Page 5 of Catfished By the Alien Pirate

I pointed to the screen. “I don’t understand. How can there be that many halflings hidden on Earth?”

Andy was biting her cheek as she stared at the screen. Tears brimmed in her eyes. After the removal of the Imperial advisor who plotted to overthrow Andy’s father, the Emperor of the Imperium, Orequin found the conversations regarding a bevy of hidden alien-human halflings on Earth. Now, it was up to us to find out who they were. At least, that is what Chex decided. “The Advisor landed on Earth when I was a child. It is completely possible for aliens to have impregnated women. My mother was one of them.”

Chex’s tail wound around her ankle as he moved in front of his desk. Orequin tapped on her wrist com and the screens changed. This showed anOlyzI, a humanoid with large black eyes and hard ridges in the shape of stars all across his red face. “Can you change the image of your camouflage device to display this man? We apprehended him a few days ago, but we believe he has access to the person who has these records. According to interrogations by the Imperium, there is a being called L’tyr that has all the documents. It’s on a moon in an asteroid belt. You are the best person for this. Your flight experience will be a boon to this mission. You will take the OlyzI’s ship, snatch the locations, and come back here,” Orequin said.

“Why does he only have one copy?” I asked.

Andy’s head lifted off her knee. “Would you keep copies if you had the locations of multiple beings that could be sold for a giant fortune? Especially if you worked within a corrupt organization?” she whispered. Andy’s sadness was palpable. Some of these beings had tried to kidnap her previously. Knowing there were beings that wanted to sell more of her kind was obviously making her upset.

I frowned. “I guess I get what you are saying. Yes, my camouflage device can do that,” I said. “Send me the image. I can feed it into the device.”

Orequin smiled. “Great. Thanks for your hard work,” she said. “We are currently going to the location of the ship. After that, you can familiarize yourself with the controls and zip on out to L’tyr. On our way, I’ll be giving you as much info as possible.”

“Are we the Emperor’s lap dogs now?” I sneered.

Andy bit her bottom lip as she tried to suppress her smile. Chex’s green skin darkened as his armor plating shimmered to the surface of his chest. “I can’t believe you would suggest that.”

“He asked us to do this because he knows he could get more done with a pirate crew than an Imperial crew. Plus, you know he’s still trying to replace the whole lot of those tried for treason.”

“I just didn’t join to be his lapdog,” I muttered. “Are we done?”

Orequin’s bioluminescence flared. She made a face. “Pining to flirt with Chloe again?” she retorted.

I glared at her. “Don’t bring her up.”

She huffed. “I don’t even know why you are fooling around with her. She’s on Earth.”

I didn’t know why I had inserted myself into her life. She was beautiful. Cute and funny. But Chloe said she made awful life choices sometimes. She said the best thing she ever did in her life was to befriend Andy. I would love to be the second good decision she made. “I realize she’s on Earth,” I said.

Andy perked up. “How is she? I’m afraid she’s not telling me the truth.”

“Chloe’s fine. She is seeing multiple men every week. She’s upset that you can’t tell her who to spend time with,” I said.

Andy laughed. “That sounds like her. But she is forgetting that she wouldn’t listen to me all the time.” Andy sighed. “I miss her.”

Chex lowered himself to look into Andy’s eyes. “When things are better, we will go visit.”

Andy smiled. “Thank you,” she whispered.

I stood up and walked out of the room. I had to make sure my camouflage device was working properly. It was still a prototype. It didn’t feel right going into the storm with a device that might malfunction.

Chapter 3

Ricon

Famous last words:don’t go into battle with a prototype.

Maybe I should have told Orequin I wasn’t comfortable going into a stressful scenario with unproven tech. I flipped the controls of the cruiser as another shot rocked my ship. “Kraxon!” I muttered. “Computer, evasive maneuvers.”

“Sorry. I cannot do that at this time. We are under fire.”

“I know, that is why I asked!”

“I cannot do that.”

“What can you do?”

“We are at twenty-five percent shields.”

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