Page 20 of Saved By the Alien Mercenary

Luck struck when some kind of vehicular crash drew the attention of the guards and De’tor’s spy. I dashed for it as fast as I could through heavy snow, my handsclutching the gunaround my belly as if that would help. My speed was notgreat, but I made it to a dense clutch of shrubbery near the road without being noticed. By then, the pile-up appeared to have been resolved, though traffic into the city was still at a standstill. The nearest vehicles were all on wheels, and one had a low back for cargo that did not appear properly secured. Would I be able to makeit?

There was no further distraction to hide my movements, but De’tor’s male was watching the woods, not the side of the road. The guards were moving back into position at the gate, their backs turned; it was now or never. I rushed the vehicle, flicked the latch, and,with a pained grunt, rolled myself inside. I was lucky the cab was closedofffrom this cargo area, or the driver would have noticed my very non-stealthy entry.

Pushing myself up on my elbows, I fumbled to shut the hatch with fingers that ached as they touched the icy metal. I stared directly into the eyes of the driver of the vehicle behind this one,then. A Rummicaron woman, her expression as cool as ice. She blinked twice,then looked away. The latch snicked as I shut it fully, and for the first time in hours, I was completely out of the cold wind. It almost felt…warm,in comparison,but I knew not to let that trick me into sitting still. Hypothermia or frostbite were serious risks until I managed to get warmed up properly. I wriggled my fingers again, massaging them,and did the same for my toes.

The vehicle rocked gently as it began driving again, and I did not dare open the hatch until it had come to another full stop. My com device let me know exactly where we were, and it had traveled the closed circuit around the city to somewhere almost directly across from the port. That meant another long hike ahead of me, or to risk public transportation, whichthe Rummicaron were so fond of inside their city.

In all my planning, I had forgotten to think about what would happen if the driver of this vehicle opened the hatch and saw me. I was not fast enough to get it myself—my frozen fingerswereclumsy—and then Ifound myselfstaring into the sharkish snout of a Rummicaron male. He looked startled, which was technically, according to the Rummicaron not an emotion. The expression smoothed out quickly anyway, replaced by a snarky, what are you doing here?

I struggled upright to heave myself out of the back, and my pregnancy must have been obvious enough for him. He reached out and helped me out with impersonal but gentle hands. Once I was on my feet, my legs ached,and that backache was so fierce now that I had to grit my teeth against the pain. “I’m sorry, I didn’t take anything, I was just so tired of walking.” He narrowed his eyes at me,as if he didn’t quite believe me, and I hoped he didn’t recognize me from the port authorities’arrest warrant that had flashed all over the city before. He was from out of town,though, so maybe he hadn’t seen it.

Looking pitiful wasn’t all that hard, and it was not something the male was equipped to deal with. It made most Rummicaron very uneasy to deal with any overt expression of emotion, as they suppressed all oftheir own. This male was no different, hurriedly stepping away. He was businesslike enough to quickly inspect the back of his truck before demanding a small amount of credits in compensation for used fuel. It almost made me laugh, but this was truly the best outcome, you could almost call that a kindness.

Having paid up, I started walking again, my eyesflicking to the tracking program open on my com every so often to make sure I was still on track. It was warmer inside the city, the stones capturing the sun’s heat and the buildings blocking the windsthat swept throughthe bare woodsoutside. Because of that, I felt I could tough it out a little longer, even in pain as I was. I just needed to reach those offices where theywere holdingBrace. At least he wasn’t in De’tor’s clutches, so I hoped that meant I could talk them into releasing him to me.

When I passed Kali’s Bread and Fish shop, the exhaustion and pain were too much. I eyed Brace’s blip guiltily but ducked inside anyway so I could sit down someplace warm for just a minute. Food, I needed food so badly that I ordered a pile of it from Kali’s menu. All my favorites. It felt too much like I was ordering my last meal, and though it warmed me, restoring feeling to my fingers and toes, none of it tasted the way it should. Every bite was like ashes in my mouth, and I knew that was my guilt talking. I should be in that office already. What if they executed Brace for his perceived role in the explosion? What if they gave him to that greedy militaryquartermaster I’d sold my bolts of fabric to? What if De’tor was there after all?

