Page 73 of Alien Peacock

But there is still a way out.

Buroteo’s forces get ready to ambush Arelion when he comes in the door. They’re all armed with deadly-looking guns and they are arranged in a semicircle around Buroteo and me.

“Get the light,” Buroteo orders, and his lackeys place a single floodlight in the middle of the floor, creating a circle of light on the crazy dictator and me.

“He will be caught the moment he exits the hangar,” Buroeto says, his voice trembling with excitement. “Then he will be led in here. He will hear the sounds of your defilement, and then he will see it. Perhaps they will be sounds of great joy! Yes, you should enjoy my attentions to the fullest. It will be the last experience you will have, female!” He laughs like a madman.

I struggle against the Eoans holding me, but I can’t budge.

“Another report from Source,” the Bululg says. “Arelion is getting close. He’s moving fast, and may have to circle the station once to slow down.”

“Ah, he’s so eager to get here it’s actually slowing him down,” Buroteo laughs evilly. “What did you say about him being so smart, female?”

I try to spit in his face, but I was never good at that and end up dribbling more than spitting. “You’re going straight into his trap,” I try desperately. What were those persuasion techniquesI practiced? I could fake insanity. But I’m not sure that would be of much use here, because Buroteo seems plenty insane himself. And I’m having serious trouble thinking clearly. How about creating a win-win scenario?

“This is not the best use of your resources,” I try, mind racing to think of a better one. “There is a way for you to get younger!” It’s just a spur-of-the-moment thing, because Buroteo looks old and sick.

He inserts a bony, pale finger under the fabric of my bra. “Oh, I know. Nothing keeps a man young like taking a younger female. And if she’s another man’s Marked female, so much the better. I have done it many times on Eo, whenever a man has defied?—”

“New report from Source!” the Bululg suddenly screeches. “He’s about to collide with the?—”

The whole station is shaken by a terrible crash that knocks everyone off their feet. The Eoans lose their grips on me, and I immediately crawl away, towards my suit and armor on the ground.

A terrible storm suddenly blows through the room, tugging at my short hair.

I don’t check to see what happened, just frantically search the fabric for something I can use. Just as I get a hold of my fighting stick, someone grabs my ankles and lifts me.

There’s a lot of noise. Alarms are blaring, and the aliens are bellowing commands. The storm suddenly stops, and all kinds of loose objects drop to the ground.

I extend the stick and whack it at the hand holding me. There’s a yelp, and I give the Eoan another hit before I scramble to my feet.

Then I freeze.

Half of a flying saucer is poking out from the wall. There’s a lot of smoke and sparks and fire, and it’s obvious that the saucer has crashed into the station so hard it’s broken through the wall. It looks a lot like theRevenge.

The confusion is immense, and the aliens don’t know what to do.

I wonder how there’s still any air in here at all. That’s a big hole, and the air should escape. That was the storm I noticed. Probably the station has some kind of force field system that seals any breach.

I don’t spend more time wondering about it. Holding my stick out in front of me as a spear, I sprint over to the cages and climb to Tara’s cage. “Hey.”

“Hey, Maeve.” She reaches out through the bars with her whole arm to grab mine. She looks thin and pale. “I think it might soon be time.”

“Not yet,” I say tightly and insert the fighting stick through the metal bars, then lean on it. “Help on your side.”

She does, and the bars flex a little. But nowhere near enough to bend them.

Tara stares past me. “Damn. Someone just came out of that saucer.”

“Is he blue?” I ask tightly, using all my strength on the fighting stick.

“More gray,” she says. “Very big, though.”

I quickly turn to check out what she’s seeing. There is indeed a big, gray thing coming towards us through the air. It could be an Eoan inside a hi-tech suit of armor.

The aliens in the room are starting to react. Buroteo is barking orders, and Fresks and Eoans are running towards the cages. One red Eoan beats his wings and takes off in our direction.

I pull the stick out from the cage. “I’ll knock them out.”

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