Alien Freak - Calista Skye Page 0,19

no hull breaches have been reported. Crashing on the thick, springy mass that is the Fentrat made us bounce around rather than be smashed against rock or against the surface of the ocean, which is what would have happened on just about any other planet.

We get to Engineering, and I get busy checking out the engines. But not as busy as I would like. Averie’s almost naked form attracts my eyes too much.

“You know how doors open,” I growl. “Now you open doors to other cabins. Find garments for yourself.”

She looks up at me, big eyes in a pale face. “Oh. Can I come here after?”

“You can.”

She goes out the door, and the fluid jiggle of her ample behind makes my crotch swell further. I have never seen a more feminine creature.

Her scent lingers, of course, creating a marvelously pleasant, but incredibly dangerous fog in my mind.

I clench my teeth and turn to examine the engines. I have to find out if I can repair the ship. If I can’t, we’re dead. It’s as simple as that.

9

- Averie -

The other crew cabins are as empty as the one where I woke up, and their drawers equally full of space trash. But I’m able to put together an outfit of various pieces of fabric, some of which I vaguely recognize and some that I never want to know what they are supposed to be used for.

In the end I look like an intergalactic scarecrow, but that’s the best I can do. It’s not like Zaroc is exactly dressed for a fine dinner party or a board meeting, either. Except I suspect he would happily go to both wearing only pants and boots, seeing no problem with it. The way he carries himself, he obviously makes his own rules.

And he’s obviously conflicted about me.

I have no idea what his plans are, and I’m starting to suspect that he doesn’t, either.

I should be seriously mad at him for abducting me. And I am. There definitely will be a reckoning.

But he curled up around me and kept me safe through the crash. With forces like those, I would have died if he hadn’t. I would have been like an egg in an empty washing machine during the spin cycle. He got a lot of bruises from that. That has to count for something.

Anyway, I can’t get away right now, and this planet looks pretty scary. I’ll have to play it by ear.

I think he liked it when I touched his face. He changed after that and started to talk to me. Maybe I should touch him more. In fact, can think of several places I would like to touch him.

“No, girl,” I admonish myself as I tighten a piece of nylon-like fabric around my chest. “He abducted me. He’s a criminal. I’m not going to flirt with him.”

I get the phone out. “We’ve found some clothing, in a way. Yes, I look ridiculous. Don’t judge. Also, I’m astounded at how calmly I’m taking this. I’m crashed on a planet with clearly dangerous aliens, inside a spaceship with a probably even more dangerous one. And here I am, talking calmly to you. Notice I’m not curled up in a corner, sobbing my heart out. But the space day is young, I guess. It could still happen.”

I play it back. The lighting isn’t good, but that just makes it realistic. If by some impossible miracle I get out of this, this documentary will be the most downloaded film in history. Underground, of course – I can’t imagine the Bululg allowing it to be actually shown.

But I better not think too much about that. This whole situation has no way of ending well for me. No abducted girl has ever come back to Earth or been heard from again. The rumors that some of them have formed some kind of secret Resistance movement in space is clearly impossible. Probably, that rumor was set out by the Bululg to keep people from actually doing something like that.

I make my way back, filming along the way, narrating quietly. Before I enter the Engineering section, I put the phone back in its holder.

Zaroc is in the back, squeezed inside a rat’s nest of pipes and mysterious machinery.

I kind of want to go over to him. But I also don’t. I shouldn’t be too chummy. He has to be reminded that I’m here against my will—

The whole ship suddenly shakes, and I fall to the floor. A series of hard knocks