Heart of the Beast

by Sonia Nova

  Not that he could stop her. She was going, with or without him. So now, here they were, outside of The Crown and ready to accept the job as soon as they saw a pirate they recognized.

  Xeegan hesitated and Zorq followed suit, stopping beside him.

  “What are you waiting for?” Kira asked. “It’s cold out here. Come on.” She pushed open the doors and walked in.

  Xeegan looked at Zorq. “We can’t let her do this on her own, and we’re obviously not going to change her mind. Let’s go.”

  They followed her into the warmth of The Crown. It was mid-afternoon and the bar was still relatively quiet. Xeegan had been half-hoping that none of the off-planet pirates would be around and they would have to put off the plan, but no such luck. The Mehelian he had dealt with just a couple of days ago was seated at a back table, his eyes trained on an electronic tablet.

  Kira walked straight up to the bald, bruise-colored alien, so Xeegan nodded to Zorq and they followed.

  “I want to accept the job,” Xeegan said before Kira had a chance to speak. He had a feeling she would sound just a bit too eager. “This is a female refugee who just arrived on Riala and needs work.”

  “You know her?” the Mehelian asked, eyeing Kira. “The offer was for you and your… friend.”

  Xeegan nodded. “I know her well enough to know that she’s desperate for work. She’ll be a good worker.”

  “Hm,” the Mehelian mused. “Doran!” he called toward the bar.

  Why did that name sound familiar?

  A stocky Ghelian got up from the bar and strolled toward their table. Xeegan’s hands fisted at his sides. He remembered this asshole: it was the Ghelian bastard who had disrespected him and Zorq.

  “These three want to accept the job. Both the big guys – you remember them – and the human female.”

  The Ghelian grinned behind his tusks and nodded in greeting. He didn’t say or do anything else, which was lucky for him. Xeegan was on edge now that this guy had shown up and it wouldn’t take all that much to provoke him.

  “Perfect,” the Mehelian said. He took his tablet and put it in the bag beside him. “With you, we’ve got enough people for the next shift. Believe me when I say, you are just who we’re looking for.”

  He smiled at the three of them, his face contorting in an expression that was clearly unnatural to him, and Xeegan struggled to keep his expression neutral.

  Could they be any more obvious?

  Kira’s abduction theory seemed more and more likely. Even though he’d said she was with him and the pirates had already talked to him before, the way they had barely questioned him about her background… They hadn’t even asked for her name or former employers.

  This all set off alarm bells for Xeegan. Too bad their plan was to just go with it.

  “We have a transport vehicle down the street,” the Mehelian said. “Doran and I will show you to it. The others we have hired for the upcoming shift should be showing up soon as well.”

  The three followed the off-planet pirates out of the bar and to an idling metallic van parked at the end of the block. The vehicle was lined with rows of seats, some of which were already filled with a variety of pirates. Xeegan thought he recognized a few faces, but realized it was because he had seen them at the warehouse the day before.

  He squeezed into a row of two seats, taking up most of the row. Zorq looked around, a little lost.

  “Just take the row right here,” Xeegan said in a low voice, trying not to draw too much attention.

  Zorq nodded and did his best to fit into the row of seats opposite Xeegan, mostly unsuccessfully.

  Kira looked around and took a seat beside a sleeping Ekrin pirate in the row in front of Xeegan. Xeegan was grateful for his height – he was tall enough that he could see her from his seat and keep an eye on her. He wasn’t going to let her out of his sight today. This was way too dangerous.

  The Ghelian male – Doran or whatever the fuck his name was – walked up the aisle and to the driver’s seat. The Mehelian in charge stood in the middle of the aisle and waited until all the pirates stopped chatting and looked up at him.

  “We will wait a few minutes for the latecomers,” he said in his accented Alliance Standard. “But we will leave soon. You will receive your assignment from the manager at the warehouse and can collect payment on your way out. I think that’s everything – ah, no. There was an incident yesterday and a guard was killed. We have initiated an investigation. Please stay alert and notify a manager if you see anything suspicious.”