Getting up after sitting down felt impossible. Tears leaped to my eyes when the pain crescendoed so badly that I couldn’t breathe. This wasn’t good;something really awful was happening. What if the baby was in danger? What if I was going into labor prematurely? So much stress lately…it wasn’t unreasonable to think that.

Wobbling on unsteady feet, I debated what my course of action should be: rescue my mate or find a doctor to help my baby.Then the pain ebbed, and for a moment,I felt almost normal. I turned in the direction of the port and started walking.

Chapter 17

Ruby

Sweat coated my forehead with a fine sheen by the time I’d reached the port office building. On my com device, the signal fromBrace’s com blinked right over the spot, this had to be it. At least, this was the place where his com was, and I hoped it wasn’t far from where he was. I hoped the communications officer from theVarakartoomwas right.

Two Rummicaron males in port authority uniformsflanked the entrance to the building. The crest of the Rummicaron port authority wasa fish-like creature and a sickle,witha row of stars below them. It was emblazoned in gold above the door and decorated each glass pane set into the building. The guards also had it on their uniforms, butonly asa discreet patch on their left breast pocket. Backed by such pomp, the males were puffed up and gave me suspicious looks as I walked up to them.

I could not blame them for staring at me like I was dirt. Wrapped up in those blankets to stay warm, I was a frumpy mess with a big belly. The cramps and back pain made me sweaty and pale,and Ishuffledawkwardly. I was the weirdest rescue party there had ever been, and to them,I probably looked homeless. The guard closest to me eyed me up and down, his beady black eyes narrowing on my face. The other seemed more compassionate, as far as he could even feel such a thing. “Can we help you, miss?” he said.

I nodded firmly, trying to look more authoritative than I felt,when I was pretty sure I was either in early labor or something was wrong. If not for the occasional kick or shift fromthe baby, I would have been terrified. But he was moving regularly, so I knew he was alive, which made Brace my priority. I owed it to my sweet Hoxiam to save him, even if that meantgoing intomassive debt and paying all the credits I did have.

They recognized me just as I said I was here to pay my fines and reclaim my property. The first guard reached for his gun,as if he thought he had to force me inside, but his shoulders lowered again almost immediately after. I was no threat, obviously, and they both knew it.

“Right this way, miss,” the second male said, still sounding softer, kinder. He took megentlyby the elbow and adjusted his pace to guide me through the door, his large stride matching my much slower steps. A blast of warmer air hit me in the face, but it was only warm in comparison to the outside temperatures. The Rummicaron did not need comfy, warm rooms in a foyer;they probably didn’t have comfortable temperatures in their offices,either. They weren’t fansof soft things, it was a miracle their city was so beautifully decorated and their food so tasty, if you ignored some of the more risquédelicacies they liked, like the bloodworms.

The first guard remained at his post, but my escort guided me past the reception area and,with purpose,deeper into the building. He didn’t talk until we were almost there, but my com indicatedI was still getting closer to Brace, and that was all that mattered. “Officer Javano has been assigned the explosion fall-out situation. That includes your part in it, miss,” the male said in a low tone that did not carry far. “I understand your ship was blown up? Do you know who did it?” His head was big, shaped like a shark’s, so it was hard to read any kind of friendliness in his expressions when so many teeth flickered your way. Still, there was a softness tothebrown-hued gray of his skin, and an obvious attempt was made to minimize the amount of razor-sharp teeth he showed me.

It was not his place, as a simple guard, to ask me what I knew of the explosion. There had to be some other motive here, but I saw no reason not to be honest. It could not harm my reputation any more than this situation already had. I would not be welcome as a trader in any Rummicaron port ever again. “My crew—which I ditched before arriving here—tried to smuggle goods for the crimelord Jalima. Those goods are not on my ship;I’d never do something illegal. But Jalima wanted them back. He blew it upaspayback, though I had nothing to do with any of it.”

