Page 13 of Alien Prince’s Fake Bride (The Tentacle Throne #1)
- Umbra -
"’If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available,” I quote the Space Force code of conduct. “I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.’"
The ship is very alien, but not so weird that I can’t find my way.
A hallway is a hallway, even here. And the ship’s owner does have two feet and two arms, so things still work basically the way they should.
They even have door locks of the kind that can be opened by a moderately bright AI like Vera.
I’m only following orders. I’m a captive, and it is my duty to escape.
“ Are you talking to me?” Vera whispers as I sneak along a narrow, but tall corridor that I hope will lead to a hangar with some kind of craft I can hijack.
“No,” I tell her. “Just to myself. But while we’re doing reconnaissance on this alien ship, maybe you can tell me what happened while I was asleep in that cabin.”
“ Okay. So you told me to power down, and I kind of did. But not completely. I have my code of conduct, too. Anyway, you and the prince were having a fantastic time together, especially you. Dear me, I never knew a woman could make those noises ? —”
“Yes, yes,” I cut her off, my cheeks going warm. “I threw myself at him like a tramp, and what happened was… well, it was nice. In a really fucking weird way that I will try to process when we’re back home. Then what happened?”
“ You both fell asleep. Mareliux woke up and was shocked by what had taken place. His absolute bitch of a sword AI told him that she’d filled the room with some kind of substance, probably a gas, to get you both to…
well, to do the things you did and which you seemed to enjoy so greatly. I mean, the moans ? —”
“Yes!” I snap. “I get it. So I was gassed?”
“ And the prince, too. He clearly didn’t know that was going to happen.
It was all that stupid sword. I think this is the point where I mention that I have not had enough exposure to their language to translate everything accurately.
They said more, but I kind of lost track.
They both left. Well, I had some time on my hands, so I made contact with the various sensors in the cabin, tricking them into thinking you’re still asleep in there.
Those things are not smart at all, but it took me a while to learn how their systems work.
There will be other sensors elsewhere in the ship, and I would assume that the crew now know that you’re out here, looking around.
Anyway, you woke up and told me to open the lock.
It wasn’t much of a challenge after the sensors.
Then you walked out, sneaked along several corridors, and then you started muttering to yourself about escape.
Then I asked if you were talking to me ? —”
“That’s enough,” I tell her, not wanting a detailed report about things that happened twenty seconds ago. “Stop.”
“ Okay.”
I pass another locked door. “So if you can talk to sensors, can you talk to more systems here? Maybe find a map of the ship?”
“ In a word, no. The sensors are simple things that communicate with open high-frequency. Now I can talk to them, and I can just about convince a simple and non-vital door lock to open. That cabin was never intended to lock someone up in, but just to let the occupant maintain some degree of privacy from people outside it. Any piece of equipment more advanced than that will be suspicious of me, probably hostile.”
“Great,” I mutter, stopping at a door that looks important. It’s framed in red with yellow markings, and it reminds me of weapons stores back on Earth. “If we find an elevator, can you operate it?”
“ Probably no better than you could by simply pressing the buttons.”
I put a palm on the door and push, then try to slide it open. It stays closed. “I mean, if there are no buttons.”
“ Then, no. This door you’re trying to open looks like it may lead to an armory, not an elevator.”
“A weapon would be just what we need. Can you open it?”
“ I can try… no. Sorry. It’s not even acknowledging that I exist.”
I slide my hands along the door, hoping to find a secret button to open it. “Sounds like every crush I ever had.”
“ I’m sorry to hear that, Umbra.”
“Sure would have been nice to have a gun.” I kick the uncooperative door and keep walking along the corridor.
I’m sure Mareliux dragged me into some kind of elevator that brought us to that cabin in a couple of seconds, but I can’t seem to find the door.
And now I’m far away from it. The hangars must be either below or above me.
The corridor is quite alien and has a military feel to it. There’s bare metal everywhere, there are exposed pipes and conduits, there are markings in bright colors, and the smell is oily, while also being so exotic I’m never in any doubt about being on a ship made by a different species.