  Xeegan kept his face carefully neutral. Killed? He hadn’t meant to hit the guard’s head that hard. It was probably better that way though. He didn’t think the guard had seen him, but in case he had, at least he wouldn’t have a chance to describe him now.

  The Mehelian strode down the aisle and stepped out of the van. A few more pirates arrived a moment later and when they got seated, he pushed the van doors shut with a clang. The vehicle rumbled into gear as the Ghelian started to drive.

  Thankfully, none of the nearby pirates tried to start a conversation with him, and the sleeping pirate next to Kira didn’t wake up and bother her either.

  They drove through the city at a haphazard speed, and about twenty minutes later, the van came to a sudden stop as they reached the now familiar parking lot. The stop jolted all the passengers a few inches, and Zorq growled his displeasure. The pirate next to Kira woke up and looked around like he had forgotten where he was for a moment.

  “Get off,” the Ghelian called from the driver’s seat. “I gotta drive back downtown. Hurry.”

  Asshole.

  Xeegan cracked his knuckles. He wanted nothing more than to wipe that smirk off the bastard’s face, but he knew now wasn’t the time.

  A pirate near the very back of the van hurried to open the doors and the crew filed off the vehicle.

  “You’re new,” a skinny human guy with black hair and wild eyes said to Kira as they stepped out. “Just follow us to the warehouse and they’ll give you your assignment there. It’s not hard work, not at all. Just requires some muscle. But it’s fair pay. I’ve actually been eating three meals a day, and real good Rialan fare, not just…”

  Xeegan blocked his ears to the conversation. He couldn’t care less what the human male had been eating. He hoped Kira would shut the guy up and say she doesn’t care either, but the human male kept talking. He didn’t seem to notice as the three sped up and started walking toward the front of the group.

  They did know exactly where the warehouse was and how to get there, after all.

  Once they got to the warehouse, a tall Mehelian met up with them and brought them around back to where trucks were parked. He stood looking all official and seemed to count them as they stopped before him. He was probably the “manager” the recruiter had mentioned.

  “Morning everyone,” he started in a bored voice. “Today’s more of the same. If you’re new, that means taking the packages off your assigned truck and unloading them to the shelf in the warehouse with the same number and letter combination.”

  His eyes scanned the crowd until his gaze landed on Kira.

  “You, female…” the Mehelian called. “You’ll come with me.”

  “Hold on,” Xeegan said before the male could take her anywhere. “She’s with me. I promised her I’d help her with the job.”

  The Mehelian’s eyes narrowed. “She’s scrawny. I was informed we’d have a small female here, and I have already prepared another job for her. She’ll be more useful with me than lifting packages here.”

  Kira glanced at Xeegan, clearly thinking what he was thinking: They were trying to separate her from the rest of the group. Shit.

  She turned back to the Mehelian defiantly.

  “I’m good,” she said. “No need to make special provisions for me. I can lift.”

  The Mehelian gave her a doubtful look and then turned to Xeegan. “You really want to work for two today? Because that’s what you’ll have to do
when she fails.”

  “Come on, let the girl lift if she wants to,” the talkative human male called, for once saying something useful and not just opening his mouth for sport. “I’ll help too, if it comes to that.”

  His comment received an annoyed look from the Mehelian, but when Zorq grunted his approval as well, the manager seemed to realize there was no getting around them.

  “Suit yourself,” he finally said to Kira, although the look on his face told Xeegan he wasn’t happy about the situation. “Now get to work,” he said to all of them. “The trucks are right there. You three, get to truck one. And you two…”

  Xeegan let out a breath of relief when the manager started appointing pirates to different trucks. The fact that they were trying to separate Kira didn’t sit well with him. The pirates were clearly onto something. But at least they got to stay together for now.

  The three of them were assigned to truck four. Thankfully, the annoyingly talkative human had ended up elsewhere, although Xeegan had to admit that he was partially to thank for letting Kira stay with them.

