she was holding her phone in her hand and had to laugh.
"The whole point of this was to get away from the phone for a few days, remember?" I pointed out. "You need a break after everything that's been happening."
"Fine, Amy, I'll put it away," she said, slipping the phone back into her pocket with a scowl. "I just wanted to see what everyone's up to."
'Everyone' meant Adrian, I knew. The asshole who'd broken her heart, prompting this little get away. It wouldn't be politic to point that out, though, so I looked for a change of topic.
"Can you help me get this tent up?" I asked. "It keeps trying to bite my fingers off."
That ought to be safe enough, and Kelly had managed to get her own tent up. Well, mostly anyway. I wasn't sure that it was supposed to bulge in the sides like that, but I wasn't in a position to comment.
Kelly nodded and came over, helping brace the tent as I pulled at the tentpole. This time it fell into place, and after a few more minutes of swearing and cursing I had something that resembled a tent.
'One-person assembly' my ass, I thought, cursing whoever had put that promise on the package. At least it's done now.
"Thanks," I said to Kelly, who smiled back a little weakly. Abigail had managed to get our small camp stove lit, and the stars were coming out above. I'd really hoped we'd be all set up before nightfall, but at least we had shelter sorted now. And something to cook on.
Things were starting to look up for this little camping trip, and my frustration started to melt away as I looked around at the beauty of nature around us. Getting out of the city for a weekend was something we'd all needed, not just Kelly, and I wondered if I'd ever be able to live somewhere I could just wander in the woods when I felt like it.
Kelly looked up at the stars, sighing dramatically. She had a tendency to do everything dramatically, which had only gotten worse since Adrian dumped her. I fished in my pack for one of the ready meals I'd brought with me. Sure, some actual cooking would be better, but none of us had experience at this and I hadn't wanted to mess up our first meal out here.
That had been a good call, given how late it had gotten and how tired we all were. Fortunately, I'd overprepared a little, and I had more than enough ready meals with me for the three of us.
"What's that?" Kelly asked as I emptied a pre-packed spaghetti bolognese into the small pot to heat it up. Abigail looked up and grinned.
"A shooting star? You ought to make a wish," she told Kelly.
"It's moving too slow," Kelly said dubiously. "Maybe it's an airplane?"
Looking up to see what they were talking about, I saw it. Brighter than a star, a point of light moved across the sky slowly, and as I watched, it changed course. It looked almost as though it was headed for us.
No. It was heading straight for us now. That was odd enough that I stood up, food forgotten.
It really didn't look like an airplane. Too bright, and as it got closer, too big. The whole thing seemed to be glowing, rather than just the wing lights I'd have expected of an airplane. And the way it had changed course didn't look right, either. Too quick, not like a plane banking around to a new heading.
It was still headed straight for us, and fast. I started to feel worried, though I couldn't put my finger on why.
"Maybe it's a flying saucer?" Abigail asked. I think she was trying to make a joke, but she sounded too nervous.
And whatever it was, it did look saucer-shaped. Come on, Amy, that's crazy. But I couldn't shift the thought.
"I think it's slowing down," Kelly said, backing away from the fire uncertainly. "Maybe we should get out of here."
"It's an hour's walk back to the car in daylight," I pointed out. "If we try it at night we'll just get lost."
Even as I said it, I was picking up my backpack. An irrational feeling of dread settled over me as I looked up at the light in the sky. Kelly was right, it was slowing down. And it was definitely disc-shaped, though the branches overhead stopped me getting a good look at it.
I reached down to switch off the camp stove. That was when the light hit us.
It was like the brightest searchlight I could imagine, and if I'd been looking up I'd have been blinded for sure. As it was I found my eyes watering and I staggered back. Panic shot through me; unreasonable, chaotic panic. Beside me, Abigail screamed and Kelly broke into a blind run into the woods.
For a moment I stood still, frozen in panic. Something was weird about this light — it looked as though the camp stove was lifting into the air.
No. It really was. I could feel the light pull at me, tugging me skyward. That was the last straw. Turning, I jumped toward the edge of the forest and ran as fast as I could.
The light followed behind me as I sprinted, instinct taking me under the trees, hoping that whatever was after me wouldn't be able to see me. No luck, it tracked me through the forest as I ran, twigs catching in my hair and mud sliding underfoot.
My lungs burned from the effort as I tried to get away, but it was hopeless. Whatever that beam of light was, it followed me perfectly and the best I could do was stay a few feet ahead of it. And I couldn't keep this pace up for long.
Just as I thought that, my foot caught a root and I went down hard, tumbling into the mud. The light was on me instantly, and in front of my eyes I saw leaves being pulled upward, flying into the air. Stones and twigs joined them, and then so did I, sailing up into the air. Squealing, panicking, I grabbed at a branch and held on tight.
For a moment I thought that might be enough. Then, with an awful snap, the branch gave way and I fell upward towards the glowing source of the light. As the light carried me above the trees I finally got a clear look at the source of the light.
Abigail was right, the last calm part of my mind thought. It is a flying saucer.
3
Kadran
Snarling wordlessly, I fired up the tractor beam as Athazar brought the Crimson Princess in to hover over the targets. A bright light shot down at the forest below, seeking our prey. The three signals separated quickly, running in different directions through the woods. As though that would save them.
Memory hit me. I'd been twelve years old when my own village had been struck by slavers. When the lights in the sky had sought us wherever we ran, however we hid. I remembered my mother trying to hide me in the cellar of our little house... and the whole building being torn away above me.
That had been the last time I'd seen my mother alive. The Imperial slavers had no use for the older females. Sometimes I wondered if that was lucky, given the fates that the younger females had been sent to.
I'd been lucky, at least by some measures. Raised and trained to be a personal guard of Princess Tlaxanna, I'd been better off than most slaves. That was where I'd met Athazar, another slave-soldier, and together we'd managed to escape.
And now here we are, snatching up someone else. My hands tightened on the tractor beam controls, sending the beam jumping back and forth before I got control of myself. No choice. The ASP can't stop these
slavers taking more prisoners if I don't learn their secrets, and for that they need to trust me.
How would I have felt if the man who'd snatched me up into the sky had been doing it for a good reason? I knew the answer — it wouldn't change how much I hated him.
My jaw tightened, but I refused to let my guilt stop me. This needed to be done.
The screen showed the target as the tractor beam lifted her from the forest. A human, to my surprise. That complicated my emotions — after the years I'd spent as a slave to a human, I didn't have much sympathy for them. But blaming this human for what I had suffered at the hands of others would be unfair.
It also explained a little of her value to the slavers. While there were lots of human planets around the galaxy, most of them were inside the borders of the Silent Empire. No one would risk raiding those for slaves — the Empire was too powerful, and too adamant on its position that no one else got to abuse its citizens. This had to be one of the lost worlds outside their grasp, which made it a prime target for slavers.
Plenty of people had reason to hate the Empire and the humans who ran it. Some would pay well for human slaves just because of that, someone to take their frustrations out on. I could understand the impulse, after what human slavers had done to me and my family — though I would never stoop to that kind of revenge.
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