by Maia Starr
We all made it inside and Keyna slid the tile back in place. Then he turned on the red light of his wristband and led the way.
“We don't have much time. We have to get to the ship,” he said.
We quickly ran as fast as we could in the darkness through the inch of water in the pipes.
“We are almost there. Keep up,” Keyna said.
I had Vicki's hand in mine. She squeezed it. I knew she was telling me thank you. I knew that she was telling me that she was glad that I showed up. I was glad that I had her again, but I wouldn't be able to enjoy it until we were completely out of there.
“Look, the end of the tunnel,” I said as the light from outside came in as we approach the end. Keyna opened the iron gate, and we all ran out.
Tila closed the gate and then welded it back together. It looked like it had never been touched.
“Hurry, let's get back to the ship,” Keyna said.
We all ran in a group back to the ship. We boarded quickly.
“Get us out of here, now,” Keyna said.
Chapter 18
Vicki Varsa
I was so incredibly happy to see Alicron. When he burst into the room with a team at his back, I could not believe that he was really there. It took me a second to process what was going on. Then I felt complete relief seeing that beautiful tall blue alien again. Only minutes before K8L had pulled me from the room with Nancy and took me into this room. I did not know or want to know what he was going to do to me. But he made it very clear that he was angry that I had escaped the first time and that he was going to claim me. That was when I started shouting, and I was glad that I did because it led Alicron right over to me.
Now we were on a strange ship that I had never seen before. It belonged to the team that was with him. I recognize them as the Lana that were in the marketplace. I didn't know how Alicron had managed to team up with them, but I was grateful for all of it. Not only did they rescue me, but they also rescued Nancy. She had been with the damn cyborgs for a very long time.
"I never thought I would be happy to see the alien that took me from my home planet, but I am,” Nancy said sitting on a bench against the wall on the ship.
“You are welcome,” Alicron said to her. Then he looked at me. He was angry.
“Do you want to tell me exactly how that cyborg took you?” he said coming toward me. “Did I not specifically order you to stay by my side when we were at the transmission station inside the village?” he said.
“What village?” Nancy asked.
“You can't order me around. I will do what I want, when I want. I have already told you one million times you don't own me,” I said getting in his face.
“Would you like me to return you to the cyborg?” he asked narrowing his light brown eyes at me.
“You know I don't want to be there. But just because I do not want to be with the cyborgs does not mean that I am going to let you own me like property,” I said.
“You are my property. I am the one that found you. I have already claimed you. Something that you obviously enjoyed, or did you already forget?” he said.
“Claimed you? What is he talking about?” Nancy said. But we continued to ignore her as we argued.
“I told you after that happened that it changed nothing. I still hate you. Did you forget that you took me against my will from my home planet? The fact that you had to rescue me from that crazy cyborg K8L is not something I should have to thank you for because it is your fault I am on this planet to begin with. If you would not have taken me, then I would not have needed rescuing from him,” I said poking my finger into his strong stomach.
“What is going on between you two?” Nancy said. Again we ignored her.
“And I told you that I cannot keep you out of danger if you do not listen to me. Do I have your word that he will not do it again? I can't continue to take the time to rescue you again and again if you are not going to obey me,” he said.
“Obey? You want me to obey you? I will not. Yes, I will stay by your side for protection only. But that does not mean that I am doing it because I obey you,” I said.
He stepped closer to me. He was towering over me with only an inch between us. I tilted my head back to look up at him. He stared down at me in silence. The heat between us was growing intense. I could feel the chemistry again. Damn, he was hot. The fact that he had gone through so much trouble to rescue me was very attractive. I wanted to thank him in other ways. I wanted to touch him. I wanted to kiss him. But I was still angry with how he was talking to me. He leaned over me like he was going to kiss me.
“What the hell is going on between you two? Do you want to fill me in on what is going on? You seemed to leave something out when you told me what you were up to you while you were gone,” Nancy said to me.
Her words pulled me away from my dirty thoughts about this tall blue alien. I stepped away from him and cleared my throat. “It's nothing, Nancy,” I said taking a seat next to her.
“It wasn't nothing last night,” he mumbled under his breath and gave me a wink.
Nancy gasped and looked at me.
My face turned a bright red. “Where are we going now? Did you find out about the others? What about my friend Bridget?” I asked trying to change the subject.
“We are going back to the village Cantu. I have to check on the transmission that I sent, and I owe this team payment for a job well done. This time you will not be leaving my side, or you either,” he pointed at Nancy.
“I don't want to go back to the cyborgs. I won't leave your view,” she said.
