CAPTURED: 9 Alpha Bad-Boys(43)

A yank at the manacles holding her proved useless. The noise, however, created a scuffle outside the cell door.

The heavy portal-like door swung open and the three-armed mechanic from the space station sauntered in.

"It took you long enough to wake," he complained, and Megan watched in  fascination as his five mouths moved at different speeds. It made her  wonder what she would have heard if she didn't wear a translator. She  hoped the damned alien was wearing a translator of his own, because she  didn't want to waste the insults her mind prepared otherwise.

"Well, excuse me, you three armed freak, for succumbing to your  kidnapping drug so thoroughly. Next time, give me a bit of warning  before you decide to abduct me and I'll try to build a resistance to it  first." She spoke without thinking, a never ending fault with her no  matter the situation.

"Where we're taking you, there won't be a second chance." The creature  chuckled, pleased with his threat and answering the question that yes,  he could understand her. Perfect, time to put her most effective weapon  to use-her acerbic tongue and attitude.

Megan sighed. "You know. I really wish you bad guys would come up with  something original. Do you know how many times that phrase has been done  in the movies? Seriously. Would it kill you to come up with something  new? And maybe take a shower? I mean seriously, you've definitely got  something funky going on."

"You talk too much," said the alien with a frown, three of his five mouths pulling down in a moue of displeasure.

"So everybody tells me. What are you going to do about it?"

He slapped her in the face which really hurt, but also fired up Megan's  temper. "Oh, big bad alien. Hit a defenseless woman why don't you?  Coward. What's wrong? Afraid if I wasn't tied up I'd hurt you?"

The mechanic, turned kidnapper, snarled. "Filthy mouthed whore."

"Not for you I won't be. I like my men with some balls. I think you left  yours at home. Or did someone already neuter them for you?" Megan's  smile goaded him as much as her provoking words.         

     



 

That time, when he punched her, she tasted blood, but he still didn't  give in to her taunts and untie her. A pity. She'd hoped to shame him  into doing so.

Worse, the sight of her blood excited him, and he began to rain blows on  her body, leaving no part of her undamaged. Oops, maybe not such a good  plan. Through the haze of pain and blood, she could hear him talking to  himself.

"Take off my arm and beat me with it, will you? Ha. Looks like I get the  last laugh. I've got your woman now, Trenkaluan. Not such a tough  mercenary after all. And once I'm done showing this whore her place, I'm  going to let her service me. How do you like that, you smug bastard?"

"You're nuts," she muttered. "Tren doesn't care for me."

"Liar," spat the alien, his mouths contorting out of sequence. "He's  never been seen with a woman outside of a brothel before. You must mean  something, and I am going to ruin you for him. Sully you and then throw  it in his face. And he won't be able to do a thing about it."

"That's what you think," growled a welcome, if surprising voice.

He came for me!





Chapter Eleven

Tren cursed the time it took to get his ship back online and discard the  repair bubble. He used those wasted moments to imagine how he'd torture  the three armed bastard who'd dared move so brazenly against him.

Of course, he had only his distraction for one female to blame for  getting caught off guard. Then again, if the cowards had come for him,  he'd have taken care of the problem, distraction or not, but they'd  instead dared to go after Megan. Just the thought of her in someone  else's grasp made his anger burn hotter than a star gone super nova.

Locating them proved easy once he got on his way. Megan's translator  also contained a tracking device, an expensive upgrade he'd acquired for  a project he'd ended up passing on a while back. His ship followed the  blip of her signal while he armed himself and prepared to unleash a  miniature war.

Nobody frukxed with him and lived to tell the tale.

When he got within radar range, he engaged the cloaking device. Another  expensive toy, but wealth stopped being a barrier a long time ago. His  larger craft shadowed the vessel holding Megan. He made his way to the  lowest deck, not the section where the dead-aliens-walking entered, but  another smaller section especially built for space embarkations. Fingers  flying on the console, he engaged his boarding mechanism which lowered a  metal tube. It connected to the other vessel's surface with only the  slightest thud.

