Page 13 of My Alien Sunshine

Chapter 8

Nala

I don’t feel guilty. I don’t. I really don’t feel fucking guilty about stealing from Faelin. He’s a mercenary. God only knows where he got the money in the first place. He probably murdered someone for it. Or killed a puppy. Or killed someone, then slaughtered a hundred puppies before setting fire to an orphanage. Dammit!

I clutch the bag containing the stash box tightly as I walk down the station’s corridors. I’ve checked and indeed, there’s a shit-ton of money inside. It might just be enough to get Ellen and me out of here. It might not. I will have to see about that later. Now, I have to hurry because I’m running late.

According to station time, it’s early morning, but the ever-present lighting in the hallways never dims. The number of pedestrians shuffling to and fro never slows either. It’s like an all day buffet in this place. One mob leaves just in time to be replaced by another, sometimes rowdier lot.

Farpoint Gateway is a bustling port where ships of all sizes, makes and models dock in the hangar bays, droids shuffle cargo to and fro and people rush around on their way to do business or just have fun in one of the station’s many establishments. It’s a constant hive of activity, which serves me well as it provides a never-ending stream of new customers, eager to experience something exotic—and pay for it handsomely.

One would think that in such a busy hub, blending in with the crowd and catching a ride on board one of the many leaving ships would be easy, but I know better. Drayth has spies everywhere.

Last time someone spotted me talking to a freighter captain, he sent his men to my room. They took away Ellen’s bed. Just the bed, nothing else, but I got the message.

I rush down familiar streets, then nod at the male guarding the back entrance to Drayth’s residence. All of the guards know me well enough to let me pass without question.

I head down a flight of stairs and raise my hand to knock on the door in front of me. Not even five seconds later, it swooshes open. “MAMA!” A black and orange blur wearing a pink dress barrels into me, knocking all of the air out of my lungs. “I missed you!”

My eyes tear up at the sight of my beautiful little girl. I quickly blink the tears away. I can’t cry in front of her. “I’ve missed you too, little chipmunk.” I tickle Ellen’s ribs, my heart melting at her happy squeals.

“You’re late,” Mu scowls at me, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“I know, I’m sorry. It was a long night, but it was worth it.”

Mu shrugs, indifferent as usual. “Whatever. Conference room on the second floor. There was a party last night. It has to be cleaned up before lunch.”

I internalize my groan. Drayth’s parties tend to be huge and messy. It will take me hours to clean it all up, and I’m already exhausted after the night spent with Faelin. I lost count of how many times we had sex. At one point, I nodded off and woke up to his tongue between my legs. Another time, I was the one to wake him with my mouth around his cock. Don’t blame me. He has a great cock.

The fact that the night was amazing only made this morning so much harder. I know what I did was wrong, but as I tighten my arms around the most precious little angel in the entire universe, I no longer regret stealing from Faelin. He’ll get over it, eventually.

In the meantime, I’ll have to lie low, in case he comes after me, wanting his money back. Fortunately, I know this station like the back of my hand and I have plenty of experience at avoiding people I don’t want to see.

I yawn, only realizing that I’m still in Mu’s room when Ellen tugs on my hand. “Oh. Right.” I rub at the bridge of my nose. “Second floor conference room, got it. I’ll get it done. Thanks, Mu.”

She merely grunts.

Ellen keeps chatting as we head up to the second floor. “... on her wall, but she didn’t like it. Everything is so gray, I wanted to make it pretty.”

“What?” My brain is too sluggish today to keep up. “Ellen? You drew on Mu’s wall?”

Ellen pouts, puffing out her tiny bottom lip. “She made me clean it up. She’s no fun.”

“Ellen…” I groan, imagining how difficult it will be for me to get Mu to babysit my overly creative daughter again. Then I open the conference room door and groan anew.

“Yuck! What a mess!” Ellen exclaims, her tail flicking from side to side as she observes the room. She darts over to pick up a crinkly wrapper. “This goes in the bin, right Mama?”

I smile, but it’s a weak one at best. “Yes, chipmunk, very good. But please, don’t touch anything else, alright?” I quickly scoop up two other wrappers. Ellen no doubt thinks they’re from ration bars, but I know better.

O is the most common drug in this sector and is sold in pressed bars that look like candy, all the way down to the colorful wrappers. Ellen getting her hands on one and unknowingly eating it is one of my greatest fears. But as bad as that might be, sadly, it’s not my worst fear for her.

The conference room resembles a pigsty. Ellen insists on helping me with the fervor of a bored four-year-old, so I have her wipe the table and chairs down while I scrub what I assume are dried cum stains off the sofa.

Why the fuck can’t Drayth’s goons hold their stupid sex parties somewhere else? Cleaning up their jizz isn’t even my job. It’s Mu’s, but I take on her responsibilities in exchange for her babysitting services. Even with me offering to clean up after these disgusting parties, it took a lot of time to convince her to babysit.

Ellen is correct about one thing—Mu isn’t fun. It’s not her fault, though. Mu is a Genixarian, a race commonly known for their lack of emotion. Mu isn’t a kind and caring babysitter, nor is she an eager one, but she took pity on me when she didn’t have to. I don’t know what I would do without her.

Thank god we’re done with the cleaning in good time because just as I pick up the cleaning supplies, Drayth’s scowling assistant enters, her sharp beak snapping, “This room better be ready.”