Page 3 of My Alien Bughead
I frown. “Isn’t the timing a little suspicious? You find out about this mother lode of all mother lodes and suddenly, a strange ship is requesting to dock?”
“It is suspicious but it could still be coincidental. We scanned their ship and the results confirm what their captain claims—that they’re running on the last embers of a jury-rigged generator that’s about to fall apart. Most of the ship is without power except for the parts where they’ve apparently run electricity through the corridors for whatever reason.”
“Their conduits must be gone,” I muse. “The capacitors, too. If they’re using the ship’s corridors as power conduits, they must be really desperate. There’s going to be massive damage to…well, pretty much everything. Have they been in a fight?” Do we have to worry about whoever attacked them following them here?
Arnik shakes his head. “Not as far as I can tell. The ship looks fine on the outside, no blast marks. It’s a pretty decent cruiser, actually.”
“A cruiser?! Jesus Fucking Christ. Those things are huge! There could be dozens of people aboard that ship.”
“Yeah. Like I said, it’s a problem.” Rubbing his horn again, Arnik sighs. “You’re the best technician on the station, Lucía. I want you to go to their ship and help them fix it, fast. I want them out of here.”
Under normal circumstances, I’d bask in the compliment but the rest of Arnik’s words are anything but relaxing. “Me? Seriously? You know what happens to humans in space! Someone puts a collar around our necks and traffics us to god-only-knows where! Avoiding capture by slavers is the wholereason I’m hiding here in the middle of nowhere. Now you want to send me out to a ship full of strangers? Do you really hate me that much?”
My fists clench automatically to hide how much my hands are trembling. I was only a slave for a few short days after being kidnapped from Earth but even that was enough to tell me I can’t go through it again. It’s been four years and even now the nightmares still plague me in my sleep. Vivid memories of cages, auctions and terrifying aliens treating me like a piece of meat tend to resurface at the most inconvenient times. Like right now.
Rubbing my neck to relieve the phantom pains, I remind myself that there is no longer a collar around it. I gulp down a few deep breaths in the vain attempt to calm my racing heart. Intrusive imaginary touches slither over my shoulder, groping my chest and abdomen, reminding me of being bound, naked, and helpless. Just the memory of beingtouchedeverywhere tightens my chest until I can scarcely breathe.
When an actual hand touches my shoulder, I scream and jump back. For the second time today, Arnik dodges my fist. It’s a good thing he did because this strike wasn’t playful in the slightest.
“Sorry, Lucía. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Stepping back, Arnik moves to give me more space before sighing. “You know I care about you. I’d never send you to any ship if there was a chance these people are slavers. The captain of the ship is a Lakhartan. You know what that means.”
I scoff. “I know that everyoneelsein the galaxy believes that there’s no such thing as an evil Lakhartan.” That somehow, an entire race of beings are all just big, not-so-snuggly lizard teddy bears. I’ve always had a hard time believing that. “Surely, an entire species can’tallbe good? There must be a rotten apple amongst them somewhere.” And with my luck, I’ll be the one to find them.
Arnik gives the slightest headshake. “Never. Personal freedoms and rights are highly respected in their culture, so much so that even engaging in minor crimes is extremely rare for them. There has never been a Lakhartan pirate, let alone a slaver. You’d be safe on their ship. However, I won’t force you to help them if it makes you feel uncomfortable or unsafe. I can always send Toli over.”
He’s baiting me. He knows as well as I do that Toli is a lazy piece of shit that knows next to nothing about cruisers. Me, on the other hand…
I love spaceships. They were the main reason I didn’t go back home like the rest of the human slaves after the UGC rescued us. I’d been content working in my uncle’s garage, fixing cars and bikes, but when I got the opportunity to stay in space to work on motherfreaking spaceships, I took it.
Even though it meant I’d had to learn a new language and spend nearly every waking hour of an entire year studying alien mechanics. It also meant I’d never see my family again, or even be allowed to contact them.
I love my family but, for the first time ever, I wanted something more. I wanted an adventure.
Be careful what you wish for, I guess? Being stranded in the middle of a potential corporate war, fixing a ship full of potentially dangerous aliens was not the kind of adventure I’d hoped for.
“Fine then,” I sigh. “I’ll fix their fucking ship. If you let Toli anywhere near it he’ll mess it up so badly they’ll never be able to leave. Don’t let him fix the furnaces either. Or the train. Or…just keep him away from anything mechanical that isn’t a malfunctioning toilet. Seriously, it’s a miracle this station didn’t fall apart with only him maintaining it before I arrived.”
Chuckling, Arnik plops back into his chair. “He’s not that bad. Not as brilliant as you, of course,” he teases, “but he manages.Thank you for doing this, Lucía. The ship is just docking now, so you can go over there whenever you’re ready. Maybe shower first, though?”
And just like that, I want to punch him again. “No, I’ll go there all filthy and sweaty to demonstrate what primitive creatures humans are,” I gripe. “Of course I’ll take a shower first, you big, ugly jerk.”
“Love you too,” he chuckles. “And Lucía? Please, be careful.”
I absolutely plan on being careful. In fact, I won’t even board the ship until I meet some of the crew outside and see what kind of vibe they’re giving off. If they’re creepy in any way, I’ll tell Arnik to stick this assignment up his alien ass.
Hurrying through the marketplace, I’m desperately looking forward to my date with a hot shower.
“Lusssia!” a familiar voice hisses after me excitedly.
Recognizing the owner of the voice, I stop. At least this delay is a welcome one. “Zhuse!” I greet the snake-like female and make way toward her food stall. “You’re back! Does that mean the egg—”
I stifle the urge to shriek when a snake peeks out at me from beneath the stall, its forked tongue darting out to taste the air. Laughing, Zhuse picks up the creature and holds it to her chest. “It hatched, yesss. Meet our firssst youngling.”
“Congratulations!” Though I consider Zhuse a close friend and I’m happy for her, my smile is a little forced. Young Kahzsi are born—or hatched, rather—looking exactly like regular snakes. As they get older, they gain more humanoid features. They grow arms and even learn to stand upright on the bottom coils of their tails. Right now, however, Zhuse’s baby mostly resembles a six foot long black mamba and instinct tells me to stay the hell away from it.
“Thank you, thank you,” Zhuse beams at me, showing off her sharp fangs. “Would you like a ssseka roll?”
My mouth waters at the thought of the delicious pastry. “If I ever say no to that question, strangle me. Are you going to start baking again?”