Tren braced his feet over the hatch as it hissed open and dropped  through as soon as it was clear. He hit the surface of the other vessel  and went to work with a laser cutting through the metal. As soon as the  piece dropped, providing him entry, he followed, his knives pulled. In  space, only the insane used guns which could punch holes into vital  areas. Usually, he was that crazy person, but he needed to ensure  Megan's safety before he let loose.

The storage room he entered, while loaded with stolen goods, did not contain anything for him to kill. A shame.

A scan of the ship by his own computer showed only six life forms on  board-Megan plus five idiots. A paltry amount. The first two he found in  the bridge, oblivious to the vessel anchored above them. They only  managed to turn halfway to greet him when he slit their throats before  they could raise an alarm. Wiping his blades on their carcasses, he  moved quickly to search room by room. The crewman exiting from a  stateroom managed a squeal before Tren thrust his dagger into him and  dragged it up, eviscerating him.

Cold rage drove him as he methodically hunted the remaining two. He  located the fourth miscreant standing outside an open doorway, watching  something eagerly. Tren could hear a voice muttering and the fleshy  smacks of someone getting beaten. Tren ran at the inattentive guard and  thrust both daggers into its back, using them to lift and move the  gurgling thug out of his way.

Tren stood framed in the doorway, and his fury coalesced from angry red,  to an icy white. The three armed mechanic, who should have known better  than to frukx with him, slugged Megan, who hung bruised and bloody from  a set of manacles.

He caught the soon-to-be-dead alien midsentence. " … like that, you smug bastard?"

"You're nuts," she muttered. "Tren doesn't care for me." Her words struck him like a blow.

"Liar," spat the alien. "He's never been seen with a woman outside of a  brothel before. You must mean something, and I am going to ruin you for  him. Sully you and then throw it in his face. And he won't be able to do  a thing about it."

"That's what you think," Tren growled, more angry than he recalled ever  being. He didn't need his knives for this, so he sheathed them as he  flowed into the room, vengeance personified.

The mechanic snarled as he drew a knife of his own and lunged at him.  Tren didn't move. He caught the flailing wrist, and the second which  came out of nowhere with another blade. He yanked and twisted the  appendages as the third hand came thrusting at him-and missed. The crack  and snap as bone broke preceded the wailing scream of the alien. But  Tren wasn't done. He grabbed the third arm and snapped it, too.

The idiot, who'd thought to best him, collapsed screaming. The noise  irritated Tren, so he kicked it in the head, knocking it unconscious.

Then he turned to face his human.

Megan, even with all her injuries retained enough wits to gape at him. "You actually came for me?"

He shrugged. "Did I mention I hate pirates?"

She laughed, a sound tinged with pained hysteria. "You're insane."

"Probably. But I wouldn't talk if I were you. What did I tell you about  trouble?" He spoke to her gently, trying to keep her attention on him as  he used his knives to pry open the manacles. The left one popped open  and he went to work on the other.

"I know. I just keep making that profit margin of yours smaller and smaller."

"If this keeps up, I might have to keep you for a while until you work off some of your debt."

The restraint snapped off and she collapsed against him. He caught her  with one arm, hugging her tight to him, his rage burning anew at her  weakness and injury.

"I'm sorry, I'm such a pain in the ass," she whispered against his chest. "You should have left me to die."

"Never," he almost yelled, the very thought of her death chilling him  through and through. But she never heard his reply as she slipped into  unconsciousness.

A myriad of feelings swirled in him. He wanted to wake her up and shake  her for allowing herself to succumb to despair. He wanted to crush her  tight to him and keep her forever safe. He wanted to kiss her until she  smiled. He wanted to weep with relief that he'd found her.

I've truly lost my mind and he was no longer sure he cared, a situation he'd examine later. Right now, Megan needed tending.

He swung her up into his arms, and headed back out into the main hall.  Reaching his created entrance, he held onto her with one arm as he used  his other to grasp a hanging harness that his ship dropped at his  command. The crank, holding the suspended cable, hoisted him and his  precious burden up. He wouldn't-couldn't-let her go as he tapped in the  commands to separate his vessel from the now vacant one. The hatch  closed with a metallic click and Tren heard the sound of the metal tube  retracting. He didn't bother calling up a view screen to watch the  fireworks when he ordered his computer to fire on the other vessel as  soon as they were at a safe range.