Page 19 of The Stolen Tribute
The alien stood up and glanced at me.
“You’re shivering,” He observed out loud.
Without waiting for me to respond, he opened one of the cabinets above the control panel. He took out some metallic fabric blankets and a black flight suit. It was plain and a few sizes too big, but it would do the job. He tossed them to me.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Didn’t mean to rip your pretty dress,” He said with a laugh.
I looked down at what was left of the satin gown. I thought it was the third dress I’d wore for the Tribute ceremony? I wasn’t sure. I’d changed so many times that day. It felt like years ago now.
I looked back up at him and cleared my throat. “Do you mind?” I asked.
Jaxir raised his eyebrows. “What?”
I motioned for him to turn around. Did Zexians not have issues changing in front of the opposite sex?
“Do you mind?” I repeated.
“Not at all,” Jaxir said. Then a look of realization fell over his handsome face. “I apologize. There aren’t the amenities that you’re used to on my humble starfighter.” He turned around to face the control panel.
“No peeking,” I said, keeping an eye on the back of his head while I pulled off what was left of my black dress.
“Wouldn’t dream of it, Earthling,” He said.
The flight suit was big on me, but it’d have to do. I fidgeted with the straps, so the sleeves and waist weren’t so baggy.
After a moment, Jaxir turned back around. “Not awful. Couldn’t be better, but beggars can’t be choosers, can we?”
I rolled my eyes at him. Did they really teach all those clichés when the Zexians learned English? At least we could communicate.
The flight suit was a lot warmer than my shredded dress. I glanced around the starfighter to get a better idea of my surroundings.
There were four seats, three facing forward and one facing the back. It had a number of buttons on it that probably connected to some sort of weapons system if I had to guess solely based on my experience with video games. The consoles were all a light beige, but the screens and buttons all seemed to be in working order, aside from our low power. The lights flickered again.
“How far were you planning on getting in this thing?” I asked.
“I have a crew to rejoin with a few lightyears over,” Jaxir said. “It would have been a breeze if things went according to plan.”
“So, what’s plan B?” I asked.
The Zexian raised his eyebrows with surprise. “Since when did you care? I thought you wanted me to let you go?”
I scoffed. “Well, we both know that’s not happening now. So what next? Do you want to wait around for Dal to find us?”
“Do you?” He turned my question back around at me.
My heart skipped a beat.
I didn’t reply, looking out the window to the blackness of space. What did I want? “I don’t know,” I admitted after a moment.
Jaxir moved to me, his expression softening. “I didn’t mean for you to get caught up in this, Earthling.”
“Kylie,” I said.
“Kylie, right,” He amended. “Well, Kylie, this wasn’t planned. I had no intention of getting you involved. All I wanted to do was kill Dal.”
“Why?” I asked. It was insane to go against an entire mothership full of warriors to kill one single male, wasn’t it? He was crazy.
