Stolen by the Alien Raider: A Novel of the Silent Empire

by Chase, Leslie

  "Look, Kadran, it's just one human. If this works out, we'll be back for more — and you'll have money in your pocket next time," Athazar said, trying to be comforting. I itched with the urge to shut him up. "You can buy a human or two, no trouble. Hungry Stars, I might buy one myself. I've got a lot of anger I could work out on one of them. But for now, just relax and forget about this one, alright? I don't want to see you getting into trouble."

  "You're right," I told him, doing my best to sound convinced. I shut the locker again, careful not to slam it. "I don't know why I'm so worked up, but I'll get over it."

  "You will," he agreed. "Maybe it's just that this is the first human you've been near since Tlaxanna?"

  "That'll be it," I agreed, though it wasn't true. But the other humans I'd had to deal with were in the ASP, and I could hardly bring that up. "Thanks, Athazar. You've cleared my mind."

  "Don't mention it," Athazar said, sounding pleased that I'd come to my senses. I smiled. He had helped me make up my mind, yes, but not in the way he thought.

  There was little reason to keep humans as slaves. Other species were harder workers, better soldiers. But those who wanted revenge and weren't too picky who they punished could get a lot of satisfaction by taking their anger out on human property. Just like Athazar planned to, once he could buy his own.

  I shuddered to think about the fate that might be waiting for our captive once we arrived wherever we were going.

  I can't abandon anyone to that. Even if it derails the mission, I will not.

  * * *

  It wasn't easy to work out what to do next, not with my mind racing. I was determined not to let this human fall into the hands of anyone who would do her harm, on the one hand. But if that meant abandoning my mission, how many others would I be condemning to the same fate that I saved her from?

  If I didn't rescue her, though, what kind of man would I be? How many slaves would suffer while I built up the evidence needed to take down this crew of slavers? It was an intolerable dilemma, and it made my blood boil with rage.

  At least Athazar had given up on speaking with me. Holograms flitted around him as he sank into some kind of game, cheerful music playing quietly. It amazed me that a warrior like him could enjoy such bright, simple, childish games.

  As long as it keeps him busy, I told myself. Sitting on my own bunk, I tried to find the peace I needed to plan. Breathing slow and deep, I let the anger wash through me, accepting and acknowledging it before putting it aside. It would not help me.

  The image of the human female's face floated, unbidden, before me. I tried to push that away, too, but it wouldn't go. There was something about her eyes, round and sad and determined. Something that I couldn't let go of.

  I tried again, folding my legs under me and seeking the peace and calm of meditation. But all I found was her. She called to me, and the thought of anything happening to her brought my anger roaring back to the front of my mind. I would have no peace until I'd dealt with this.

  Fine, then. I sighed, standing and stretching and wishing I could have more rest. I cannot let harm come to her, that much I know. The Patrol will have to be satisfied with the information I've gathered so far.

  My decision made me feel better. Right or wrong, I knew what I was doing now.

  "Where are you going?" Athazar asked, looking up from his game as I opened the door.

  "To get some exercise, kick the shit out of some training dummies," I said without turning around. It was easier to keep my voice calm than my expression.

  The bunk creaked as he lay back in it, and he laughed. "Don't stare at her too long or you'll go blind."

  My jaw tensed and for a moment I almost turned on him. I hated that I was so transparent to him, and the urge to silence him permanently was strong. I resisted, barely.

  "Shut up," I said finally, stepping out into the hallway and closing the door on his laughter. He might think this was all banter between friends but for me it was a lot more than that. Athazar would never know how close he came to dying there.

  The corridors of the ship were deserted as I stalked through them. Most of the crew would be in their bunks or at their stations, and the few exceptions gathered in the mess or the rec room. As long as I stayed away from there, I was unlikely to meet anyone.

  Which suited me just fine.

  The hold containing the slave pens was locked, of course. Captain Drezz didn't trust us to keep our hands off the merchandise and I couldn't blame him. I counted myself lucky that he hadn't set a guard.

