by Frost Kay
That’s about the time the ship shuddered and screeched. The surrounding passengers screamed, making her ears ring. Allie pulled her gaze from Jer and scanned the room. A neon green light flashed on and off above the hull door, casting an odd glow across the room. Varying degrees of green faces met her even regard in different states of panic. Why was everyone panicking? She didn’t feel a thing.
The ship rolled, slamming her against her strap and pulling her bag from her grasp. Allie raised her hands and whooped like she was in a carnival simulation—
“This is great,” she cackled. The metal frame of the ship shuddered and everything stopped, even the screams and whimpers around her.
Well, I’ll be darned, she thought. Something isn’t right.
Allie eyed Jer, who looked completely calm except for her wild red hair tangled around her head.
“Well, that was fun,” she said.
Jer slowly turned to her, a glint of fear in her eyes despite her calm facade. “Allie, we’re about to be boarded.”
Mentally, she knew she should be afraid, but all she felt was warm and a little tingly.
“Okay.”
The redhead clasped both sides of her face so she couldn’t glance away. “I have no idea what race has attacked us, or why … but my best guess is for cargo.”
“Cargo?”
“Yes, cargo. Do you know what this ship holds?”
“No clue,” Allie answered.
“Supplies for colonization, and people.”
“People?” Something soured inside of her.
“Yes, Allie. Women, like you and me.”
Something was definitely not right. Her mind said that was bad, really bad, but she felt no fear. Her pulse was steady and her stomach calm. “What can we do?”
Jer blew out a breath, pulling her red hair into a bun. “Nothing for now. We wait.”
“We should attack them before they have a chance to get to us,” a man interjected from the opposite side of the ship.
“And pray tell, how are we to escape our straps?” Jer snarked. “Do you see any weapons? We don’t even know what we’re dealing with.”
“Don’t bite my head off. I was just trying to help,” the man growled.
“Well, think before you speak. Don’t rile all the people up. You’ll get someone killed.”
“That was rude,” Allie whispered.
Jer glanced at her. “What?”
“That was rude. He’s scared, and just trying to come up with good ideas.”
“Ideas that will get us killed, or worse.”
“What’s worse than being killed?” she asked curiously.
“Being taken.”
Allie blinked. One of the first things her mama taught her as a girl was that if someone tried to take her, she was to fight. You never let them take you to another location. The redhead watched the emotions play on her face. “Alright, that’s worse. I—”
The metal screeched; the door groaned. Allie slowly turned her head and watched in horror as a crack appeared in the door. “Stars above,” she whispered. “They’re coming straight through the door.”
“That’s a good thing,” Jer commented over her shoulder. “It means they don’t have a lot of time. Someone must have tripped the alert. Someone’s coming for us. We need to stall.”
Allie watched with fascination as the door bowed, crying out in protest. “Wow, they really want in here.”
“Yep. They’re not interested in the other cargo.”
“Wow,” she breathed, as the hull door buckled and cracked down the middle, leaving a large gap. The surrounding passengers cried out, but she just stared as bright green eyes peeked through the crack and then disappeared. “Did you see that?” she murmured to Jer.
“Uh huh.”
Everyone went silent, trying to hear what was happening on the other side of the door.
Boom.
The door cracked wide open, little shards of metal flying outward into the hull. A woman wailed next to her as she was struck in the shoulder by a little shard of metal. Allie’s ears rang as something hit her in the head, but she didn’t tear her eyes away from the doorway. Five big men, if you could call them that, stood in the doorway scanning the room.
Sweet mercy, aliens were about to abduct her.
4
Stun Guns, Pirates, and Puke, Oh My
At six-foot-four her papa was tall for a Human, but these males were at least six inches taller. One stepped over the wreckage and into the room, his white duster jacket touching the floor. Every line of his body, from the slashes on his cheeks to his muscular arms and broad chest, spoke of danger.
Allie’s gaze snagged on his punk-rock, steel-toed boots in awe. She’d always wanted a pair of those but she couldn’t find the old relics anymore. She followed the boots up leather pants to a silver stun gun slung across his hips carelessly. This guy meant business. No one but the military owned those. Stun guns stopped your heart in less than a second.
Allie frowned. She should be afraid. She smiled at the thought, thankful that the moonshine glow hadn’t worn off yet. If it had, she would’ve been a wreck.
She brushed off her thought and moved to the alien’s face. His features were remarkably similar to Humans—all but his pointed ears, and hair the color of dark green grass that faded to lime green tips. Those screamed alien. Foreign. Unhuman. The hair was weird, and colorful. The ears reminded her of the stories her grandma used to tell her about elves.
Her gaze dropped to his face and froze. He was staring right at her, his unnaturally bright green eyes penetrating her. Allie dropped her eyes to the floor. If Jer was right, she didn’t want to attract attention. If she stared at the floor long enough, maybe he would forget about her.
Too late.
Black steel-toed boots entered her line of sight as a large, blunt finger curled under her chin and lifted. Allie jerked her chin out of his hand and lifted her eyes of her own volition. His green eyes danced with mischief, a smirk hitching the corner of his mouth up.
