Page 33 of Kidnapped By the Alien Chieftain

Instinctively, I choose the room that the two gang members had been guarding. My gut tells me it must hold something of value, something that they were willing to risk their lives to protect.

I creep forward with cautious steps, my eyes scanning for any signs of danger. As I enter the next room, I crouch low to the ground, my muscles tense and ready to strike. But as the door whizzes open, I curse under my breath. The noise will give away our position.

Without a moment’s hesitation, I rush into the room, my eyes darting around in search of any Whores Orphans members. But to my surprise, the room is empty. Instead of Whores Orphans, I find the room is filled with a series of holding cells with a control console facing them. We stumbled upon an interrogation room, and it’s not empty.

As I make my way towards the closest holding cell, a strange gruff voice calls out from the corner cell. “Would you look at the size of this one!” it exclaims in a familiar accent. “I’ve seen smaller Mutalisks.”

Intrigued, I move closer to the cell, careful not to touch the electrified bars that hum ominously. And that’s when I see him- a small, squat Nebian with drooping red eyebrows and blue skin.

His large, bulbous nose dominates his face, while his small bottom teeth protrude upwards. Blood mottles his long, thick copper-colored hair and beard, and one eye is swollen shut. Signs of the frequent beatings he has endured. I stand, taking in his appearance in astonishment.

“Everything looks big to a Nebian,” I snort back in retort. “So, the Whores Orphan’s got one of you alive?” I ask.

“Aye, the bastards caught me unawares while I was repairing my ship’s engine,” the Nebian replies, his one good eye surveying Xandor and the others as they move closer to us.

Xandor sneers as he looks at the prisoner.“That’s a Nebian for you. Not much to look at without their battlesuits.”

The Nebian doesn’t flinch under Xandor’s gaze. “You lads weren’t much to look at either after we scraped you off our boots on Argon Six,” he snorts.

“Enough!” I snap, my voice echoing off the walls. “We came here for your tech. No one mentioned anything about taking a prisoner.” I turn on my heels, ready to leave the Nebian to his fate.

But he isn’t finished yet. “Wait!” he pleads, hands up in surrender. “We’ve got off on the wrong foot. None too surprising, considering our people’s current hostilities, which brings me to why I’m in this dung heap in the first place,” he continues, taking a deep sigh. “I was part of a diplomatic mission that was heading to Klendathor. We were hoping to meet with your Council of Elders or the War Chieftain, Gorexius.”

Xandor snorts derisively. “Fortunate for you that you didn’t. Gorexius would have blasted your ship to pieces at first sight.”

The Nebian’s voice is determined as he ignores Xandor’s retort. “It shames me to admit, but on our way to Klendathor, these junkers swarmed us.” He clenches his fists, his good eye fills with anger. “We only had a small transport vessel, not equipped to deal with so many space junkers. We destroyed many. Oh yes, you can be sure of that! But even our shields gave way, eventually. The bastards boarded, executed the old ambassador Titxus on the spot.” He pauses, taking a deep breath. “They captured me while I was trying to overload the ship’s engine core. They dragged me out, along with some battlesuits, just in time before the ship went critical and exploded.” He chuckles, his eyes filled with bitterness. “At least they didn’t get the ship!”

“My condolences, little one, but I fail to see why we should care?” I ask, my eyes fixed intently on him.

“Of course you should care! We were heading to your planet hoping to negotiate a truce separate from the fallen Scythians,” he replies fervently.

“You were coming to surrender? On what terms?”Xandor interjects eagerly.

“Not surrender, you block-headed savage. A truce! You know what peace means?” he retorts sharply before continuing, “Regarding the details… I know them not. Titxus was the ambassador. My job was keeping the equipment in tiptop shape.”

A glimmer of hope ignites within me at his words. If what he says is true, this could be a way to break free finally from the Scythians’ iron grip and reclaim our lost freedom. If we could negotiate a separate peace with the Nebians, the Scythians would be extremely hard pressed without us as their vanguard.We might finally launch a daring rescue mission to save our beloved long-lost females from their cruel clutches.

“He’s coming with us,” I say after a pause.

“Chieftain, you can’t trust anything he says. How do we know he wasn’t coming to Klendathor to drop a virus bomb?” Xandor protests.

The Nebian snorts in response. “A virus bomb? You’d bet your ass lad that we would have sent a lot more than one transport ship if that was the case.”

I turn to Xandor, my voice firm. “We have to take a chance,” I say, taking a brief pause. “This is our best chance to get out from under the Scythians’ hold.” I turn to the Nebian. “How do we get you out of here?”

The Nebian nods and points. “You see that panel on the wall? That’s the power relay. If you remove the modu—”

Before he can finish, Xandor has already torn off the panel and ripped out the circuitry, causing sparks to fly everywhere and the bars to stop humming.

“Voiding madman,” the Nebian mutters under his breath.

I tap the bars of the cell with my index finger claw, testing that the electric current has dissipated. Satisfied, I take a deep breath as I wedge my back against the bar and push off the wall with my legs. My muscles bulge and strain as I hear the bars groan in protest, but with a satisfying creak, the gap widens enough for the Nebian to squeeze through.

The Nebian stands in awe, his eyes wide with amazement at the display of raw power. “By the stars, you lads don’t mess around,” he exclaims.

“Name’s Felixus, and you have my thanks,” he says, giving a brief bow in respect.

“Welcome, Felixus. I’m Krogoth, and these are Xandor, Logarn, and Traxios,” I say, introducing my companions as I point to each of them.

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