  The security system was weak, though. Designed to keep out casual intrusions by drunken crewmen, not an agent of the ASP. I bared my teeth as I levered off a wall panel and got to work on the wiring beneath.

  It took seconds to bypass the alarms, and less than a minute to open the door. Tucking my tools back into my belt I stepped through, happy to find that the observation area was empty. That had been the biggest risk in all this: if someone had been here watching the human, I would have no excuse for my presence. And once I'd killed a crewman everything would happen very fast.

  But the room was dark and empty, lit only by the dim light from the slave pen beyond. Quietly approaching the window, I smiled. This time I wouldn't need to guard my expression so much when I saw the human, wouldn't have to put on a show for the captain. I could be myself, and that was liberating in a way I hadn't expected.

  The smile vanished as I saw her. I'd expected sadness, maybe tears. Perhaps anger. But what I saw was much worse. The human lay face down and unmoving amongst the debris that the transporter had picked up with her. My heart skipped a beat.

  No, no, this can't be. For a moment I considered calling for help. The captain was desperate to have a human slave to show his patron, he'd use the ship's medical facilities to save her.

  But I had no excuse for how I'd found her, and while Drezz would be grateful if I managed to get her to safety, he'd be suspicious. I'd never get another chance to be alone with her, and that meant no rescue. Better to check on her before I aroused any suspicion.

  She might just be sleeping, I thought as I hurried to the hatch and grabbed my tools again. The uncomfortable sprawl she lay in made that unlikely, but I held onto the desperate hope that she was alright.

  Overriding the security here was a little trickier than the lock outside, and I swore under my breath. My fingers trembled as I worked, rage and fear making my hands unsteady, and it took three tries before I could bypass the systems and get the door open. Finally the hatch slid aside and I ran to her.

  The human lay motionless. Was I too late? Had she somehow taken her own life to avoid slavery? Or had the fear been too much for her heart?

  No. Close up I could see that she still breathed shallowly. Whatever was wrong, I still had time to save her. Dropping to my knees, I rolled her onto her back, praying that I wouldn't need the medics to help her.

  As soon as she rolled to her back, her eyes snapped open, her hand coming up in a quick arc. And in it she held a rock.

  Caught by surprise, I didn't have time to respond. The impact of the stone on my head rocked me backward, blinding pain shooting through me. The human pulled herself up, faster than I'd have thought possible, swinging again. The dull thud of rock striking skull seemed to echo for far longer than it should, and lights danced in front of my eyes.

  "Stop—" I started, but she wasn't listening. Her hand came up again, and this time my reflexes finally kicked in. My hand caught her forearm, twisting roughly until she squealed and the stone dropped from her fingers.

  "I'm here to—ow!" Her kick caught my shin hard, and her free hand slammed forward in a punch aimed at my crotch. I twisted aside in time to take the blow on my hip instead, but that gave her the chance to pull free and dive for the hatch.

  If she opened the outer door, all kinds of alarms would go off. Swearing loudly, I leaped after her in a tackle that took us both to the deck in an untidy mess of struggling limbs.

  She had no idea how to fight,
that was clear. Her blows were unschooled, and she lacked the strength to do much damage. But none of that stopped her doing her best to kill me barehanded. She fought like a cornered animal, all vicious attacks and no defense, pummeling at me and biting and kicking.

  Had I been willing to hurt her, the fight would have been over in seconds. Stopping her without injury was a lot trickier. I grabbed her arms, pinning them to the metal deck, my weight trapping her, but that wasn't enough to make her give in. And her furious cries ran the risk of attracting attention if anyone passed by outside.

  "Hungry Stars, human," I hissed at her, trying to keep her trapped under me. "I'm trying to help you."

  Her only answer was to turn her head and bite down on my forearm. I winced — human teeth weren't built for combat and I doubted she'd break my skin, but that didn't mean they didn't hurt.

  My reflexes were a tangled mess. My training as a soldier told me to smash her head into the deck, to finish the fight, to win. But I'd spent years overcoming those instincts, learning to control them, and this human was the last person in the universe I wanted to injure. With a snarl, I fought down my training and simply held her in place.