“There’s a little fight to you, isn’t there?” he said, his voice holding a faint accent.
She wisely kept her mouth shut and stared at the alien, keeping her expression blank. Now was not the time to challenge him. But the fuzzy whiskey warmth was battling with the sense of danger she was in.
He cocked his head, his green hair sliding across his forehead in an attractive way.
Allie stiffened. She shouldn’t be thinking anything about him was attractive. “Stupid whiskey glow,” she muttered under her breath.
“What was that, little one?” he asked, studying her the way she studied him. It was like his eyes saw right through her mask and into her soul. It wasn’t comfortable. She dropped her eyes to her knees, hoping the alien would move on and leave her alone. But that wasn’t to be. Another pair of boots moved into her vision.
“You want this one?” a gruff, accented voice asked.
“Not sure yet, Asa.”
She pushed back into her seat when a large hand wrapped around her throat and a thumb pushed under her chin. How dare he touch her like that! Her eyes narrowed to slits. No one manhandled her.
“Let go,” she hissed, eyes darting between the two aliens.
The blue-haired one, Asa, leaned forward, grinning. “Earth produces the most luscious women.” He breathed deeply, creeping her out. “My mouth is watering at her scent.”
Allie cringed. Her scent? Were they going to eat her? Here she thought there wasn’t anything worse than flying, but being eaten was definitely worse.
“I don’t taste that good. I promise.” She snapped her mouth shut. Of all the things to come out of her trap…
Today was not her day.
Both aliens stilled, looks of wonder and mirth on their faces. “Does she really think we’re going to eat her, Xan?” Asa, the blue-haired alien asked.
Xan, the green-haired man, eyed her, and then looked back to the man next to him. “I believe so.”
/> Asa gestured to her. “For someone who thinks they will be eaten, she’s not very scared.”
Xan rubbed his thumbs along her jaw line, making her shudder.
“Stop touching her,” Jer growled from her side.
Both aliens glanced at the redhead beside her.
“What was that, Human?” Asa questioned with a raised brow.
“You heard me, Av,” Jer sneered the slur. “Couldn’t wait for us to reach your planet?”
Asa leaned forward and loomed above Jer, his eyes caressing her red curls. “It’s like fire,” he said, ignoring her slight as he moved closer and breathed deeply. “She’s compatible too. The Earth officials know how to choose well.”
Jer snapped her head up as he was finishing his sentence, right into the blue-haired man’s face. He jerked back, cursing as silver liquid dripped from his nose. Allie stared unabashed.
She lifted a hand and poked Jer in the shoulder. “Look at that, Jer. His blood is silver.”
Jer flashed her an annoyed glance. “Very astute.”
Allie smiled at her and turned her attention back to the pissed-off alien glaring at her new friend. She swallowed at the irate expression on his face. She would not want to be Jer for anything. A thumb brushing her lip snapped her attention to Xan.
“Enough,” she said. “Please go away. I’m tired.” And she was. Her whole body was beyond heavy.
“Xan, you take the one with the hair the color of fire. I’ll take the one that looks like the sun. Both of them will do.”
“No,” the alien kneeling before her replied. “She’s mine.”
“Please?” Asa begged.
“Not a chance.”
“Fine,” the blue-haired alien grumbled. “Grab her and let’s go. We need to have them tagged.”
Xan pulled a wicked-looking dagger from inside his white coat that was made of some shiny material that caused her eyes to glaze. The blade was so shiny. How did he get it so shiny? It didn’t even faze her when he sliced through her safety harness. Allie pursed her lips, watching the belts slither away, part of her shirt agape where he’d cut clean through it.
“You could have cut me.”
“I didn’t.”
Allie raised a brow and gestured to her shirt while staring at Jer. “Did you see that? He cutut through my shirt.”
He shrugged and pushed to his feet. “Please follow me.” He swept his arm out to the side.
No way, not for all the sour candy in the galaxy. She blinked. That would be a lot of candy. A giggle slipped out of her, causing him to frown. “I’m not going anywhere with you.” She pointed at his ears. “My mama always told me not to go with strangers, and you, sir, are a stranger.”
Allie glanced to the side when Jer snarled next to her. The blue-haired man had thrown her friend over his shoulder. How rude.
“Hey, you, put her down!” she demanded. Asa eyed her with a condescending smile that said, What are you going to do about it?
“Where is that damn Lock when you need him?” she grumbled, glaring at the blue-haired pirate.
“Not a chance, sweetheart.”
Allie fist-pumped the air when Jer punched him in the back, fighting like crazy. “Girl power!”
The blue-haired pirate did not look amused. “Knock it off or I’m going to drop you.”
“Never,” Jer spat.
Asa blew out a breath and pulled a syringe from his pocket. “I didn’t want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice.”
“Where in the blazes did you get that?” Allie exclaimed.
Without further ado, he plunged it into the redhead’s butt, ignoring her. Jer slumped immediately.
Allie stared in horror. “What was that stuff? What did you just give her?”
“Something to calm her down.”
“Calm her down for what?”
He ignored her again and strode past the green-eyed man. “Better grab yours. We don’t have much time.”
