Page 11 of Bred by the Alien Prince

“Oh, but you do? Some people are here that aren’t supposed to be, and I don’t recall your face being the same as my assigned roommate.”

He held up a small tablet with his picture next to a man I couldn’t pass for even if I wanted to. “What should I say when my real roommate arrives?”

“Maybe they made a mistake and gave me the wrong room.”

“Or you’re here because your card uses his chip.”

“And how would you know?”

“I’m a thief.” He said as though it was the most obvious answer.

“They accepted you?” I backed off.

“Yeah, I can put together a damn good vid of my brother’s achievements. We’re twins, so he was the model choice for a few splices here and there.”

“Well…” I thought back to my haphazardly spliced vid.

“Look, I’m not here to crush your spot. I want to fulfill my dream of traveling through space, and I don’t wanna do it when I’m old as hell.”

“You realize that you’ll be doing a hell of a lot more than just traveling through space; this is a one-way trip.”

“One way for five years, and if I hate living on the planet, then I’m sure I can sneak onboard a cargo ship or something and head home.”

I laughed. “Good luck! Those cargo ships will use true FTL travel with an all-android crew. You’ll be dead long before you make it back.”

“What?!”

Ha, I felt mighty damn good getting one up on him.

“But we’re using FTL to get there.” He exclaimed in disbelief.

“The ship has shielding on it to protect us, and we’re going near FTL, true FTL wouldn’t take a whole year to get there.”

“Well, look who did their homework.” He sneered. “Just stay out of my way, and I’ll stay out of yours.”

“And if your roommate arrives?”

“I’ll say sorry, wrong room; there may have been a mix-up.” He laughed. “Though if I were you, I’d kill him and put his body in the cargo bay. Nothing like a displaced passenger to get the authorities sniffing about.”

I left the room and headed for the cafeteria, which was like one of those old-school buffet restaurants; thankfully, the place wasn’t crowded like the halls. Everyone was in awe of the ship, feeling the walls and clamoring to stand on the observation decks where they could get a clear view of real space and that big blue ball we called home. I wanted to join them to revel in this adventure, but I had my own adventure to worry about.

“Still onboard, I see.” I heard the male voice behind me, it was familiar, it was both reassuring and judgmental all at once, it was Derek. Dressed in a white uniform like something out of the military with a golden name tag on the chest. Derek S.

“What the hell?” I laughed, not at him but at the situation. “What are you, some sort of officer here?”

“You can say that.” He smiled. “I’m in charge of the first-floor sector-one VIP suites, keeping everyone out of trouble, and hell, even saving their lives if I have to.”

“You were someone important to this ship and helped me…?” I whispered harshly. This had to be some elaborate joke.

“You can make it up to me by eating… what would it be? Lunch around this time?”

I laughed and hoped I wasn’t blushing. “Yeah, I think the buffet is even sitting out new food.”

“Good. They told me getting to the cafeteria first was best.”

“Then let’s go,” I said, heading inside and grabbing a plate. My stomach was growling, as I hadn’t eaten since that burrito at the last stop. If we hadn’t been corralled onto the shuttles, blasted into space, and then corralled onto the colony ship, I would have stopped to eat at one of the restaurants at the port.

Two men entered the cafeteria dressed in what looked like guard uniforms, and I ducked low. Spilling some of my food with me.

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