Page 12 of The Alien's Stolen Rebel

Ohhhh fuck.Torn between laughing and crying, I stared at him instead of doing either. If I explained,would the ship reject me, kick me out of the medbay to die of my very treatable wounds? Or would this database that listed my family as royalty take precedence?

My instinct was to correct the misunderstanding, but I didn’t want to kill myself with honesty. I swallowed nervously, looking around, and tried to think of an alternative.

“Please state the nature of your medical needs, Highness.” He spoke with no sign of impatience in the man’s voice or manner, only a gentle reminder he needed instructions. I swallowed my pride and didn’t argue.

“I’ve been shot,” I said, wincing at the memory. Inside the simulation, all sense of pain and urgency faded, but I remembered how much blood I’d lost. “Boarding gun shot, in my right arm, right leg, and torso.”

He nodded and the image of me appeared next to him, translucent and with red arrows marking the injuries. “That is consistent with the scan, Highness. Now, please tell me which of these organs is vital to life, and any other relevant surgical data.”

The image faded, leaving only the affected organs. It wasn’t much help, and I tried to recall what little anatomy I’d learned.

Fortunately, the computer seemed used to operating on little data. It listened to my hesitant recital of what I knew about the liver, nodding along, and despite the simulation’s numbing effect, I felt something in my torsomove. A distant sense of pain anddiscomfort accompanied it, and I looked up at the ‘doctor.’

“I am removing the pellets that lodged in your abdomen, Highness,” he said. “Would you like to see?”

On the one hand,yes!I’d love to watch this fascinating piece of technology work. On the other, watching myself go through surgery in real time didn’t sound like a fun time.

“Can you save a recording for later? Let me review it when things are less urgent?”

“Of course, Highness. Such data is always available on request.”

We moved on through the rest of my injuries, each one causing more discomfort. It faded fast, though, and as soon as the autodoc had addressed every injury marked on the hologram, the garden and its occupant faded into the darkness.

My eyes opened, and it was like waking from a dream. The garden was still fresh in my memory, but faded and unreal. The voices in my ears drifted away, leaving me refreshed and alert, like I’d had a nap rather than surgery.

And none of my wounds hurt.

I looked down. No sign of them remained. Vehn medical technology was simply that good. When I sat up, aches reminded me where the injuries had been, but I couldn’t see the slightest mark.

Thank God this thing believes I’m royal. If it hadn’t, I’d befucked.

It took a moment for the implication to hit me. Then I swore, jumped up, and ran for the bridge.

8

KREEL

Rachel was right, I discovered as soon as I entered the bridge. Frax’s ships had found us and were maneuvering to trap us. If they’d been willing to harm theStarshadow,we’d have died before I got to the pilot’s seat.

Four interceptors came at us, fast, nimble, and armed with gravity cannons. Warning shots tore through the vacuum, gravity-accelerated bullets narrowly missing us. They wouldn’t penetrate theStarshadow’sreinforced diamond hull, but the shock of impact would liquify anyone on board.

I fired up the engines, darting away before they got more serious. The comms display lit up with urgent hails. Nothing I wasn’t ready to ignore–I didn’t need to hear their lies. If I surrendered, I would die, and nothing they said or did now would change my mind about that.

Rachel’s fate would be a lot worse than mine if theytook her alive. I would not,couldnot, risk her falling into their hands.

TheStarshadowresponded to my commands with eager power, and I flew into a ruined section of the station, twisting between torn and blackened pieces of hull which stabbed and curled around my stolen ship.

My pursuers followed, slowing to do so. I didn’t blame them. Nimble as their ships were, the pilots didn’t have enough experience to weave their way through the wreckage safely. With a savage grin on my lips, I pushed the throttle forward.

The engines pulsed and died, leaving theStarshadowtumbling forward. Grin turning into a snarl, I vented my feelings with a punch to the control panel. It had exactly as much effect as you’d expect.

“What’s wrong with you, cursed machine? You have had more than enough time to power up, and there are no damage or error reports. Why won’t you fly?”

The ship didn’t answer, nor did it speed up. Despite their caution, my pursuers closed the distance quickly, giving me no time to investigate the problem. Fine. I didn’t want a fight, but theStarshadowwas more than capable of giving them one.

She spun at my urging, maneuvering thrusters catching the tumble and correcting for it. The warp cannons hummed to life as I centered the crosshairs on the closest pursuer and squeezed the trigger.

The ship should have torn apart under the twisting forces the cannons unleashed. Instead, all that happened was a disappointed whine as theweapons’ stored energy discharged harmlessly into space.

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