Alien Freak - Calista Skye Page 0,9

open.

“It seems to have worked.”

I crawl out, getting one final zap to my foot before I’m out.

“I guess the bottom wasn’t properly fastened,” I explain to my imaginary viewers that will never exist. “That was easy. Let’s hope the next puzzle is a little more challenging.”

I untie the bra from the cage, feeling pretty satisfied. This was a little bit like a puzzle. Is there a chance that this is in fact a video game I’m playing? One with insane virtual reality?

Putting my bra back on, I shake my head. No, this is not a game. This is as real as it can get.

I may be out of the cage, but I’m still inside a poacher’s flying saucer and very, very scared.

“We’re out of the cage,” I narrate and swing the camera around. “And now I think we will hide.”

I tiptoe over to the wall and examine the weapons. Most of them I have no idea how to use, and they’re mostly locked down. But there’s a metal baton I can grab, about the size of a long candle.

I take it out of the rack. It’s cold and reassuringly heavy, and a diamond-cut section at one end gives me a clue about how to hold it.

And just like that, I’m feeling even better.

There’s a lot of stuff in the room.

“I don’t know what half of these things are,” I whisper to the not-viewers. “They look like weapons, some of them. And those things there must be some kind of shackles. I have to assume this is a slave trader’s ship. And if so, we have every right to do… whatever we have to. I hope this is a weapon of some kind.” I hold the baton up for the camera. “If nothing else, I can hit someone over the head with it.”

I should probably shut up.

The abductor went over to a luminous square on the floor, and then it was as if he vanished. So he either fell or was sucked upwards. Or it’s a teleport device. Or something else I can’t even imagine.

But if he returns, he pretty much has to appear right there.

There’s nowhere to hide in this room. And the moment he stands here, he will be able to see that I’m not in the cage.

I’ll have to act fast.

4

- Zaroc -

Evading the Bululg picket ships that are supposed to guard this planet is remarkably hard. Not because their pilots are good, but because this ship is an old pile of trash that should have been silently rotting in a scrap heap somewhere. The only thing it does well is the inertial damping, so that even violent maneuvers can’t be felt physically inside it.

Finally able to enter hyperspace and leave this entire solar system, I lean back in the seat.

Now I can think about my catch.

The mere thought that I have a female of that quality down in the hold makes my crotch swell dangerously. This diversion might be worth it, even if for some reason she can’t become the mother of my heirs. Yes, it will definitely be worth it.

Grandmother says something from her pocket.

I take her out. “What?”

“So how does this work with your plans?” The green light on the metal housing flashes in sync with her words. “I thought you would steal a female, sell her, and then have funded your escape from the Gurandu for the next year or so.”

I glance at the fuel gauge. Almost quarter full. “I still have time to think of something.”

“The Bululg are friends with the Gurandu, you know. There’s a good chance they will inform their hunting party, if they know it was you.”

“I don’t think they know.”

“Really? Not a single camera caught you? That female you stole has a device on her. I saw it. Can you be sure that thing didn’t record all of it and sent it to the Bululg before you left the planet?”

My lust is about to be replaced by worry. “I can’t be completely sure. But they let me leave the planet without trying too hard to catch me.”

“I think they’ll probably prefer to leave you for the Gurandu hunters to catch,” Grandmother points out the obvious. “Probably, the Gurandu will give them a financial reward for any information about you. No, wait. I’ve changed my mind: they will definitely do that.”

“Always such a pleasure to talk with you,” I grumble.

“I just want to ensure the survival of my only grandchild,” she defends herself. “But sometimes he seems hell-bent on destroying