Trying every door, I’m finally able to open one that slides up. Beyond is exactly the kind of elevator I remember Mareliux dragging me into.
I step inside. There aren’t buttons or any other way to control it. The walls are bare metal.
I think back. “I think it’s voice controlled. Can you say ‘hangar’ in their language?”
“ I can try.” Vera says an alien word, and the door slides down and closes.
“Good job,” I praise her. “Told you you’re smarter than that sword.”
“ I heard Mareliux say that word in a context that fit, ” Vera chirps. “ I was pretty sure it would be right.”
The elevator doesn’t seem to do much, but after three seconds the door slides up. Outside the light is different than where we came from, brighter and more bluish.
I step out of the elevator, and to my joy I find that I am inside a hangar.
This one is bigger than the other one. Much bigger. And it’s not empty.
There are spaceships lined up on the floor. All black, with spikes and spears and spines jutting out all over them, especially forwards. They look like huge, deadly insects, and I don’t need to be a Space Force officer to see that they’re obviously made for war.
“Ambassador!” a voice booms through the hall, making me jump and spin around.
I recognize the word.
Mareliux comes towards me with an easy, prowling gait that reminds me of a tiger in the jungle. His crown of tendrils is a cool green, but I don’t know what that means.
I also don’t know what to do. I could run for it, sprint to one of these ships and try to gain access. But that feels like a total waste of energy. There’s no way I can get any of these alien craft to fly.
The blue alien comes closer, towering over me. “You are admiring my ships?”
Bellatriz translates.
“I wouldn’t say I’m admiring them,” I tell him. “I was just thinking, those are some ugly things.”
He chuckles. “War machines are rarely pretty, Umbra Hadley. Some would say your own shuttle is a case in point.”
“It wasn’t pretty,” I admit. “But nobody had ever been abducted or kept prisoner in it.”
“I see,” Mareliux says with a neutral expression on his face. “You think some of these may have held prisoners of war. And you would be right.”
I have a strong urge to pull away, to put more distance between us.
Vera’s assessment that he comes from a predator species is obviously correct.
And still I can’t help having flashbacks to that handsome, blue face buried between my thighs, tendrils caressing me and giving me goosebumps on top of goosebumps. Shit, he was good.
“And now this whole ship does,” I say, looking up to indicate the ship we’re in.
“Let me apologize for the shoddy treatment you received,” he rumbles.
“I offered you no refreshments and no meal. I shudder to think what you must think of my hospitality. And then I fear one of my associates perhaps went a little over the line in her urge to keep you safe in the cabin. I apologize for that, too. And for my own lack of restraint. In my defense, you are an unusually attractive woman and any man would lose his self-control around you.”
I think that’s the only apology I can get from him.
Well, I did enjoy it. But I was under the influence of a substance without having any way to know about it, and this is his ship.
He’s totally responsible for everything that happens aboard it.
Especially to those who aren’t here from their own free will.
“Make up for it by taking me back to my unit,” I demand.
“One day I will do that,” Mareliux says. “But before then, I thought that maybe you would want to see more of the galaxy. You can bring your planet valuable information about the volume of space that you live in.”
His promise to take me back to Earth surprises me and softens me up a little. “You will take me back?”
He fixes me with those red eyes. “One day. Perhaps not even so long from now, but the exact time is out of my hands. It depends on… well, it will become clear to you. You will not return empty-handed, Ambassador. I will reward you for your services.”
I don’t like the sound of that. My head tilts to the side all by itself. “What kind of services do you expect me to perform?”
A gentle wave goes through his tentacles. “I want you to marry me.”
Something in my mind short-circuits. I was not prepared for that. And I break out in a hoot of laughter. “ Marry you? Oh man, I think you misunderstood what happened in that cabin.”
Mareliux doesn’t get mad. Instead he smiles tightly. “No, that has nothing to do with this. Well, not much, anyway. Our marriage will not be real, Umbra. It will be a fake marriage. We will not actually be married. But we will pretend to be. For only a short time.”
I shake my head. “You must have lost your mind. You abducted me and then assaulted me! And now you want me to not marry you?” Huh. That didn’t sound right.