  "Stop fighting, damn it. You cannot win." I could hear the anger and frustration in my voice and knew that it wouldn't help convince her. "You're safe, human."

  She looked up at me, eyes blazing, twisting and struggling wildly. Futilely. At last she exhausted herself and lay beneath me, gasping for breath.

  "I don't feel safe," she panted. "And I might not know what's going on but I do know you're not here to help me."

  "If I let you go, will you attack me again?" I asked. She glared but shook her head and I cautiously released her arms.

  As soon as I let go, she threw a punch at my jaw. But this time I was ready for it, blocking her attack easily and shaking my head. Without the rock that wouldn't have made much difference even if it had connected.

  "Please stop," I said, getting up and letting her rise too. "You can't defeat me, and you need to listen to what I have to say."

  "Oh yeah?" she demanded, watching me warily as she backed off. I let her — if it made her feel more comfortable to have some distance between us, I was all for it. "So what, you kidnap me and now I'm supposed to think you're the good guy?"

  My lips twitched, half in frustration and half in amusement. "Yes, human. That's right, I am. And since no one else will help you escape, you've got nothing to lose by trusting me."

  Her eyes flickered around the room, though I didn't know what she hoped to see. When they settled on me again there was a hint of resignation behind the anger.

  "Okay, sure. I'll bite. What the hell are you talking about?"

  "I'm here to rescue you," I told her. She was right, it did sound ridiculous when I said it out loud. But it was still the truth, and that was all I had. "I can't let them sell you into slavery, so I came to break you out."

  8

  Amy

  Blinking, I looked up at the blue-skinned alien. It was hard to believe he could be serious, that he actually wanted to help. What choice did I have, though? Going back into the cell and waiting for the next alien to arrive? Hoping that one had a softer skull?

  Better to take my chances with this one. If Blue'd wanted to hurt me, he'd had all the chances he needed during the fight. I rubbed my arms, feeling the bruises his fingers had left on my wrists. As soon as he'd gotten his hands on me I'd stood no chance against his strength. Fortunately he didn't seem to hold a grudge for the knock on the head I'd given him.

  He was defending himself. I picked that fight, not him. Blue hadn't attacked me, he'd just done the minimum necessary to defend himself from my attack. That didn't mean that I could trust him, but I could at least afford to listen to what he had to say. Maybe this way I'd actually get some answers.

  "Fine," I said. "What's going on? Where am I?"

  He pursed his lips for a second before answering. "There isn't much time, but I will give you the quick version. You are aboard the Red King's Revenge, a slaver ship. Captain Drezz wants you because you fit the requirements of one of his clients for some reason."

  He kept talking but I was already dizzy with that much. None of it was exactly a surprise, but hearing it said out loud was still a shock to my system and I felt the blood drain from my face.

  "Slavers?" I couldn't wrap my head around it. Blue sighed, his face tightening with a suppressed anger.

  "Yes, human, slavers. Captain Drezz makes his living selling to those who want sapient playthings or workers — it can be a lucrative trade. I'm here to gather information on them as an undercover agent of the Anti-Slavery Patrol."

  Blue's anger at that sounded deep as the ocean, and I relaxed slightly. That made some sense, assuming he was telling the truth. It didn't quite explain why he was willing to jeopardize his cover rescuing me, but I wasn't going to press him. The last thing I wanted was for him to change his mind!

  "So what's your plan?" I asked, trying to focus on a better future.

  "Perhaps I should ask yours," he said with the ghost of a smile. "You must have had some idea what you were going to do once you'd knocked me out."

  I turned away, feeling my cheeks heat. Great. He was going to make fun of me too. I cleared my throat.

  "My plan was to knock you down, run out the door, and figure out what to do from there," I said, glaring at Blue. "Shut up. I've never been kidnapped before."

  To my surprise, he didn't laugh. Perhaps there was some amusement in his eyes, but I thought I saw admiration there too. And for some reason that made me blush deeper. Another thing I didn't want to think about, not right now anyway.

