Alien Freak - Calista Skye Page 0,50
of no concern. You left the planet without their permission, as this tracking signal confirms.”
These guys look tough, but they also don’t seem totally unreasonable.
“The Bululg have invaded my planet and are now selling my people as breeding stock,” I try. “It’s completely wrong and evil. I have every right to escape.”
“That remains to be determined,” the Star Marshal creaks. “For now, we must ask you to come with us.”
“She will not be going off this ship,” Zaroc growls, tensing up. “She’s a free person, not the property of the Bululg.”
The three other space police officers draw their weapons and point them at him.
“Don’t make any trouble, sir,” the leader says. “She will be treated fairly, and the law will decide. Now come with us, young lady—”
The alien reaches one hand out to grab me, but before he touches me Zaroc pounces. I can’t tell exactly what happens, because it’s all in the blink of an eye, but by the end three of the aliens are on the ground and six more are hanging from the red giant, continuously zapping him with taser-like weapons to no great effect. He roars in fury before he’s brought down by a blinding shot from outside the hatch.
“He wasn’t even under arrest,” the leader says, picking himself up from the floor. “But now he must be taken into custody. Don’t worry, lady, his actions will not reflect negatively on your case. It will be noted that you came peacefully. Please take your gun belt off and follow us.”
I kneel down beside Zaroc. “Are you all right?”
He only grunts, but his eyes are open and moving, shooting blue fire at the Star Marshals.
“He needs medical attention,” I plead.
At the same time, two new aliens enter, carrying cases that look a lot like medkits.
“And he will get it,” the Star Marshal says and nods to them. They both kneel down by Zaroc and open their cases.
Well, I guess this is it. I take the holster off my jumpsuit and drop it to the floor.
The Star Marshal takes my upper arm in a mild grip and leads me out.
“Note that she was armed when first met,” he says to another one walking behind us along a metal walkway. “She gave up her weapon willingly.”
“Yes, sir.”
This ship is much more airy than Zaroc’s. The style everywhere is smooth and polished, rounded and strangely elegant, with shiny black panels everywhere. Everyone we meet is uniformed and of the same species.
After walking down corridors and up rolling walkways for a good ten minutes, the leader opens a sliding door and gently pushes me inside. “There will only be a short wait, lady.”
The door slides shut, and I’m alone.
In a first-class hotel suite, looks like. The opposite wall is just a huge transparent pane to space, showing stars and a big sliver of the gas planet that Verv orbits.
There’s tasteful, human-sized furniture and even a soft carpet. It could be a Hilton hotel from the year 2100, sleek and fancy.
It would be a pretty good experience if the circumstances weren’t so bad. These police guys give me a feeling of being totally professional, but also determined. If they want to give me over to the Bululg, I doubt anything can stop them. Not even Zaroc.
God, I hope he’s okay.
I turn the Elder bracelet around my wrist. This might be a good time to find out how it works, if it is indeed a weapon.
They didn’t even take my cell phone, although that must be where the tracking signal comes from.
I take it out. I need a shot of Journalist Averie. “This is what the Star Marshals think a jail cell should look like. It’s nice, but not somewhere I want to stay any longer than I have to. My plan now is to get out of here, find Zaroc, and then make our escape. In any way possible. I actually have a plan. A vague one, but still. I’m not going to let these guys turn me over to the Bululg just like that, no matter how well they think they’re treating me.”
Ooo-kay. I guess I have a plan now, but calling it vague is a little bit of an understatement. Journalist Averie has been right before, though.
Adjusting the jumpsuit, I walk over to the door. It slides open before I get there.
I stop, surprised.
Immediately, the squat shape of a Star Marshal fills the doorway, with another one right behind. “Can we help you, lady?”
That was too easy to be true.