Alien Warrior's Bounty

by Lizzy Bequin

  “Up front with me,” I shout. “Strap into the copilot’s seat before you get hurt.”

  Damn it. If only I had gotten her defiant little butt into the stasis field, I wouldn’t have to worry about her right now.

  All I had to do was shove her in. So why did I hesitate? Now she’s not secure and in danger of getting injured. That’s one extra distraction that I don’t need right now.

  And speaking of distractions, my stupid cock is still as hard as a steel rod beneath my loincloth, all because of a few seconds of contact.

  Enough. There’s no time to think about that now. We need to get out of here.

  The ship’s shields have absorbed the brunt of the attack, but the energy reserves are depleting, and soon those cannons will be tearing the ship to pieces.

  I just have to hold it together long enough to get out of this planet’s gravitational field so we can make the jump to hyperspace.

  Taking evasive action, I throw the ship into a barrel roll. Thanks to the artificial gravity generators installed in the bottom of the craft, all of the loose objects remain on the deck as they should.

  Another salvo of cannon fire rakes across the nose of the spacecraft. I manage to avoid the worst of it, but the last shot tags us, jolting the ship. Something clatters behind me as that infuriating human female continues bumping around blindly.

  “Up front!” I shout, more angrily this time. “Now!”

  “Okay, okay, I’m coming!”

  I try the hyperdrive. It hums briefly as it charges up, but it immediately gives out. We’re still too deep in the gravitational curvature of the planet.

  Suddenly, static hisses from the comm speakers, and an image wobbles on the display screen, rippling like a reflection in water until it gradually steadies and resolves itself into an all too familiar face.

  Mangy, spotted, blond fur. Black lips stretched into a broad grin of needle-sharp teeth. One green, feline eye glinting with malice and the other hidden behind a studded leather eye patch, a pink scar extending above and below.

  “Miss me, Rogar?” the face drawls. “I’ve certainly missed you.”

  Van Cleef. We used to work together before he got ejected from the Bounty Hunters Guild for breaking the Code.

  Shit. I can hear the girl’s bare feet padding toward the cockpit. I don’t want this bastard to lay his filthy eye on her though. As quickly as I can, I press a button on the control panel, and the entrance to the cockpit slides shut behind me. There is a dull, metallic thunk as the girl bumps into the closed door.

  “Ow, what the fuck?” Her small voice is muffled by the slab of steel.

  “Van Cleef,” I growl at the wavering holographic image. “What do you want?”

  More cannon fire streaks past the nose of the ship from behind.

  “Don’t be coy with me, old pal,” Van Cleef purrs. “You know exactly what I want. The bounty, Rogar. Hand her over, and I might consider letting you live, for old times’ sake.”

  “The girl’s dead,” I snarl. “Your idiot droid vaporized her planetside. Lord Putrude will have your hide for a throw rug when he finds out.”

  I jerk the controls, banking the ship sharply to the left. I’m hoping I can shake him, but it doesn’t work. Van Cleef’s little gun cutter is quicker and more maneuverable than my cruiser.

  Van Cleef clucks his tongue.

  “You’re bluffing,” he purrs. “Null-99 has visual confirmation that you both beamed up to your ship.”

  As is often the case, I’m grateful for my helmet—no need for a poker face.

  “Oh we beamed up all right,” I say, keeping my tone level and hopefully unreadable. “But all that’s left of the girl is a pile of smoldering bones. Looks like neither one of us is getting this payday, Van Cleef.”

  For a fraction of a second, I think I have him fooled. A minor twitch in his lower eyelid. A nearly imperceptible dilation of his slit pupil.

  The door whispers open behind me.

  Dammit. The human figured out the controls.

  “What the fuck is your problem?” She shouts angrily. “One second you’re yelling at me to come sit down, and the next you’re slamming the door in my face. I don’t think…Oh! Who is that?”

  Van Cleef laughs.

  “I knew it. You always were a terrible bluffer, Rogar.”

  Great. So much for that strategy.

