Page 16 of Tis the Season for Tentacles
Back in the bedroom, I hunt through my backpack and pull out my laptop. Thankfully, it isn’t broken, but I quickly realize I don’t have any Wi-Fi.
I pull my phone out of my discarded jeans pocket.
No signal.
I stumble over to the bed and sit down, my mind once again reeling.
Tomorrow night I’m supposed to check in with my sister to let her know I’m okay, but I’m starting to fear that won’t be possible. And knowing Gemma, if she doesn’t hear from me, she’ll be out there combing the desert for me immediately.
The two of us only have each other, and I can’t leave her thinking I’ve died or been kidnapped.
That helps me strengthen my resolve. Tomorrow, I just need to convince my “hosts” that I need to send a message to my sister.
Piece of cake, right?
Chapter Four
Chronicles of Chaos: An Informal Record of Life Aboard the Sleigh Belle
Stardate: 78386.4
Origin: Earth
Destination: Glacius Major
As I sit here, I struggle to write these words.
We have abducted yet another human.
I blame this entirely on my foolish companions, who I warned numerous times about the dangers of a covert visit to Earth. They swore up and down it wouldn’t be a problem. We’d be in and out before anyone had time to notice us.
But then they dawdled, making trip after ridiculous trip to stuff our ship full of Christmas crap. Yes, CRAP! And that’s how a lone human spotted us.
Of course, my crewmates are once again calling our abductee a “guest” they’ve invited for “an intergalactic Christmasadventure.” Conversely, I prefer to call a spade a spade as the Earthlings say. We abducted the poor human, Felix.
Oddly enough, however, Felix does not seem as terrified or upset as he probably should be about this situation. Apparently, he was actually out in the desert looking for aliens. The fact that he found us appears to bring him considerable pleasure.
We’ll see if that lasts. In the meantime, we are heading to Glacius Major and trying to figure out what we are going to do with our “guest.”
—Najar Mezdel, First Lieutenant and Voice of Reason on the Sleigh Belle
NAJAR
Ispend a restless night oscillating between anxious dreams about an Alliance ship on our tail and frustrating sex dreams about the human we brought aboard.
Felix is quite a tempting morsel of a man. Far taller than Sasha, he’s still a few inches shorter than me but has a sturdy build and handsome features, with lovely hazel eyes and short dark brown hair. Sasha is quite pale but I find Felix’s darker, olive-skinned complexion even more appealing.
My attraction isn’t one-sided either. I noticed the way his eyes followed me repeatedly last night and the way his heart hammered when I carried him into the med lab.
Our connection was clearly mutual and instantaneous. But to say pursuing it is complicated would be oversimplifying the matter.
I don’t know what’s going to happen with Felix in the short time he’ll be with us. In truth, we will probably have to have the Alliance erase his memories of his time aboard the Sleigh Belle once we return him to Earth.
The only reason we didn’t have to do something similar with Sasha is because he opted to stay with us and become Kheph’s mate. That was a once-in-a-lifetime stroke of luck.
So, even if Felix and I are attracted to one another, I can’t imagine things turning out the same way. After all, what are the odds that two humans would want to stay aboard the Sleigh Belle and spend the rest of their lives traveling the universe with a crew of quirky Dravethians?
Not good.
