His Alien Hostage: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Alien Pirates Of Cania Book 2)

by Zara Zenia

  "You were a thief?" Bella's eyes widened in shock.

  Jodie laughed heartily. "I was a cat burglar. Never got caught either, thank goodness. I never hurt anyone. Merely relieved some of the wealthy of some of their treasure. Most of the time they didn't even notice it was missing."

  "I had no idea."

  Jodie grinned. "Didn't expect you did." She shrugged. "That's how I met Melody. She was just a kid at the time, thin as a rail, wasting away, starving to death. Taught her everything I knew. When she was taken, I was devastated. I had no idea what happened to her until she beamed me up to this ship several months later. I'd retired by then. Had made enough to buy my own private island, have a small bungalow built and a state of the art security system that I put in myself."

  "So, you just joined up? Left your ill gotten gains behind and decided the space pirate life was for you?" Bella questioned.

  "Yep, though all the wealth is still there, and we do use it when we make a trip to Earth to pick up stuff we need." Jodie took a turn shooting. "It's a good cause. Stopping women from being turned into slaves for some noble assholes."

  Bella nodded. "It is. We've got enough of that on our own planet, we don't need alien assholes stealing us and adding to the problem."

  "Exactly." She pulled the trigger several more times, each shot hitting dead center.

  A knock sounded on the door, and Jodie looked over her shoulder. "Hey, Mel, what's up?"

  Melody had a readout in her hand and was wearing a frown. "Hey, Jodie, I wanted to ask, when did you start doing the bot maintenance?"

  "Yesterday, why?"

  "Because according to this, the guardbot in front of the brig was turned off for twenty minutes four days ago."

  Bella cringed. She hadn't known they'd be able to tell that the bot had been turned off. "Crap," she said softly.

  "You did this?" Melody asked, surprised.

  "Yes. I wanted to speak to Terrex. He never left the cell, I promise," Bella assured her. "I just went in there with him."

  "You what? Are you crazy? He's a nobleman! He can't be trusted, Bella."

  "I'm sorry, Melody. I… I got curious. I wanted to know his side of the story—"

  "His side! Look, this is my ship, my crew. I won't have you putting them in danger. Stay away from him, Bella. Do you understand me? Or I will find the closest planet and drop you off and I won't look back."

  Bella swallowed hard. "But—"

  "No. No buts. As the co-captain of the Freedom, I will not have you jeopardizing our safety. Do I make myself clear?"

  "Fine. Yes, okay." Bella huffed.

  Melody shook her head, muttering as she left her and Jodie and went back down to the command station.

  "She has a hard time trusting any Canians other than Naela, Devron and the other crew. Nor really did a number on her. Not that I blame her. And she is right, he's a nobleman and a prisoner for a reason. From everything we know about him, he's not a good person, Bella. His father is worse, but Terrex is well on his way to becoming just like him and he hasn't even experienced the Frenzy yet so he can't blame that."

  "Maybe he had his reasons before?" Bella put forth, but she knew she'd get nowhere with that line. She hadn't been there long enough for them to trust her instincts and her instincts were telling her that Terrex had truly been surprised by what she'd had to say about Omegas. And that mixed with his depression of losing Elenix to his brother, well… in her opinion, it meant he was a changed person. Maybe she was wrong, but she'd learned to trust her instincts."

  "The man was on Axia long before we got there, Bella. He was in the midst of murderers and thieves, the worst kind of people the galaxy holds. Don't let him fool you, okay? Just stay away from him. He's trouble."

  Bella agreed, but as she closed her eyes that night, she couldn't rid her mind of thoughts of him.

  15

  Bella awoke to a repeating piercing alarm going off. She sat up in bed, grabbed her pants and pulled them on. She'd slept in her tee shirt, so as soon as she was dressed, she hurried from her room. "What's going on?" she asked as Naela ran past her.

  "Imperial Fleet of Canian police is almost within range," Naela called as she ran toward the stairs, heading up to the command station.

  Bella followed her. "What are we going to do?"

  Naela shook her head. "You should go back down to your room and stay there. My Dev and Melody will have things well in hand."