  They started working quickly, lifting packages off the truck and handing them down to another group of pirates who placed them on the shelves. Xeegan and Zorq left the smaller packages for Kira, though she was doing surprisingly well. She clearly could lift.

  Unloading packages turned out to be mind-numbingly boring work, but Xeegan read every label he could get his eyes on. He wanted to figure out any more clues about what the off-planet pirates had going on, and tried to smell if there were any other human females around besides Kira.

  He came up with nothing regarding the human females, but the packages they were unloading were definitely medical equipment.

  Throughout the afternoon, the Mehelian manager made a couple of extra stops at their truck and eyed Xeegan, Zorq, and Kira as they worked. Xeegan was ready for the ugly bald alien to try something, but he never did. Eventually, he moved on to some kind of other management tasks and Xeegan didn’t see him at all until the meal break.

  Food was provided on the job, and they all got in line, waiting for their plates of madja, a sort of Ghelian root dish that was popular on Riala and simple enough to make. Kira, Xeegan, and Zorq got their meals and huddled in a quiet corner while they ate.

  “The manager is definitely suspicious,” Kira said quietly.

  Xeegan’s heart skipped a beat in his chest at her words and he glared at her. He didn’t know much about the biology of Mehelians or Ghelians or any of the other couple alien species in the warehouse. Maybe some of them had better than average hearing…

  “They can’t hear us,” Kira said, as if reading his thoughts. “I do actually remember some of my training.”

  Xeegan relaxed and nodded. “Trying to separate you from the rest of us and then checking on us all afternoon… Yeah, he’s definitely up to something.”

  “I feel like I’m getting closer to solving this…” Kira said. “I wonder if he would’ve taken me to the other women if I had gone with him.”

  Xeegan grunted. “Yeah, maybe he would’ve locked you up somewhere with them. Who knows what they would’ve done if they got you alone.”

  “Can you smell any other humans around?”

  Xeegan shook his head. “I tried. No human females as far as I can tell.”

  Kira nodded. “Let’s just keep doing what we’re doing. I’ve been taking down every package I can identify. If nothing else, at least this is great intelligence.”

  “Yeah, it’s definitely medical equipment like you thought.”

  A loud buzzer went off, signaling that they were supposed to get back to work. Xeegan wasn’t feeling hungry, so he handed the rest of his madja to Zorq, who ate it in about two bites. They got back to the truck and started unloading another batch of packages.

  They worked well into the evening and just as the air started to chill for the night, the buzzer went off again. The Mehelian manager appeared among the pirates, easy to spot because of his shining pale head.

  “That’s all for you guys today. The van’s waiting in the lot. Don’t forget to come scan for your credits.”

  The line to get credits went quickly, each pirate scanning their card and leaving out the back of the warehouse toward the parking lot. Xeegan watched, curiously, as Kira scanned her card. He was relieved to see that a pseudonym popped up, as well as an alert showing her previous balance had been zero credits.

  “Sandra Parker.”

  Apparently, the Alliance really had prepared her for anything.

  They were among the last to leave the warehouse. As they walked out of the building, Kira stalled a bit, trying to get a look into more rooms through the windows of the warehouse. She didn’t linger too long, but when they started walking toward the parking lot, Xeegan picked up the sound of heavy footsteps behind them.

  He slowed, indicating with a small nod that Kira and Zorq should follow his lead. Soon, they were alone in the walkway between the warehouse and the building beside it. Alone with the sound of those footsteps behind them.

  A moment later, the sound of another pair of footsteps joined the first. And then a third.

  Shit… The pirates had decided to make their move.

  Xeegan wanted to turn and confront whoever was following them, but he knew that Kira would probably object to that. Instead, he made eye contact with her and tilted his head toward an open doorway a few feet ahead of them. She nodded.

  Xeegan made a sharp turn into the doorway and slipped inside the building. Kira and Zorq followed right behind him, and Kira pulled the door shut after them and locked it with the old-fashioned deadbolt. They didn’t pause to talk until they had walked down the hallway, turned down corridors a couple of times, and ducked into a room empty except for a couple of empty cardboard boxes and clumps of dust.