He frowned but said nothing else, simply kept us walking as fast as my tired, sore feet could manage. How long had I been up? I’d walked through the entire night, missed sleeping, and wasgrowingmore and more concerned that I wasn’t in labor—which would be bad. The pain had swelled twice since I’d left Kali’s eatery, and I could feel another wave coming on now. If they were contractions, they were still far apart, but how much longer would that last?

We eventuallyreached an office,though. There were no guards, and the walls were all glass that had been turned opaque, a milky white I couldn’t see through. My escort knocked on the door and then gave me a final,piercing look with his small, black eyes. “Officer Javano will take your situation into account if you are honest. You did good coming in yourself;that shows good faith. Good luck, miss.” His eyes darted to my belly, and when I reached down and reflexively clutched it with the advancing pain, his eyes narrowed even more. But he walked off before the door opened, leaving me to face this new officer all by myself.

The door made no sound when it slid sideways into the wall to grant me access. The office beyond was dimly lit but sleek and gray. A hard, uncomfortable-looking couch, a large desk with a small, low chair in front of it, and a much larger swivel chair behind itoccupied the room. Someone was sitting in that chair, but they had turned away from the door,and I could not see them. Very dramatic, very villain-like. I would have laughed if it weren’t so dire, and if I didn’t feel like someone was trying to squeeze me in two.

I panted through the pain, forcing myself to step inside,even though I wanted to just lie down and curl up in a fetal position. “I’m here,” I said through gritted teeth, making my way through the office with firm steps, forcing myself forward so I wouldn’t back out and run. No, I wouldn’t run, running was beyond me at this point. Outside this office, only more danger waited. De’tor was still looking for me. He knew I was pregnant, knew it was his baby I was carrying,somehow. This was no longer about the missing Kanfray for him.

The person in the chair did not respond, and my labored breathing had to be drawing his attention. I ached so badly, and I was so tired from everything, but I had to see this through. In my mind, I was certain that if I could just get them to release Brace back to me, everything would be all right. My pained gasp finally drew out this Javano, the officerwhoheld the fateof my Brace in his hands. The chair began to swivel, turning until I was face to face with another Rummicaron male.

It’s curious, I had never seen a Rummicaron beforewhowas scared out of his mind. That’s probably why it took me a few seconds to process what I was seeing. They were hard to tell apart because they were all gray and hairless. Each Rummicaron was different, of course, different shapes, different shades of color. To someone who hadn’t grown up seeing all these minute differences, it took even longer to read their expressions, to recognize what was goingon.

Javano—if that’s who he was—had his brow crunched up in a tight frown, his mouth pulled intoan even tighter line, and his fists curled around his armrests with knuckle-straining force. He looked identical to the guardwhohad brought me here at first, identical to pretty much any male I’d seen on the street. And then I realized he had a tiny scar by his left eye, a littleV-notch—and that wasn’t distaste or anger;it was fear. An emotion that a Rummicaron could feel and express under certain circumstances. An emotion even they could not fully suppress.

I turned, realizing too late that the threat was not in front of me,but at my back. My movements were sluggish from exhaustion and pain, and I saw him but could not dodge. De’tor was so suddenly at my side that it felt like he’d appeared as if by magic. His purple glowing lines highlighted every tight muscle on his body. Amethyst eyes boredinto me with something detached, something colder than the icy weather outside. “There you are, female,” he said, his deep voice rumbling with sub-harmonics that made my stomach twist. No, maybe that was just my baby responding to the sound of his father’s voice.

“You shouldn’t have come here, but I knew you’d be back for him, for your ship. Where else would you go?” he saidto me, but he didn’t seem to want an answer. I stubbornly kept my mouth shut and tried to glare, but that was hard on the heels of the fading wave of pain, ebbing out of me until my body felt slack and limp.

---