  I motion for the girl to sit down in the copilot’s seat, which she does. She begins fumbling with the connectors of the seat belt harness. I try the hyperdrive once more. It hums with a rising frequency, and I think it’s about to engage, but it drops off again. Still too close to the planet.

  Van Cleef unleashes another stream of cannon fire that I barely manage to avoid.

  “Listen, Van Cleef, if you blow up my ship, you lose the bounty too. Neither one of us wins.”

  Another voice comes across the comm speakers, cold, deadly and feminine.

  “At least we would have the pleasure of seeing you go down in flames, Rogar.”

  The view screen pans back to reveal the speaker who is riding copilot with Van Cleef. She is clad in dark body armor, but her athletic arms are exposed, showing off her violet scales. The bones of her face are sculpted and imperious.

  “Fuck you, Szelina,” I snarl.

  She grins and winks one reptilian eye at me.

  “Now there’s a thought, Rogar,” she flirts. “If you promise to give me a peek beneath your loincloth, I just might let you live.”

  I glance over at the girl. She has finally managed to get herself strapped into the safety harness of the copilot’s seat. Her eyes are wide with fright and confusion.

  The girl can understand me because my words are translated by the device built into my helmet, but she has no clue what Szelina is saying.

  For some odd reason, I’m grateful for that.

  “Are you two done flirting?” Van Cleef growls, slightly annoyed. “Anyway, I’m not going to blow your ship apart Rogar. I’m only going to disable it. But I will kill you, unless you hand over the girl right now.”

  “No dice,” I snap. “The girl is mine.”

  Shit. That came out sounding a little more possessive than I intended. I steal a glance at the girl beside me, and she seems taken aback. She’s staring at me with a shocked expression on her face.

  On the view screen, Szelina pouts.

  “My-my, Rogar,” she chides. “I wish you would be that possessive with me. I just hope you’re not planning to tamper with your cargo. Lord Putrude wouldn’t appreciate that.”

  A warning blares in the cockpit, telling me that our pursuers have locked onto the ship. The shields are too low to withstand one more direct hit. They’ll knock out the engines, and then we’ll be well and truly screwed.

  “Time’s up,” Van Cleef hisses. “I gave you your chance, Rogar, and you blew it. Now you’re going to pay.”

  I try the hyperdrive one last time.

  This time, the hum doesn’t stop. It continues rising in pitch until it explodes like a clap of thunder, and the stars outside the cockpit change from specks to streaks as we enter hyperspace.

  Van Cleef won’t be able to pursue us now.

  It worked. We got away. And not a moment too soon.

  All sorts of warning lights are flashing on the control panel, telling me that the ship’s shields are at critical levels, and numerous systems have been damaged.

  I can only hope that the ship holds together long enough for us to reach the outer rim.

  The female has gone rigid in her seat. Her knuckles are white where she’s clutching the arm rests. I reach over and jostle her shoulder.

  “Hey. Breathe.”

  Her body sags as she exhales the breath she’s been holding in, and then she gulps the air like a drowning person coming up from the depths.

  “We’re okay,” I tell her. “We made it.”

  I immediately realize that’s bullshit. I made it, but her fate is still the same. One way or another she’s going
to end up as a concubine for Putrude.

  She’ll be a crime lord’s pet.

  The girl takes a few more deep breaths, then she flashes a defiant glare in my direction, eyes brimming with tears. Her voice cracks.

  “You need to tell me what’s going on.”

  CHAPTER 7: CLARE

  My captor stares at me blankly.

  Okay, maybe “blankly” isn't the right word. In reality, I have no idea what expression he’s wearing because that stupid helmet is still hiding his face.

  All I can see is my own distorted reflection in the glossy, tinted visor. My face is darkening, and my chin is doing that ugly, dimply thing that happens when I’m about to cry.

  I struggle to hold back my tears. I don’t want to show any weakness in front of this guy.

  “Please…”

  He stonewalls me a couple more seconds until I can’t hold it any longer. Big fat crocodile tears roll down my cheeks as I slump in my seat and finally give in to my emotions.

