Page 32 of My Alien Angel
Two of the men immediately step to Fin’s side and grab her arms. She screams and fights back, but I can only watch as they force her into one of the vehicles. My fists clench tightly and my wings twitch as they drive away, but I’m all too aware that I’m one step away from getting shot. Me being dead or injured won’t help anyone, least of all, Fin.
“You will not harm her.” I don’t phrase it as a question.
The woman in charge scoffs. “What part of this situation makes you think that you are in charge? Ms. Young will be detained for as long as necessary, along with Mr. Fisher and Doctor Rhodes. If it turns out they are part of your plan, they will be dealt with accordingly.”
“What pl—”
“Now,” she talks over me, “will you be a good alien and come with us willingly or do we have to introduce you to an Earth invention called the taser?”
I don’t struggle as they cuff my wrists behind my back and pull a black fabric bag over my head. Fortunately, there’s enough space for my wings in the back of their vehicle. Caleb’s car, while spacious, still wasn’t very comfortable. Fisher. Is that Caleb’s surname? And Doctor Rhodes is Imani? I’m ashamed I never learned their full names. Now that I’ve dragged them into this nightmare, it feels stupid not to have asked. They risked everything to help me and I don’t even know their last names.
The engine rumbles but other than the vehicle sounds, everyone is silent. I can sense several people surrounding me, hear them breathe, but no one speaks to me and I don’t try to speak, either. Hopefully, wherever we’re going, they will let me speak with someone a little less anti-alien than the woman in charge of this operation. Under different circumstances, I’d admire her headstrong attitude. She reminds me of my crew mate Lyriana, but it’s a little difficult to admire someone who has taken me into custody simply for existing. Not to mention arresting Fin and her friends.
After what feels like hours, the vehicle slows down, taking a considerably bumpier road than before. More time passes before we stop, move forward, then stop again, several times over. My guess would be that we’re going through some security checkpoints, but it’s impossible to tell for sure.
Once the vehicle stops for the last time and the driver kills the engine, I hear the back door open. There’s some shuffling as several of the soldiers climb out, then someone nudges my shoulder. “Out.”
The scorching sun briefly heats my shoulder as I exit the vehicle before I’m promptly led inside a building. The air inhere is cool and dry, reminding me of the recycled air in a spaceship. We walk, then stop. Sounds of something sliding, followed by vibration and a slight feeling of dropping suggests an elevator, maybe? The vibration stops and we’re walking again. There’s an occasional murmur of conversation as we probably pass by people working here, but nothing loud enough for me to understand. I’m trying to keep track of the turns we’ve taken in the hope that I could retrace our steps back to the elevator but It’s unlikely to do me any good. My best hope is to explain everything to these humans and hope for the best.
My stomach roils as a strong scent of antiseptic permeates the air. Fuck. A lab? Is this where they’ll cut me into pieces to figure out how my organs work? Newsflash: the same as human ones! Fortunately, we don’t stay in that area, moving into a smaller room instead. Steps echo differently here than in the corridors. I’m forcibly sat in a chair and my blindfold is removed.
Squinting from the sudden change from darkness inside the hood to bright artificial light, I take in the room. Not that there’s much to look at. Bare walls with mirrors lining one side of the room, probably two way glass of some kind. There’s a tiny red light mounted to a device in the corner, and the metal table is bolted to the floor. On the chair opposite from me is, naturally, the woman from the parking lot. It looks like any hope of talking to someone nicer is gone.
“I’m Colonel Lewis,” she introduces herself, glancing at the mirror, behind which I assume more humans are watching. “I know you can understand English, so let’s skip to the point. Where is your ship?”
I snort. I can’t help it. After a week of agonizing over how to find Garresh’s ship, she just asks me as if I had the answer all along?
Her fists clench the stack of papers she’s holding as she glares at me with such hatred that if it weren’t for the table betweenus, I’m quite certain she would have punched me by now. “Oh, is this funny to you?” she spits out, her voice as cold as ice. “I guess we must seem ridiculous to you, right? Lower life forms without any fucking rights. No need to ask for consent before kidnapping us! We’ve been watching you since yesterday, hoping you’ll lead us to your alien buddies, but after last night, the mission has changed. We no longer have time to patiently observe and wait. You will tell us where your ship is. Willingly or not.”
“What happened last night?” Looking at the papers in her hand, I have a sinking feeling I know exactly what happened.
Tilting her head, Lewis seems to consider telling me to fuck off, then shrugs. “One hundred and eighty-seven people were taken. Mysteriously disappeared without trace. One moment they were here, the next, they were gone.” She tosses the papers on the table, revealing files with printed images and data for each person. “Most of them were young, beautiful women, plus a few strong young men. Would you care to elaborate on why?”
Cursed winds. This is what I was afraid of. Garresh is close to fixing the ship, or he’s already fixed it, and he’s made his move to capture humans. Soon, he’ll leave and no one will be able to stop him. “I am not part of this,” I tell her, knowing my words will fall on deaf ears.
“Of course you aren’t,” she sneers, “but only because you somehow got separated from your group and now you’re worried your buddies will leave you behind.”
“That is not true.”
Leaning forward, Lewis pierces me with a keen gaze. “Then tell me the truth.”
I shake my head. My nose itches, but I can’t scratch it with my hands tied behind my back. It’s these little things that are always the most annoying when being captured. Well, that and the torture. That really ruins a person’s day. So far, my team has always been able to extract me before it got to that point,but now I only have myself to rely on and my chances are close to zilch. “You will not believe me.” That much is obvious. This woman hates me with passion, and I can’t really blame her. One hundred and eighty-seven humans. Fuck. Garresh is going to be the richest criminal in the quadrant. How does he plan to cram so many people into his ship?
Looking at the pictures in front of me, the full weight of my failure hits. I’ve fucked this mission up monumentally and nothing these humans do to me will be adequate punishment.
Lewis taps her neatly trimmed fingernail on the table to get my attention. Raising my eyes to hers, I’m surprised to see her anger has abated a little. Now she watches me with curiosity again. “Try me,” she says, so I do. What do I have to lose?
Chapter 25
Fin
Thecellisnice.It’s actually more like a hotel room with a comfortable bed, seating area, and even a small en-suite. If it wasn’t for the fact that the door is locked from the outside and there’s a camera blinking at me from the ceiling, I’d be quite comfy. “Hey!” I yell at the door again, my voice hoarse already. “You can’t just keep me in here!”
No one answers because, obviously, they very muchcankeep me in here. Wherever “here” is. I don’t think we were driving for long enough to reach Arizona’s Area 51, but who the hell knows?There could be dozens of secret military facilities scattered around the desert.
I bang on the door again then rub my sore hand. “Open the fucking door, you stupid assholes!”
“Are you ready to answer our questions?” a disembodied voice asks through a hidden speaker. Probably the same asshole who came to “interrogate” me earlier. I told him to fuck off and that I wouldn’t tell him anything until I saw Omni. He nodded as if expecting that and ever since then, I’ve been alone in here. Save for the time a uniformed woman brought me a sandwich and a few bottles of water. She didn’t say a word and when I tried to rush past her through the open door, a guard in the hallway aimed his rifle at me. That…yeah, that scared the shit out of me. I can be brave while mouthing off to a voice coming through a speaker or an interrogation officer behind a desk, but I’m not stupid enough to take on someone pointing a gun.
