Tamed By the Alien Pirate by Celia Kyle Page 0,33

going gets slower as Fiona must use her holomap to guide us. One tunnel looks much like another down here, even when using dark vision goggles as most of us do. An hour slips by during our trek and then two, and I grow more anxious by the moment.

At last, Fiona announces we’re within a few blocks of our target. But as we turn the corner to enter a massive waste water pipe, a green plasma burst sizzles through the air, narrowly missing Solair’s unarmored head by inches.

“Ambush,” hollers Kintar as we all dive for what cover is to be found.

Chapter Sixteen

Thrase

The Kreetu drag me off to an empty office and then lock me inside, but the gap between the metal door and the carpeted floor is sufficiently wide that I can still hear what they are saying.

I nearly faint with relief when I hear about Zander’s successful escape. I’m not sure who the other Kilgari was who aided him, but I send him a silent thank you.

Standing back up, I dab at my cut lip with my sleeve. The bleeding has stopped already, though my head still aches from the impact. I don’t seem to have a concussion, however, so for that I am thankful.

Still, it was a hell of a blow. I don’t even recall the moment of impact. Kreetu have extremely dense, almost stone-like skin. This combined with their heavy muscle fibers makes them justifiably feared in combat.

At one time, they were Pi’rell, but after their home world was destroyed, they went down a different path. The Pi’rell survivors who split from the others eagerly accepted the Ataxian Coalition’s offer of genetic modification. Stereotypes about them being stupid lugs aren’t really justified, but the ones regarding their vicious streak trend closer to reality.

I’m not left to my own devices for long, which is just as well since this office has no windows or furniture, nothing I could use to escape or fashion a weapon. Even if I could, fighting back would be next to futile. I’m smart enough to know when I’m physically outclassed.

The door opens, and one of the Kreetu snaps his fingers.

“Up.”

I stand up a bit unsteadily, my head still spinning from the blow to it.

“Come.”

When I take a few steps toward him, he takes my arm in an iron grip and ushers me along ahead of him. I can feel his retractable claws digging into my flesh through my sleeve, but I’m not about to offer a protest. His red eyes are utterly without pity, so I don’t see a point.

We head to the elevator and ride the car up, I believe to the top floor though the lighted guide no longer functions. As soon as the doors open he shoves me forward, and I stumble into a surprisingly well-appointed office with rich, deep blue carpet and an image of the planet Earth emblazoned across the back wall. Comfortable leather wing-back chairs sit facing a wide wooden desk with a slender, balding man sitting behind it.

“Hello, Thrase. So nice to see you again.”

The door shuts behind me, but the Kreetu remains with us. He stands near the wall, motionless as the rock his flesh is compared to oft.

“Thrase?” I shake my head in denial. Playing dumb though my heart is about to burst from my chest. “I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, sir. I don’t know you from the proverbial Adam.”

His thin brows arch over surprisingly clear and pleasant-seeming blue eyes.

“Oh, yes. I had forgotten. You were in cryo sleep the last time I saw you.” He gestures at one of the wing-backed chairs flanking his desk. “Please, have a seat.”

“I’d rather stand, thank you.”

The man doesn’t say a word, but the Kreetu moves away from the wall and knots up his hand in my hair. Yelping in pain, I stumble across the carpet as he forces me to sit in the left-most chair.

“Your staff are charming in their subtlety.” I feel my lips twitching a snarl, though I’m loath to show this cretin any trace of emotion. “Do they know of your stated goals of human supremacy?”

The man grins and folds his hands before him on the desk.

“You misunderstand our mission, Thrase. We’re not looking to eliminate all other sapient life or even dominate it. We simply want to protect humanity’s borders and ensure that our own affairs remain sovereign.”

“By any means necessary, yes?”

He spreads his hands and frowns.

“It is what it is, Miss Thrase. So long as we pay well—and