Page 10 of Tricked By the Alien Prince

Unfortunately, I don’t recognize any of the guards. They are all younger than me, probably haven’t even reached twenty years of age yet.

One of the males has his hair spiked and the tips dyed a bright green. He points towards me with a finger and with a voice loaded with uncertainty, he says, “You aren’t supposed to be in here. I think we need to arrest you.”

I clutch my tablet closer to me as if I can use it as a shield. Still, given the way he seems unsure about the situation, maybe I can still take control here. As long as I don’t panic.

“Is that a question?” I ask green-tips. “Youthinkyou need to arrest me?”

He glances, unhelpfully, back at his companions.

“I’m just here to do some maintenance,” I further impress upon him. “Didn’t they tell you that I was coming today?”

Maybe if I buy myself some time. I just need a couple of hours to analyze the data; I’m sure there’s enough incriminating evidence in what I’ve collected to keep me out of Atraxis jail. Wait, do we even have a jail? Will Commander Davis be forced to throw me into, what, a bathroom or a closet?

“Maintenance?” The green-tipped boy squeaks. “You decided to do maintenance right when a bunch of aliens attack us. They’ve got swords!”

I raise my finger to say that I wasn’t aware of the aliens, but right as I do a scream cuts through the air. Yeah, that excuse isn’t going to cut it.

“I, ummm…” I stammer, trying to come up with any other reason why I might be in this room.

“No one’s allowed to enter this room,” the boy advances toward me, his face settling with determination. “Once that problem out there has been sorted, I’m sure they’ll get to you. Until then, just come along quietly… and give me that tablet.”

Panic hits. If it were just this one kid alone, I might be able to take him. But three against one, there’s no way. The three of them clearly exercise and train, hoping to one day become glorified Hunters. Meanwhile, I sit at a desk all day. I can handle being arrested, but to have my tablet taken away from me…

“Just stay away from me!” I point my finger at green-tips. “There’s no reason to make this into a big deal.”

His eyes narrow, and I instantly realize it was the wrong thing to say. Oh, wait! Hiding! I could have just said I was hiding. I’m supposed to be smart, so why does my brain always think of the best response after the fact?

I smack my forehead, probably looking like a complete madwoman. Wait, maybe I can actually pretend to be driven insane by fear… I could claim I hid from the aliens in here.

Green-tips isn’t having it. He reaches for me, grabbing hold of my arm with a strong grip that I have no hopes of breaking. Unlike my friend Christina, I have never once taken a self-defense course. I should have accepted her offer…

“Hey! Let go!” I shout. I duck and squirm to avoid the second guard grabbing at me as I try desperately to clutch my precious tablet to my chest. Green-tips grabs hold of me around my waist, lifting me clear off my feet. I buck against him, trying to break free, to no avail.

I’m panicking. A scream is building in my throat as I frantically fight my captors.

Then the room is cast in shadows.

We all stop moving to stare at the new guy, standing in the doorway. He’s so large, his body blocks the weak sunlight. For a brief, very brief moment, he’s surrounded by a halo of light like a savior. Then his body, his very skin, flashes and the room is lit up with blinding light. Immediately the spell over all of us breaks.

Suddenly everyone is screaming. The guards are shouting to each other about who should try to stop the alien from entering. Me? I’m shouting because I apparently can. Like what else am I supposed to do in this situation?

Oh, I get it now why people always scream and run around like headless chickens. Apparently, I’m in the same crowd after all.

One moment I’m surrounded by my guards trying to arrest me, and the next moment the room erupts in chaos. The third guard, the guy furthest from me, looks at me with a white face before he falls unconscious. He didn’t even need a beating; he just fainted!

The second guard rushes toward the alien, who promptly backhands him across the face. The young male flies through the air, hitting the wall with a heavy thud. He looks up at us with a dazed expression, and is clearly second-guessing rushing at this alien again.

The alien stalks towards green-tips, whose hold on me is now shaking.

“Don’t hurt him!” I cry out.

Human and alien alike turn to me with shocked expressions. I’m equally as stunned at my outburst. Just who am I defending exactly? My fellow man, or this extraterrestrial who’s appeared out of nowhere?

“Me or him?” Green-tips cries out, his eyes ping-ponging between us so fast that he must be making himself dizzy at this point.

“I don’t know!” I squeal in reply.

At this point in time are they both my enemy or are they both my allies? Enemy of my enemy and all that. Even if we fight off the alien, the guards are going to report me and all my goals will come crashing down. The alien… who knows what he wants? Given the way they are attacking our colony right now, I wouldn’t trust him as far as I can throw him. To be clear, that’s not very far—I’m pretty sure I’ve established by now that I’ve never excelled at sports.

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