  The alien just stares at me. Anyway, I’m assuming that he’s an alien. I mean, he’s almost seven feet tall, covered in blue-green scales, and he flies a space ship.

  Quite well, I might add. I wish I wasn’t impressed by his maneuvers.

  “Stop it,” he grunts, popping the buckle of his safety harness. “Come on. We’re putting you in the stasis field.”

  His massive hand encased in a gauntlet of leather and steel reaches for me. I cringe away, but I’m strapped into the seat, so I can’t move far.

  “No, please. I don’t want you to put me in that thing.”

  He hesitates for a moment, then he lurches out of his seat, taking me by the shoulder and unfastening the latch of my seatbelt.

  “It’s not bad,” he says. “It’s just like being asleep. You won’t feel a thing.”

  I make sure to keep my body turned so that I’m facing him directly. The truth is, while I don’t want to go into the stasis field, that’s not the only thing I’m worried about right now.

  I also don’t want him to discover the small weapon that’s tucked in the back of my bikini bottom.

  “Please don’t,” I beg him, smudging away my tears with the back of my wrist. “I really don’t want to go in the stasis field.”

  “It’s a long trip. You’ll get bored. Come on.”

  I twist farther around to keep my back hidden from him without seeming too suspicious.

  “It will be a boring trip for you, too.” I blurt, “Maybe I could…keep you company.”

  Smooth, Clare. Real smooth.

  Oh well, it’s the best I could come up with on short notice. I’ve never been very quick on my feet.

  “I don’t get bored.” His voice is flat, monotone. A perfect match for that blank, faceless mask of his helmet.

  “Just for a little while?” I plead. “At least tell me what’s going on.”

  He freezes but doesn’t release my arm. I swear I can almost hear the gears grinding inside that helmeted head of his.

  “I don’t even know who you are,” I whisper.

  The giant lets go of my arm and settles back into his seat with an annoyed sigh. He shakes his head.

  “Fine,” he grumbles, then points at me. “But stay out of the way and don’t get on my nerves, understand?”

  “Yes!” I blurt through my tears.

  “I’m serious. If you piss me off, it’s straight to the stasis field with you. Got it?”

  I nod enthusiastically as I wipe away the last of my tears.

  “Good.” He nods too, satisfied for the time being that I will do what he says. “You can call me Rogar.”

  Rogar? That’s a funny name.

  “My name’s Clare,” I say stupidly.

  “I know.”

  Something chimes, and he turns back to his controls, tapping a few buttons and inspecting the dials and gauges. I quietly breathe a sigh of relief.

  While he was busy evading whoever was shooting at us a few minutes ago, I stumbled onto his weapons cabinet. I briefly considered grabbing one of the big rifles and shooting him in the back. But then who would fly the ship? If I had killed this guy, the best-case scenario would be getting captured by those other aliens, and the worst case would probably be crashing to earth.

  So instead, I nabbed the tiniest pistol I could find—it’s barely the size of my palm—and I stuffed it into the back waistband of my loincloth.

  For about the hundredth time, I’m kicking myself for wearing this stupid outfit today. It definitely wasn’t designed for concealing weapons. If this guy were to take me to the stasis field now, he would definitely discover the little gun, and I’m sure he would be none too happy about it.

  I’m starting to wish I hadn’t even taken the weapon out of the case. I don’t know if I actually have it in me to kill someone, even if he is a bad guy. And if I shoot and miss, oh boy…

  Anyway, there are still a few things I want to figure out.

  “So, you’re, um…an alien, right?”

  At first, I think he isn’t going to answer me. He just taps a few more buttons and turns some dials on the control panel. At last, he slouches back and swivels to regard me, perching one boot on his seat.

  “From my perspective, you’re the alien. But yes, I am not from your world.”

  I shiver at that thought. After the whirlwind of my abduction, the true weight of the situation is starting to sink in. I’ve always believed there was intelligent life out there, but I never expected to come face to face with it.

  And I never expected it to look like this.