  “They’re onto us,” Kira whispered to Xeegan. “Or after me. Is there anyone nearby? Do you hear the footsteps anymore? Are they following us?”

  Xeegan shook his head. “We lost them.”

  “Shit,” Kira said, her voice now at normal volume. She gave a cardboard box on the floor a swift kick. “Now that we basically ran away from them, we can’t show up for work again tomorrow. It’s probably not even safe for me.”

  “What are you saying?” Xeegan hadn’t seen her quite like this before. She was truly frustrated, angry, and a little scared, and she was letting it show.

  “We have to investigate more now. This is our last chance. You were right. We waited too long, maybe we were too cautious, and now here we are. We can’t go back for more intel tomorrow. It’s now or never.”

  “You think we should go right now? They’ll be on the lookout for us, if they aren’t already on our tail right now.”

  Zorq made a concerned noise.

  “I don’t know. It’s either that or we sneak out of here and never come back. They know our faces now. We can’t just march in tomorrow. I really don’t know. I should make a report to my supervising agent.”

  Xeegan was about to ask her to leave the Alliance out of it until absolutely necessary when Zorq groaned again. He was shuffling, pacing in front of the door that led back into the hallway.

  “What?” Xeegan asked.

  Kira froze. “I think he hears something.”

  Zorq nodded, dipping his head and pointing his horns to the door. All three of them approached the door and listened. Xeegan heard it now too – a group of footsteps and some low conversation. It was too many individuals and too far for him to make out the details. If only Zorq could verbalize exactly what he was hearing…

  Instead, Xeegan would have to rely on his slightly subpar senses.

  “They’re about a hundred feet away,” he muttered to Kira. “And they’re not hurrying. I don’t think they’re looking for us.”

  “Do we have time to find a way out of the building?” she whispered.

  Xeegan nodded. “I don’t hear anyone down the hallway to the right. Let’s go.”

  Kira slo
wly pushed the door open, and then stepped into the hallway. The three of them walked quickly down the corridor, but to their misfortune, it ended in a dead end. A pair of large metal doors blocked their way.

  “Can you get it open?” Kira asked.

  Instead of answering, Xeegan walked up to the doors and shouldered the gap where they met. The deadbolt shuddered but didn’t give.

  “Zorq,” he said, getting his friend’s attention.

  Together, they each shoved a door. The metal lock easily broke at their combined strength and the doors swung open to reveal a darkened warehouse. Apparently, they had arrived right where they left a few moments ago.

  The pirates seemed to have switched off all the lights as the day’s work had finished. The only light came from the open garage door at the back where they had originally left the building.

  Kira instantly looked a little lost, and Xeegan was reminded that she couldn’t see well in the dim light. He grabbed her hand and started to walk through the lines of shelves, keeping to the edges of the walkways between the shelving.

  They were nearly to the open exit to the warehouse when Xeegan heard the group again. He stopped suddenly, and Kira walked straight into him. He caught her, holding her in his arms. Zorq stopped beside them.

  “What?” she mouthed, looking up at him, apparently realizing it wasn’t safe to speak right now.

  “They’re back,” he answered quietly.

  As they stood in the shadows of a shelf full of boxes, a group of pirates walked onto the concrete landing where the trucks had been parked earlier, half in and half outside the warehouse. Xeegan had a hard time telling the ugly egg-headed race apart sometimes, but he was pretty sure the Mehelian who had given them orders earlier was there, as well as the Mehelian who had hired them. A few Ghelians stood around with hands on the weapons.

  Keeping guard?

  The group looked shifty and impatient, like they were waiting for something.

  A large armored vehicle floated outside the warehouse. It flew closer to the pirates, entering the warehouse and pulling into the platform. A couple of Ghelians went to unlock the rear doors of the vehicle, and the rest walked to a pile of boxes and equipment pieces.