  "I can do a little better than that," he told me. "We're going to drop out of hyperspace soon, and when we do all the ship's systems shut down. That will give me a moment to act. If we are in one of the shuttles we might be able to get some distance from the Revenge, enough to stay off their sensors when they come back online."

  My heart thumped and I forgot about being embarrassed as hope built in me. "Getting off this ship sounds like a great start," I admitted. "What then?"

  "The important thing is to get you away from the Revenge. Once that's done I can figure out where we are and what to do next."

  I looked at him, blinked. Frowned. Put my hands on my hips. "That sounds a lot like my plan on a bigger scale."

  Now he laughed. "Shut up. I've never rescued anyone from kidnappers before."

  For a moment I stared, trying to keep a straight face. It was impossible. Laughter bubbled up, humor mixed with despair. Blue didn't have much more of an idea of what to do than I did.

  On the other hand he had a much better chance of pulling it off than I did alone. In that he had some chance, and my plan had failed at the first hurdle. I didn't much like the idea of entrusting my safety to one of the alien monsters who'd kidnapped me. Unfortunately, my only alternative was sitting in my cell and hoping things got better.

  Which they wouldn't. I knew my luck that well.

  "Okay, let's go," I told him, shouldering my pack. I expected him to simply open the door and let us out. Instead, he pulled out a tiny toolkit and pulled open a panel in the wall. I watched, confused, as he poked and prodded a green-glowing cylinder inside.

  "I thought we were in a hurry?"

  "It doesn't matter how fast we move if I set off the door's alarm," Blue said, voice tight with concentration. The light shining from the panel flickered to purple and then back to green and a hatch slid open silently.

  I don't know what I'd expected. Something weird, alien. Something out of a sci-fi show. What I got was just a corridor, black metal decking underfoot and pale walls stretching off in both directions. Harsh, bright lighting filled the space with a headache-inducing light that seemed, somehow, the wrong color.

  The mundanity of it was vaguely disappointing, even under these circumstances. I didn't have time to worry about it, though — Blue strode off down the corridor and I had to jog to keep up with his lon
g strides.

  Just as I was running out of breath, we stopped at another doorway and Blue took out his tools again. This one was larger, recessed into the wall, and more secure. When he pried the lock panel off even I could see that the mechanism underneath was a lot more complicated than the one on my cell had been.

  "Keep an eye out," he told me. "If anyone spots us now we're in trouble."

  With that he set to work. Tearing my eyes off him wasn't easy, and I wasn't sure what to think about that. I'm standing next to an alien, I told myself. That's all it is. Of course I want to look at him.

  Deep down I knew it wasn't just that. But I didn't want to think about how much I enjoyed looking at the alien beside me, and anyway he was right. We couldn't afford to be caught now.

  Resolutely turning my back on him, I looked down the corridor and hoped I wouldn't see anything. Behind me I heard Blue work and willed him to hurry up.

  At the far end of the hall a door slid open. Shit.

  "Someone's coming," I said, pressing myself back against the door Blue was trying to open. It was recessed enough that I could just about stay out of sight... unless whoever it was came closer.

  Blue made a frustrated noise but didn't move. There wasn't any time for him to hide the open panel, and if he didn't get this door open it wouldn't matter anyway.

  "Hey, Kadran, what are you doing there?" The new alien's voice was cold, hard. Suspicious.

  "Someone's got to fix this damned door," Blue (Kadran? Was that his name?) said, not looking up from his work. I heard footsteps coming closer and held my breath, trying to press myself into the door as though I could force myself through it.

  "It's not broken," the newcomer said. "Or if it is, no one told me."

  "I told Raikan, not my fault if he didn't pass it on," Blue told him. "Look here, the crystals are all fused."

  The footsteps came closer, and I couldn't hide any longer. Another alien, tall with long, slender limbs and scaled green skin, stepped into view. The same species as the captain, I thought, though I couldn't be sure.