  Before I even realize what I’m doing, my eyes are wandering over his body. Slouching in his seat with his powerful muscles relaxed, he has the look of a well-fed predator. Those smooth, cool scales of his skin are so weird, but at the same time, there is something enticing about them, and my fingertips are itching to touch him one more time.

  Then there’s the way that he’s got one leg cocked up on the seat, showing off his thick, powerful thighs and drawing my eyes down to that ample bulge beneath his leather and chain-mail loincloth.

  Inappropriate, Clare. So freaking inappropriate.

  I remind myself that this guy is my captor, and I instantly snap my eyes back up to his helmet where my blushing face is reflected back at me. I can’t get any read on this guy’s expression, so I have no clue if he caught me checking him out.

  God, for all I know, he could be checking me out right now too. My skin prickles at the thought.

  Enough. It’s time to figure out what the heck is going on.

  “Where are you taking me?” I ask.

  “A planet called Rothilian Primaris, on the outer rim of the galaxy.”

  “That can’t be.” I shake my head. “Even traveling at the speed of light, it would take tens of thousands of years for us to get there.”

  “Yeah. I told you it would be a long trip,” he says drily. “You sure you don’t want me to put you into that stasis field so you can sleep through it? I’ll wake you up when we get there.”

  I blink at him dumbly, my mouth hanging open.

  “That was a joke,” he says. “It won’t actually take that long.”

  I’m tempted to tell him that his comedic skills could use some work, but I keep my opinion to myself for now, remembering about his threat to put me in storage if I get too annoying.

  “But how can we travel faster than light?” I ask. “That’s impossible…isn’t it?”

  He turns his helmeted head to look out the windshield where colored lights are flowing past like churning, glowing liquid.

  “It’s impossible in the three dimensions of the reality that we are used to. That’s why we are traveling through four-dimensional hyperspace.”

  “How does that work?” I gasp.

  Rogar turns to face me again and stares silently for a moment.

  “You’re asking me to explain how a faster-than-light drive works?” He shrugs his armored shoulders. “No clue. I’m a bounty hunter, not an engineer.
I only know how to use one. Anyway, there’s nobody in the galaxy that completely understands how the FTL drive works. It’s all been reverse engineered from ancient technology.”

  “Ancient?” I ask. “Like, how ancient?”

  Rogar shakes his head. “You Earthlings really are out of the loop, aren’t you?”

  I decide to leave that topic and focus on more pressing issues.

  “Okay, so you’re taking me to this planet, Rotisserie Primaris or whatever. But why are you taking me there? Why have you kidnapped me?”

  Rogar sighs, and for a second I’m worried that he’s on the verge of tossing me into stasis. I feel the cold metal of the little pistol pressed against the small of my back.

  “I told you,” he grumbles. “I’m not kidnapping you. I’m apprehending you. I’m a bounty hunter.”

  Even though I know I’m on thin ice right now, I can’t help but scoff at that.

  “Apprehending me for what? I haven’t done anything wrong. At least not on a galactic scale.”

  When the alien doesn’t answer right away, I try appealing to his emotions. I get the impression that he’s not one hundred percent bad. There seems to be at least a bit of sympathy in him.

  “Please,” I sniff, trying to squeeze out a tear, even though I’ve basically already cried myself dry. “I just want to know what’s going to happen to me.”

  Rogar shakes his head and grunts.

  “You’ll find out soon enough.”

  “Please,” I insist. This time the tremble in my voice is a little more real.

  Rogar’s big armored shoulders rise and fall as he sighs.

  “Fine,” he says at last. “My client is Lord Putrude. He runs a rather large crime syndicate that spans several systems of the outer rim. He wants you to be his, uh…his concubine.”

  “His what?” I shout.

  The bark of my voice is extra loud in the enclosed space of the cockpit. The big alien in the pilot’s seat even flinches a little at my outburst.

  “So you are kidnapping me,” I whisper. “I haven’t done anything wrong. You’re just abducting me so I can be a sex slave for some alien criminal.”