“Get up,” Xan commanded Allie.
“No.”
His jaw ticked. He didn’t like that.
“I said get up.”
Part of her wanted to be sassy like Jer and fight. But … her body wasn’t currently following any of her instructions. Stupid whiskey. She was really starting to regret drinking it.
“I can’t,” she said weakly, the truth slipping from her lips. Even if she wanted to obey him, her body wasn’t working.
“I say you won’t.” He placed both hands on the arms of her chair. “Get up or I’ll carry you.”
She swallowed, a sliver of fear working through her. Allie paused, assessing the feeling. The whiskey must be wearing off, but there was still no way she could walk.
“I can’t,” she repeated.
“Okay, you’ve made your choice,” he growled, yanking her from the seat.
Allie flopped over his shoulder with as much decorum as a sack of potatoes. Nausea churned in her gut, and saliva filled her mouth as he stomped out of the room.
Oh no…
“You really need to put me down,” she choked out.
“Not happening.”
Bile burned the back of her throat. “No, seriously, you need to put me down.”
“Enough.”
“You asked for it.” She burped and her stomach rebelled violently. The man carrying her froze as she continued to expel the contents of her stomach all down the back of his shiny white coat and black boots. Her head pounded; she labored to breathe as another round of nausea hit her. Her whole body heaved and shuddered. It was like her stomach was trying to come out.
“Stars and moons,” he said. “No way. This day couldn’t get much worse.”
“Try being me,” she croaked.
5
Needles, Needles, and Oh, More Needles
“I’m dying,” she moaned, ignoring the puke on her face and in her hair. “Never again.” She was shifted and then found herself lying on the floor. “I swear it.” Allie pressed her cheek against the smooth, cool metal. She breathed through her mouth, trying to avoid the smell.
“Disgusting.”
She cracked one eye open as something splatted against the floor. A white coat.
“That was my favorite coat.”
“I warned you,” she whispered, closing her eyes to savor the cool metal against her cheek.
The creak of leather reached her ears at the same time a cool hand rested on her sweaty forehead. “You’re burning up. Are you sick?”
She scoffed pathetically, pressing further into his touch. “What do you think?”
“You shouldn’t be sick. Did you receive all your vaccinations?”
Allie huffed out a laugh. He sounded like her mama. “Yes.”
“Then what’s wrong?” he asked.
A whimper escaped her when he removed his hand. “Stupid moonshine.” She was never drinking any again. Fear of flying was better than this rubbish.
“What?” he leaned closer.
“Moonshine. Whiskey.”
“I know what it is. What does it have to do anything with this?”
“I had some,” she whispered.
Silence. “How much?”
“Half a vial.”
A laugh. “That’s not much.”
“It was my first time.”
A black oath. “Seriously, Allie?”
“What?” she grouched. “Getting on airships is scary.” She blinked, trying to clear her vision enough to get a good look at the alien crouching next to her. “Don’t judge me, pirate.”
“Pirate? That’s what you think I am?” He arched a brow.
“Well, you hijacked my ship and are stealing me,” she said. Her stomach rolled again. “It’s coming again.”
“I’m going to give you something to help with the nausea and help you sleep.”
Allie weakly slapped a hand at him, completely missing. “No, you will not drug me. I’ll not allow it.”
“You’ve got no choice,” he growled.
Her eyes almost fell out of her head at the size of needle he was wielding. “No.”
He met her eyes and stabbed the needle into her arm. She cried out, tears welling in her eyes. “That hurt, you bastard.”
“It couldn’t be helped. Now lie still.”
Like she was going anywhere.
A sigh of relief escaped her when the nausea disappeared almost instantly. “Wow,” she breathed. “That’s amazing. What’s in that? My family would be interested in knowing.”
He stared at her, his expression bewildered. “You’re odd.”
Allie frowned. “Well, you’re an ass. We can’t control how we were born.”
His green eyes narrowed. “Mouthy too.”
That made her grin. “You can thank my mama for that.”
“I’ll make a note of that.”
The blue-haired Av came storming around the corner carrying Jer and skidded a stop. “What happened here?” His nose wrinkled in disgust.
“She puked.”
“Obviously, but why?”
“Moonshine.”
Understanding dawned on Asa’s face. He hitched a thumb at Jer. “This one smells of it too.” He shook his head. “Enough. Our time is almost up. I’ve tagged as many as I can. Hopefully it will be enough.”
Allie flopped her head to the side to glare up at Asa. “You’re tagging up? Like cattle?”
“Your government is sending you to us like that. I think it’s fitting.”
Her gaze darted back to Xan. “You’re friends with that guy?” She tried to lift her arm, but it still wasn’t obeying.
“It’s more of a grudging partnership.”
“Fabulous.”
His unique green gaze focused back on his partner. “We did what we could. It will have to be enough for the sector.” He glanced at her and back to Asa. “Although, I doubt we will need them, among other things.”
“What things?” she asked.
“Things,” Asa grumbled. He flicked a glance at his wrist comm. “We need to return them.”
“Okay.”
Asa eyed her, before spinning on his heel and sprinting down the hall.