Page 31 of My Alien Angel (Supernova Casanovas #6)

Fin

Omni sounds so solemn. It’s like he’s saying goodbye forever and I don’t like it one bit.

If he thinks I’m going to let him rot in some stupid alien jail for something he didn’t do, he’s gravely mistaken.

I’m going to go full Erin Brockovich on these fuckwit aliens if they so much as touch him.

I’m sure they have alien internet and tabloids and other outlets where dirty laundry is aired in front of an eager crowd.

I’m normally the shy pushover, as evidenced by my many years spent being bullied by Mr. Robertson, but that time of my life is over.

I’m in freaking space! Old, submissive, people pleasing Fin died back on Earth and now a new, stronger Fin is born.

Or something. My normal weirdness gets a little extra weird when I’m nervous and, truth be told, I’m kind of freaking out right now.

We’re flying straight toward an Independence Day-sized spaceship, only less round and more Star Wars-y shaped.

It’s…huge. Like, fucking huge! No wonder Omni said our little spaceship was an antique.

It doesn’t even begin to compare to the futuristic, battle ready world-destroyer that awaits us.

Massive gun turrets holding what I can only assume are some kind of sci-fi worthy cannons, stick out of strategic locations across the entirety of the ship, along with dozens of other attachments I have no name or description for.

We slowly enter the hangar through a freaking force field.

The hangar is lined with smaller, deadly looking fighter jets.

This thing could annihilate humankind in a matter of days without even trying.

I know they’re supposed to be the good guys but my stomach still churns as Omni sets the ship down with a bone-rattling clunk.

As we head for the door release of this seriously old fashioned clunker, Omni eyes me seriously, reminding me of our goal.

I know what I need to do, but I really wish we could do this together because I’m close to peeing my pants right now.

These people might be the good guys, but they’re about to arrest the man I love and let’s not forget the cat amongst the pigeons.

Garesh’s mole will likely try to silence us the moment we step out of the ship.

To my relief, there’s about a dozen armed aliens of all shapes and sizes waiting for us by the door.

I mean, I’m not relieved to see a dozen huge aliens pointing guns at us, but Omni did say I needed to speak in front of as many witnesses as possible, and a dozen aliens seems like enough to ensure at least some of them are honest.

The second Omni steps outside of the shuttle, every weapon is aimed directly at him. Already anticipating this, Omni has his hands up in the air and immediately speaks in a language I don’t understand. I assume he’s surrendering verbally.

A tall four-armed asshole barks something at the guards.

He’s clearly in charge of the welcome committee.

Just from his tone and arrogant stance alone I’d swear he’s trying to convince them to shoot the clearly unarmed Omni.

They look hesitant, one of the soldiers responding to the four-armed commander in that apologetically conciliatory tone I know so well.

It’s the one you’d use when telling your boss that what he wants you to do is either impossible, illegal, or just incredibly stupid.

God knows I’ve used that tone with Mr. Robertson a million times.

Omni tries to speak, but the commander angrily shuts him down. They then partake in an angry back and forth before the four-armed man snaps and pulls out his own weapon. Omni’s sentence is cut in half when an energy beam hits him and he crumples to the floor.

The guards’ gasps are drowned out by my scream.

Ignoring the weapons still aimed at Omni, I lunge to his side, my hands sliding over his limp body, looking for injuries.

There are none and he’s clearly breathing, so the beam must have been some sort of stunner.

Regardless, it’s probably not the best form to stun an unarmed man who has openly surrendered because now the guards are looking at the commander warily.

I guess we now know who Garresh’s inside man is. Wonderful.

He barks out another order, this time pointing at me.

Fuck. “I’m an innocent victim!” I exclaim, trying to remember what Omni told me to say.

“I do not give consent to have my memories wiped. I demand you take me to your leader and I refuse to be left alone with that trigger happy, unnecessarily aggressive asshole,” I add, just in case he wants to escort me somewhere alone.

Probably straight into a malfunctioning airlock, if he had his way.

The guard who stood up to the commander earlier says something to me.

Even though his coloring and sharp teeth remind me of a tiger, he sounds friendly.

That, however, doesn’t solve our communication issue.

“Do I look like I speak alien to you? Give me something so I can understand you, and take me to someone in charge. There’s a slaver vessel with one hundred and eighty-seven kidnapped humans on board about to pass through your stupid blockade and I’m fairly certain that this guy,” I point at the commander, “is the one covering it all up.”

The tiger guard looks taken aback, his eyes darting between the commander and me.

The asshole in charge aims his weapon at me, spitting out something I’m fairly certain is a curse, but just as I’m bracing myself for a blast from whatever he just hit Omni with, the tiger guard steps between me and the gun.

Well, look at that. It looks like there actually might be some decent aliens aboard this ship.

I flinch when another guard, this one resembling a human-sized Godzilla, approaches me.