“Why can't you be more like this human,” he said to me and then walked out of the room toward the front of the ship with the other aliens.
“You dirty whore. You slept with an alien? Are you out of your mind?” Nancy whispered to me.
“I don't want to talk about it,” I said crossing my arms and being angry at Alicron.
She was silent for a minute. But not for long.
“How was it?” she asked.
“I told you I don't want to talk about it,” I said.
A few minutes later, the ship was stopping. We were back in the trading Village. We were back in the spaceport that I had been abducted from. I felt stupid being back there. I thought I had been so cool and brave to try to find a way back to Earth on my own, only to mess things up.
“We are here. Remember what I said. Stay at my side, both of you. We are going straight to the transmission station,” Alicron said walking into the room. The team followed him.
"I heard you the first time,” I said angrily.
“Good luck to you,” Keyna said to Alicron looking at me as though he was referring to good luck with the feisty human. I rolled my eyes. Alicron held out his hand. He had a large diamond about the size of a quarter in it. I could not believe it. Where the hell was this alien pulling diamonds out of?
“Here is your payment as promised for your strength and knowledge. I couldn't have done it without your team,” Alicron said.
“Anytime. A Kynon that makes good on his payments is a good one to work for as far as I am concerned. You know where to find us if you need us again,” Keyna said grabbing the diamond from him.
“Thank you. I might have need in the future. But you have made me realize that if I am going to find the rest of my crew and human cargo, I am going to need more than just myself,” Alicron said. He nodded to the team and then to Nancy and me to follow him out of the ship.
He walked down the ramp into the spaceport with Nancy and I on either side of him.
“Oh, my word. What is this place?” Nancy said looking around.
“It is the trading village of Cantu. There are lots of different kinds of aliens on this planet in this city from all over the galaxy,” I said.
“This is unbelievable. This is exciting. I had been tied up with those cyborgs in the desert for so long I thought it was the only thing on this planet,” Nancy said.
“Yes, it blew me away the first t
ime too,” I said.
A few minutes later we were walking into the familiar transmission station. Jaeckle went up to the operator that he had talked to before.
Alicron spoke to him in the alien language while Nancy and I stayed at his side. He kept looking at me as though to make sure that I did not run off. I put my hands on my hips, angry that he did not trust me, but he had reason not to. Then Alicron came back over to us.
“The operator says that my signal did not go through to my planet.” Alicron said.
“What does that mean? What do you do now?” I asked.
“I am going to have to go there myself,” he said.
“What? Leave this planet? Without my friend? I don't think so,” I said crossing my arms over my chest.
“It won't take long. I will buy a ship to take us there so that I can return with my army. It is the only way. You saw the millions of cyborgs in that city, and now the leader has an agenda against me. I need my army and more ships in order to find my crew and your friends,” he said.
“Army? You have an army?” Nancy said, but again we ignored her.
“No, I will not leave. Hire the ones that you used to find me. They seem more than willing to help if you pay them,” I said.
“I am going, and you are going with me. That is all there is to it. Now let's go,” he said wrapping his large hand around my wrist. He grabbed Nancy by the arm and dragged us out of the transmission station and back through the spaceport.
“No. I don't want to leave this planet,” I said protesting.
“For someone that has a cyborg leader after them, I wouldn't think you would want to leave this planet as soon as possible,” he said.
“But we need to find her; you promised me that you would find her,” I said.
“And I will. I am not breaking that promise. I am only guaranteeing that it happens by bringing in my army. It is the only way. There is too much ground to cover and too much danger out there, even for hired guns. Now the longer you protest, the longer this is going to take. If I can find a ship with a hyperspeed drive then we can get to my planet in no time,” he said.
“Not if we crash on another planet,” I mumbled under my breath.
“What did you say?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I said biting my tongue.
“I heard you,” Nancy said laughing.
“Enough, you two. There, those are the long-distance ships in that area. Now stand here and cover me,” he said pushing us into a corner of the market. He stood against the wall and positioned each of us in front of him, blocking him from the rest of the market.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked.
“I forgot that you question every single thing that I do. Just stand there,” he said as he turned his body and then opened a small compartment on his belt. He pulled out a large diamond, larger than the one that he had given Keyna. It was a square slab, like a small tile. I could not believe it. This alien was filthy rich and had diamonds in his belt and I did not understand what was going on. Then he closed the compartment and held onto the diamond.
“Let's go,” he said. Then we continued into the spaceport so he could try to purchase a long-distance ship to his liking. It was settled. We were going off of this planet and going to his home planet of Xeion, and I was leaving Bridget behind. I felt ashamed of myself for abandoning my friend.