  Bella didn't listen to her and followed her to the command station. In there, Dev and Melody were busy. Dev with flying, and Melody at the control deck. Rayhan and Lezin were there too, maps pulled up on a wall panel that they were pointing at.

  "Our best bet is to hide until the fleet moves out of this area and then head back toward Starsinia," Lezin said.

  "They won't allow us to land there, not after last time," Naela put in, striding over to them, and looking at the map too.

  "I think we need to get to Yebrax. I know they aren't the friendliest, but they also won't allow the Canian police anywhere near the planet," Rayhan replied.

  "Of course, they won't, they also won't let us anywhere near them!" Dev called over his shoulder.

  "True, but Dev, we could fly behind the planet and hang out on the dark side of the planet until the fleet passes, then maybe we'll have a chance to get away, before the Yebrax even know we're there. Without the hyperdrive, we're like sitting ducks out here."

  Dev ran a hand through his long silver hair. "Yeah, okay, prepare for evasive maneuvers. The fleet hasn't picked us up on their radar yet, I want to keep it that way."

  Melody looked over her shoulder. "Naela, get the guards up on the guns, just in case. Tell them not to fire unless the fleet sends a ship after us. We don't want to draw any attention to us, but we want to be prepared if the fleet do decide to challenge us. Bella, go back to your room and stay out of the way!"

  Sighing, Bella did as Melody asked, but she spent the next three hours pacing her room as Dev flew them all to the dark side of Yebrax. It was a single planet with a small bright star as its sun and no moon that Melody could see. It was a dark planet for the most part, but the side furthest from the sun was nearly black. Melody could see it outside her window. The planet wasn't even half the size of Starsinia, and there were no other planets near it. Only the small bright star which, when they passed it didn't seem to put off much heat and was about half the size of the planet.

  She figured the planet must be pretty chilly as well as dark most of the time. She took out her camera and started taking pictures of it all, adding to her collection of planets she'd seen since coming onboard the Freedom. They had stayed pretty far away from the planet, for the most part, at least until they had passed by most of the planet, but when they reached the backside, the side opposite its sun, where it was dark. At that point, Dev maneuvered them closer, hiding in the shadow cast by the planet.

  About an hour later, another alarm sounded, this one slightly different than the last. She put her camera away and headed back into the hallway. She ran into Jodie and Sina as they were headed up the stairs. "What's going on now? Did they find us?"

  "No, it's a Yebraxian ship, probably pirates considering we're on their dark side. We can't use the outer guns it will attract the Canian fleet. We're locked in the Yebraxian ship's tracker beam and about to be boarded," Jodie said hurrying up to the gunnery. "Come on, you're gonna need that blaster."

  Bella followed her, running up the stairs. Her heart was racing, beating a fast paced rhythm in her chest. She followed Jodie into the armory where several guards were, gathering weapons for themselves. Bella took the weapon Jodie offered her, but as they started out again, Bella grabbed a second blaster and tucked it in the small of her back, under her tee. They were short handed and something in her told her she might need it.

  16

  The ship jolted under her feet as Bella raced down the stairs behind Jodie. Jodie turned toward the galley, but Bella continued on down, following Sina, who stopped on th
eir floor and headed toward the medbay.

  "Go to your room, Bella, barricade yourself in there, you do not want to be taken by the Yebrax," Sina suggested and then moved down the hall.

  Bella could already hear shooting above her, and she worried for her new friends. She started to move down the hall, but then her thoughts went to Terrex and she worried about him being locked in the brig. What would the Yebrax do with a prisoner? Would they just kill him? She couldn't let that happen. She turned back toward the stairs, and just as her foot landed on the stair to go down, a hulking Yebrax alien pulled her backwards. The Yebrax was covered in black and golden brown fur that reminded her of calico cats on Earth. His eyes were bright green and oblong. He bared sharp pointy teeth at her, like he was grinning.

  "What have we here? So nice of the Canians to provide snacks," he grunted out.

  Bella's adrenaline kicked in and hit the button on the blaster, but she was too late, the Yebrax plucked the gun from her hand and crushed it like it was made of plastic. He was laughing at her until she kneed him in between his legs and punched him in the face. As soon as he let her go, she ducked under his arm and ran full out down the stairs, she knew she had to hurry.

