Alien Freak - Calista Skye Page 0,51
“Um. Yes. How do I get out?”
“Out, lady?”
“I wish to see my… friend. The red one.”
“Very well. It will be noted.” They’re not getting out of my way.
“Now, please.” I take another step.
They’re not budging. “Your wish has been noted now, and we will alert the Superintendent about it.”
It was worth a try. “Thank you.”
They both give me a little bow, and then the door slides shut again.
“That didn’t work,” I narrate for the not-viewers. “These guys are nice, but they get their way. I’m a little worried about that, to be honest. They’re so smooth, so sure of themselves—”
“Lady?”
I spin around. The door is open, and the Star Marshals are looking in.
“Yes?”
“The Superintendent says that you may now see His Highness.”
Huh. I didn’t know they had royalty onboard. Seems weird for a police station in space. But at least I can maybe plead my case to a guy with some real clout. “Thank you.”
I come with them, and this time it’s a much shorter walk. A door opens, and there’s Zaroc.
He’s standing up, and his room is almost as big as mine, but there’s no view of space and the door has solid metal bars on it.
He walks fast over to me.
“Averie! Are you… is everything…”
“Zaroc, are you all right?”
We speak at the same time.
“I’m fine,” I assure him. “But you were down.”
He shrugs. “I didn’t stay down. Have they told you anything?”
“Only about the tracking. My cell phone keeps sending a code.”
He punches the metal bars, making the whole corridor shake. “I should have fixed that device before it came to this!”
“And I should have told you about it. Too late now. But I think we have a chance. Apparently, they’re taking me to see some kind of royalty. ‘His Highness’, they call him. I mean, that has to be a pretty powerful guy, right?”
Zaroc looks at me for a moment. Then he groans and leans his head onto the bars with a hollow bong. “I think I know who that might be. He’s not very powerful right now.”
“Oh? Who?”
Zaroc just looks at me, tilting his head to the side and arching his eyebrows.
The penny drops. “You mean… it’s you? You’re His Highness? Did you tell them you’re some kind of royal person?”
He shrugs. “I didn’t tell them. They figured it out on their own. Not too hard, really. I’m the only Lancefer left.”
I’m stunned. “But… all right, so, because you’re the only one left, that also makes you the king of your kind? Umm… That makes sense, I guess.”
“I’m not the King of Lancef. But one day I would have been. As it is, I will always be a crown prince, never a king. Even if the king is dead.”
I’m struggling to take it in. “You are a real crown prince of your planet? As in, the king’s son, who will become king when the king dies?”
“I was. I would. Let’s keep it to past tense so there’s no confusion. Anyway, it’s of no concern, and I’m sorry you now know my dark secret.”
“You weren’t going to tell me? And it’s not dark, it’s cool. This is why the Gurandu are so eager to catch you?”
“My title does make me a little more attractive as prey, yes. I might have told you one day. Just so we could laugh about it. Now we have bigger things to deal with. How much of this ship have you seen?”
He’s right, we don’t have time for a deep dive into the royal succession. “I saw the docking bay where the ship is. The corridors and hallways on the way here, then the room I’m in. Pretty nice. They don’t even close the door.”
Zaroc puts both his hands out of the metal bars and interlocks his fingers. “It forces them to be on their guard. Locked doors make you complacent. These are smart people, Averie.”
“That was my impression, too. Any idea what we might do now?”
“You’re so beautiful in your jewelry.” He stares at my bracelet. “But don’t polish it yet, it’s still shiny. Don’t worry, I’ll think of something.”
I get it. He’s making sure I don’t forget that the bracelet is probably an Elder weapon, and that I can use it as a last resort. If I can figure out how it works. “I wish you hadn’t attacked them. That way, maybe only I would be in trouble.”
He shrugs. “I had no choice. I couldn’t watch them take you away without doing something.”
My plan kind of worked. At least we’re