Chapter 19
Captain Alicron Qinov
She was unbelievable. No matter what I did, she protested every single one of my decisions. I couldn't do anything to satisfy her. I had put myself in danger to rescue her. I had hired guns in order to take me there. I had rescued her human friend as well, who was also my property, but this did not seem to make Vicki happy. She was still being stubborn and resisting everything I said.
She questioned every single thing that I asked of her. Even something as simple as covering me so that I could pull out payment from my belt without showing the entire village that I carried valuable diamonds. Anyone that saw that could easily jump us and take them away. Then we would be stranded without resources. Yet she still questioned all of this. Then when I came up with the plan to go back to my planet in order to get reinforcements, she was not happy with it. She didn't trust me. She thought I was going to abandon her friend on this planet, and that was the last thing that I was going to do. Not only because I had made a promise to her, but because it was my mission to get human females back to Xeion. I couldn't fail in that mission. I needed to succeed. I considered the crash on X003 to be a slight obstacle and detour, but the mission wasn't over for me. I was going to finish it no matter what. I was going back to my planet to get reinforcements, and then we would be able to easily scour this planet to find the crew and the humans. This made sense to me; it was an obvious choice, but Vicki was resistant to it anyway.
“I am looking to purchase a long-distance ship. I need it to travel through several galaxies. I need it to have hyperspeed and to be able to carry at least four passengers,” I said to a ship dealer in the spaceport.
“No, I do not have such a ship. The hyperspeed drive ships are in the back. Through there,” the merchant said to me pointing to the back.
“Thank you,” I nodded to him. And then I grabbed Vicki and Nancy by the arms. I was not letting them out of my sight again.
I walk to the back of the corner of the market. I could see that the larger ships were in this area. I asked again for the type of ship that I needed. There were several that had hyperspeed drives and could carry the passengers that I needed and go the distance. I inspected all of them. They all seem to be in good condition, but I was not familiar with the type a flight consul that they all used. I would have to hire a pilot to get one of the ships.
“Is there a ship like this that comes with a pilot?” I asked one of the green and purple aliens.
“Yes, there is a Lana pilot back in that corner with a ship. But he will not sell his ship. He rents it with him as a pilot to go on missions. So you would have to negotiate that terms with him,” he said.
“Thank you,” I said.
I looked at Vicki. “You don't have to grab my arm and yank me around. I am not leaving your side,” she said annoyed.
“For some reason, I don't believe you. Let's go,” I said grabbing onto the both of them and reading them toward the back. I saw a Lana sitting next to a large ship. I looked at it. Not only was it perfect, but I knew this type of ship. I could fly it, or at least be the copilot.
“I have been referred to you by a merchant in the village. I am trying to get to Xeion. It is me and these two passengers. I need to get there quickly. I need hyperspeed drive on a ship to get me there. I am looking to either purchase a ship or to rent with the pilot. Are you the one to speak to?” I asked.
“Yes, but I have not been to this Xeion before,” he said.
“It is three galaxies from here. I can give you the coordinates, and it will be easy to get there. I know this ship. I can be a copilot if necessary. I am Kynon. I am a friend of the Lana. If you take this mission, I can pay you one full gram diamond to get us there and another when we arrive safely,” I said.
He looked at me surprised. “That is a good payment. Why so much?” he asked.
“It is to pay for safety in our journey. It is to pay for honesty from you. It is to pay for confidentiality. You do not tell anyone that you took us or tell anyone what you see on Xeion. That is what it pays for, not just the journey and the transportation,” I said.
“And why should I trust you,” he said.
“You can trust him. He is a friend,” I heard a familiar voice say. I turned to see Keyna coming through walking between the massive ships. Tila followed close behind him.
“Keyna. You trust this Kynon?” the pilot asked.
“Yes. I have worked with him before. He paid me handsomely and did not go back on his word. He is a good Kynon soldier. You can trust him,” Keyna said patting me on the back.
“Keyna, good to see you again,” I
said.
“And you can trust this Kynon,” Keyna said to the pilot. “If I was a long-distance pilot like you, I would be doing this myself. But I do not have the ship, and I do not have the skills that you do. If I were you, I would not pass up this opportunity. It is good financial payment,” Keyna said to the pilot.
“If you trust him, Keyna, then I trust him. I will be ready to leave as soon as I fuel up the ship. If you see that merchant there in the red robe? Tell him you want to stock up with food and drink on my ship. He will hand you a crate,” the pilot said.
“Thank you. We are ready,” I said.
Keyna patted me on the back again, “Have a good journey. I wish you the best of luck on your mission,” he said.