  "Bella, what's going on?" Terrex called from the barred window.

  "Yebraxians have boarded the ship, you've got to help us, Terrex!"

  "Fuck," Terrex's jaw ticked. Yebraxians were prone to eating the flesh of their enemies, which was one of the reasons he'd been so thankful to end up on this ship of Canian and Selithi pirates. At least with them he knew he wouldn't be eaten. "Get this cell open, got any weapons?"

  Bella switched off the guardbot and swung the cell door open. "The Yebraxian who caught me crushed the one I had for me, but here, take this one," she pressed the second blaster into his hands.

  "You were caught? How did you get away?"

  "I kicked him where no man wants to be kicked." She grinned and a shiver went down his spine.

  "Okay, stay behind me," he commented. "If another grabs you, do that again, okay?"

  Bella nodded. "I plan to."

  Terrex climbed the stairs two at a time, when he reached the next level, there were four Yebrax, pulling some other human women from their rooms. He aimed the blaster and shot one in the head. He dropped to the ground as the woman he was holding screamed. Terrex didn't have time to worry about her. Instead he said, "Bella, get the girl back to her room!"

  Terrex didn't look to see if she obeyed, just moved on to the next Yebrax who was using the human woman as a shield. She wasn't as enterprising as Bella, because she only stood there and screamed, didn't struggle to get away or anything. Shaking his head, he aimed the blaster at the arm of the Yebrax and then the girl dropped to her knees, having only been held up by the Yebraxian. With the girl out of the way, he raised the blaster and shot the pirate in his face.

  Behind him, he could hear Bella urging the girl back in her room. "Come on, go in here, and block the door as best you can. We'll let you know when it's safe to come out again."

  Terrex followed the other two Yebrax down the hall as they headed toward the medbay. He hoped the nice Selithi doctor had managed to lock the door in some way. As the Yebrax punched at the door panel, Terrex shot him, taking him down too. There was one left on this floor, but he could hear a battle going on upstairs.

  The Yebraxian made a break to get down the hall toward the stairs. Terrex followed, but as he turned the corner to follow the Yebraxian, he ran straight into a punch.

  "Fuck!" he yelled, shaking his head. He moved to punch the Yebraxian back and realized it was one of the guys from his card game back on Axia. "You again!" He raised the blaster, but the Yebrax grabbed the barrel and moved it just enough for the blast to go past him and then crushed the weapon in his massive hand.

  "So, this is where you hide, you Canian bastard! Should have known I'd find you here!" The Yebrax punched him again, this time in the chest.

  Terrex absorbed the punch and then let a few of his own fly, until he recalled what Bella had said, she'd kicked her attacker in the place nobody wanted to be kicked, so he did the same and as the Yebraxian dropped to his knees, Terrex used his fists to pummel the back of his head. Soon the man passed out from the blows he'd rained down on him. He needed to kill him though, so he looked around for another weapon, and then smirking picked up the Yebraxian's own gun which had slid from his holster when he'd fallen to the ground.

  As Bella reached his side, he pulled the trigger and put a hole in the Yebraxian's temple. Bella turned her head into his chest as he did so, and he felt very protective of her at that moment.

  17

  Upstairs on the command deck they could hear more blasters going off along with a lot of shouting. Carefully they picked their way up the stairs slowly. Terrex kept a protective arm around her, ready to push her behind him at the slightest hint of trouble.

  The peeked out the top of the stairs and around the corner. They could see that Dev, Jodie and Melody had the Yebrax pinned at the opening to what must be where their ship was connected to the Yebraxian's. On the floor were two of the guards that Bella had seen but had never met.

  Bella's eyes took in the rest of the crew, Naela was lying on the ground as well, but she was still breathing, and her eyes were open. Bella nudged Terrex and nodded to Naela. He nodded back to her, and carefully reached for the Canian woman's hand. He pulled her the short distance to the staircase, gathered her in his arms, and passed her to Bella. "Can you help her to the medbay?" he asked softly.