Seeing my unease, he stops a safe distance away and extends his hand toward me.

In his palm, there’s a small device. I don’t recognize it at first, but when the Godzilla guard taps on a hole in the side of his head before pointing at me, I grab it and put it up against my ear.

“… the traitor away, immediately!” sounds from the device a split second after the commander speaks, the electronic English overlays his enraged grunting like a badly dubbed foreign film. “And this human is clearly in shock. She needs to be sedated.”

“Like hell I’m in shock! You’re just trying to silence me to protect yourself, but guess what, buddy? You’re busted.”

Straightening up, the commander glares at the soldiers surrounding me.

“This is a direct order and anyone who disobeys it will be punished. Put the traitor in a cell and prepare this human for the memory wipe procedure,” he speaks with the authority of a man used to having his orders followed without protest.

“Sir, with all due respect,” the tiger guard starts, “she said that she does not consent to the procedure. The regulations—”

“I don’t care about the regulations! Just do what I fucking said or I’ll shoot you!”

The Godzilla guard and the tiger guard exchange frowns, clearly unsure what to do.

The rest of the guards seem to be on edge, too, but they’re somewhat likelier to obey their commander than stand up for me.

Before I can figure out something more to say, a deep voice rumbles through the hangar. “What is going on here?!”

The soldiers all turn to face the newcomer, snapping to attention as another Godzilla guy approaches.

This one looks older than the one who gave me the translating device and, from the way the others treat him, I assume he’s in charge.

Even the four-armed commander lowers his weapon and stands up straighter, though he doesn’t stop glaring at me.

“Admiral Eldri,” the tiger guard says as he performs an alien salute. “We’ve apprehended a Quintran kidnapping a human from Earth. However,” he glances at the commander warily, “there were some serious accusations made against commander Kelvok.”

“Lies!” the bastard, Kelvok, immediately exclaims. I’m pleased to hear the note of fear in his voice. “It’s all lies. This human is clearly deranged, her mind damaged from the abuse this traitorous piece of Karli crap has put her through. Whatever she says is nonsense.”

“Excuse me?” I ball my free hand into a fist, resting it against my hip, and, channeling my inner Imani, give the asshole my best glare.

“I’m not deranged, nor am I in shock. Nor have I been kidnapped, so if you would kindly shut the fuck up, that would be great.

” Ignoring Kevlok’s sputtering, I turn to the older Godzilla man, the one I hope is truly in charge of this shit show.

The tiger guard called him admiral, and though I’m certain it’s just an English approximation of whatever title these people use, he must be high ranked.

“Sir, there’s a ship about to pass through your blockade.

It belongs to an Ataxi slaver named Garresh and on board there are one hundred and eighty-seven kidnapped humans and two enslaved, er, Kar-something.

” Omni told me the name of the species, but I forgot.

Tilting his head to the side, the admiral blinks.

It’s a little unsettling to watch the nictitating membrane slide over his eye from the inner corner, but I do my best to ignore it.

For an alien species, he could have looked a lot more…

alien? “Karetelans?” he offers. His voice is flat, not giving me any clues as to whether he believes me or not.

“Yes, those. Garresh has an ally on board your ship,” I continue, eager to relay Omni’s message. “One who let his ship pass through the blockade undetected and subsequently blocked all transmissions and warnings we’ve been trying to send to you from Earth. I believe it’s this guy.”

Kevlok snarls as I point at him. “Liar. I’m a decorated member of the UGC peacekeeping forces. I don’t need to answer to such ridiculous allegations. Admiral, if you would just let me resolve this situation—”

“Enough.” The admiral doesn’t have to raise his voice.

A single word carries enough authority to shut everyone up.

“Move the prisoner to a cell,” he orders.

Two soldiers grab Omni by the arms and begin dragging him away.

Everything inside of me screams to protest, protect him, but the memory of our earlier conversation sounds through my mind.

I need to remember what’s important. Sizing me up, the admiral continues, “See the human to one of the guest quarters.”

Both the tiger and the Godzilla guard approach and I know there’s no point in trying to fight them off.

Still, I don’t acquiesce immediately, looking at the admiral imploringly.

“What about Garresh and the humans? You have to save them.” If he’s in on the plot, everything is lost, but I don’t get that vibe from him.

“I will look into it personally,” he promises, his voice a low rumble which my mind has trouble associating with the robotic English translation coming from my ear piece. It’s like I’m listening to a text-to-speech app dubbing over Klingon.

“But, Admiral,” Kevlok protests, “this is not part of your duties. I am more than capable of—”

“I said, enough!” Now the admiral sounds pissed.

I hurry after my two guards, eager to be away from them both.

He’s fucking terrifying and, by the way Kevlok is squirming, I’m certain the admiral will tear him a new one once he discovers the truth.

Hopefully, it won’t be too late to rescue the humans.