I shrug. I don't have the answers for him.
The human tugs on Kaspar's hand, leading him on. "This way. In this room." She pauses and gestures us all forward. "Jade's in here."
We step into the ship's med-lab. One of the beds has been replaced with a stasis pod, which is odd, and it's in the center of the room. Standing next to it is another human, and as she turns, my tongue glues itself to the roof of my mouth.
This new human is more like it.
She's older than the yellow-haired one, for one. The other reminds me too much of my sister for me to be attracted to her, but my trou feel painfully tight at the sight of this new female. She's probably Mathiras's age, early thirties for a human, and her skin is a rich, golden-brown shade. Her hair is a dark, frizzy puff that floats around her head like a nimbus, and her hips and breasts are extremely generous. She's spilling out of her ragged clothing in every which way, and I can't decide if I love that or hate it.
This new female looks over at us, and I'm not surprised to see she's got the most gorgeous, expressive eyes I've ever seen. They're more gold than brown, and stand out in her lovely face. She seems worried, her gaze flicking between all of us. "Are they friends, Alice?"
Kef me, even her voice is sultry. I'd gladly be stuck here if it meant being left with this sort of company. Those males that abandoned her here were fools. "I'm your friend," I volunteer, grinning.
She gazes at me as if seeing me for the first time, and her full lips curve in a little smile. "I'm Jade."
And I'm smitten.
10
JADE
This is not going as I hoped.
I keep up the act, my expression one of a soft, terrified female relieved at being rescued. Alice is in full gear, clinging to the one at the front, her tears wetting the front of his tunic. She's such an incredible actress that even I believe her. The poor alien keeps patting her hair and looking like he has no clue what to do. These are blue aliens—mesakkah—like the ones that brought us on this ship.
They're still the enemy, though.
So I bite my lip and pretend to shiver, doing my best to look helpless in my slave girl outfit.
"Here," says the grinning one, the one who said he'd be my “friend.” He taps the fastener at his throat and it slithers down the front of his tunic. His clothing opens up, showing an expanse of blue muscled chest and tattoos, and my heart lodges in my throat. Am I about to be raped? I—
I breathe again as he takes the tunic and drapes it around my shoulders.
I don't have to fake my trembling this time. "Thanks." In a way, that was a good thing. It reminds me that no matter how pleasant someone might seem, they're still the enemy, and they enslave humans. We're better off just robbing them and sending them on their way.
Except…in the past, each time we've been visited by pirates lured in by our distress call, it's been a small crew. With a little maneuvering, we have no problems outwitting and taking over a crew of three to four aliens. Right now, though, I'm counting six red-hued aliens (red like Helen, I can't help but notice), a blue-skinned important-looking guy in black clothing with ornate horns, the pirate that Alice is crying on and distracting, and my new shirtless buddy at my side. That's nine. And if they're a smart crew, they'll have left someone on board that great big ship in case of trouble.
Which means things are getting hairier by the moment.
I'm always cautious. Ruth sometimes chides me that I'm too cautious. She'd look at this as a great opportunity—a big ship has lots of supplies. But I prefer to be safe, because there's more than just my life at stake. There's a lot to consider, and sometimes it feels utterly overwhelming. I don't want to be in charge.
But there's no one else to do it, and so I force myself to focus on the task at hand.
The shirtless one leans in closer to me. "Are you all right? Your friend said you were sick."
He's got kind eyes and a roguish smile, and I'm probably going to feel a little guilt when we rob this one. But I force a tremulous smile to my face, my eyes wide and hopefully damsel-in-distress-like. "I'm okay now that you're here." I touch the pod, which we've covered with a strategic towel over the faceplate. "And I'm not sick. Jade is."
"You guys can help us?" Alice's voice rises, ever theatrical. "You're here to save us?"
"I told you we are," the one Alice is clinging to says, and he sounds a little exasperated at her tears. She needs to dial it back a little.