  Bella nodded. She wrapped the smaller woman's arm around her neck and put her arm around Naela's waist. Naela looked between her and Terrex, but she didn't comment. She had been wounded in the side, making it hard to walk, but they managed to get her down the stairs and the hall to the medbay.

  "Sina! It's Bella, Naela's been hurt," she called through the door intercom.

  The door snicked open and Sina took Naela from her. "Hurry, are there more injured?"

  "I don't know, I know two of the guards are dead, but I'll see what I can find out about the others."

  Sina's eyes flew to Naela. "Gaddis?"

  "He's fine, Sina. It was Caldar and Minphir. We've repelled the Yebraxians back to their airlock, but they are still fighting us."

  "I'll be back," Bella said and then hurried out of the medbay and back up the stairs to Terrex's side. "How do the others look?" she whispered.

  "That one looks bad, cover me, okay?" Terrex handed her the blaster. "You know how to shoot right?"

  Bella nodded. "Be careful."

  Terrex stayed low as he crept further out. He reached Jorwon and then gripped him under the arms and dragged him toward the stairs. Once there, he lifted the man up and carried him down the stairs with Bella following, the blaster held pointed behind them. She kept her head turned up the stairs, as she carefully made her way down. Once they reached the bottom, she and Terrex headed back to the medbay with Jorwon.

  Sina opened the door and Terrex carried an unconscious Jorwon to another bed. "He's lost a lot of blood, but I think you'll be able to save him."

  Sina shooed them out of the way. "Go, help the others."

  Terrex and Bella ran back up the stairs just as the door between the Yebrax and their ship closed. The airlock was pulled back and the Yebraxian ship began a fast retreat from them.

  Terrex grinned and pulled Bella close, kissing her. Her soft lips crushed into his and his heart raced at the feeling of passion swirling in his chest. He hadn't felt anything even close to this for any other woman than Elenix before. He broke the kiss with them both grinning and panting slightly at the exhilaration of their shared kiss.

  "Let's get out of here!" Rayhan shouted.

  "Get the injured to—" Dev started and then noticed Terrex and Bella. "What the fuck?"

  "We've already taken Naela and Jorwon down to the medbay and there are four dead Yebraxians in the hallways on the medbay floor. Terrex took care of them and saved the other girls," Bella answered
.

  "You've got to be kidding me, Bella! I told you! He can't be trusted," Melody glared at the two of them.

  Terrex wrapped a protective arm around Bella and pulled her close. "Don't speak to her that way!"

  18

  Bella was still slightly dizzy and confused from the kiss she'd shared moments ago with Terrex. It took her a minute to register Melody's anger at her and Terrex's protective arm around her. Her heart skipped a beat as he defended her.

  "He helped us, Melody. Saved me and the other girls from four Yebrax. I swear that one was planning to eat me!"

  Terrex's arm tightened around her.

  "I don't care! He's still a prisoner and you let him out!"

  "She has a point, Mel, he's helped us," Jodie put in.

  "I think we should lock her up with him!" Lezin said.

  "I agree with Jodie," a voice came from behind Bella and Terrex.

  "Naela, you can't actually want to trust him!"

  "Rayhan, he and Bella got me to the medbay, got Jorwon to the medbay. I've seen the four Yebrax in the hallways." Naela held her side which was covered in bandages. "We were overwhelmed. We hadn't even realized that some of them had gotten down the stairs."

  "It was the group from Axia, from the bar," Terrex put in. "They must have recognized your ship."

  Devron sucked in a breath at that. He looked at Melody and pulled her aside, speaking to her softly away from everyone else. When they were done, Melody didn't look happy.

  "We'll take a vote." Melody's eyes were hard as she stared at Bella. "Those in favor of allowing them to remain out of the cell?"

  Jodie, Naela, Rayhan, Mabav, Devron, and Gaddis raised their hands.

  "Those against?" Melody raised her hand, as did Lezin. She sighed. "Very well. Majority rules."

  "You could ask Sina and Jorwon what they think," Lezin put in.

  Melody smiled. "That still only gives us four to their six, and that's only if they side with us, I have a feeling they won't."