Page 25 of Alien Captain's Prisoner

“I’ll take the spanking.”

As I say the words, I turn back to Captain Aleon – and I can instantly see the surprise in his slate-grey eyes. That gives me a little surge of triumph.

Captain Aelon misjudged me – he thought I’d be too proud to accept a spanking, and that he’d have the chance to break me utterly with the threat of the lash or the airlock. He’s both impressed and surprised that I’d call his bluff.

But there’s no coming back from this, though. My crew will never be able to look at me the same way again if I submit to Aelon’s punishment.

How could they? How could big, burly miners like Chris follow a leader after watching her being spanked and humiliated over the knee of a dominant man? Even now, Chris and his cronies are snickering, and my cheeks burn a deeper shade of red at their mirth.

The fuckers! Don’t my crew understand I’m doing this forthem? If it wasn’t for Theme – poor, vulnerable Theme – I’d have been better off letting them suffer the agony of the lash. Instead, I’m being punished twice – once by Captain Aelon, and again by the mirth of the very men I’m suffering this indignity for.

If there’s any comfort from this, it’s that Theme is looking up at me like I’m an angel – descended from the heavens to save him.Heunderstands what I’m sacrificing, even if Chris and his cohorts don’t.

For Theme – for that man who’s barely more than a boy – I’ll bear this shame. I know he wouldn’t survive the twenty lashes, even with Aelon’s promise that he wouldn’t kill my crew, so my sacrifice will not be entirely in vain.

For Theme, I’ll suffer the greatest disgrace imaginable.

Aelon has regained his composure. He looks at me, and purrs:

“The punishment will be administered tonight. You’ll have a few hours to look forward to it.” Then, he clicks his fingers – turning to the two guards. “Take her to the female cells.”

And, like that, the towering Aurelian commander turns away – leaving me with the two Aurelian soldiers. I stand there with my cheeks burning – wanting more than anything else to beanywherebut here. I don’t want to be near that snickering, selfish jackass Chris a second longer – in fact, it’s a relief when the nearest Aurelian guard cocks his head at me, motioning for me to follow him.

I’m led out of the brig by the two guards, and I breathe a sigh of relief as I escape their cells. A moment later, I find myself in a long hallway, headed towards the other wing of cells – those reserved for female prisoners. As we march down them, flanked on either side by those Aurelian guards, I notice the blinking lights overhead, and the dark pits where a few of the bulbs have burned out.

Interesting. As huge, intimidating and impressive as The Instigator is, I am starting to realize that Captain Aelon’s warship is old, and it’s starting to show the impact of decades of wear and tear.

So many clues and questions lay in front of me now – the presence of the Scorp on that moon, and the information Captain Aeon had received about the Wayward Scythe and my stolen cargo. Who is this cocky, swaggering commander? What are he and his triad doing here?

And how can I use that information to my advantage? To escape – preferably with the treasure we’d stolen, and subsequently had stolen from us.

One thing is certain – I need to squeeze as much info out of the Aurelian commander and his men as possible.

I start with the guards. As they lead me down the corridor, I demand: “Why are you guys here? Who is paying you to clear the Scorp nests from that moon?”

The Aurelian guards don’t stop walking. In fact, they don’t even acknowledge my question. It’s like they’re walking a dog, rather than escorting a real, live human prisoner.

Instead of a response, all I get is the view of the towering Aurelian guard in front of me. He’s got a big, broad back that I get to stare at as he walks ahead. His light armor can’t hide the muscular frame of his massive body. It’s intimidating to think that even the subordinates on this ship – the guards and engineers – are built to the same towering, God-like scale as Captain Aelon and his triad.

I’m led maybe a hundred feet down the corridor before the guards stop me in front of another set of huge, steel doors.

Finally, the tallest of the guards turns to face me – looming over me like a mountain. For the first time, he actually speaks to me – scowling: “I have some advice for you, human. Don’t test Captain Aelon. He’ll break you.”

Even by the standards of Aurelians – who are notorious for hiding any hint of emotion – the warning comes across as cold and serious. The guard’s slate-grey eyes are like those of a statue as he glares at me. I shiver, letting his words sink in.

I suspect the warning wasn’t given without reason. On the surface, Captain Aelon might seem like a too-full-of-himself, overconfident braggart – but underneath that surface…

…I canfeelthe danger emanating from him.

I remember back to when Aelon he was confronting that Toad captain – Hoplan. Aelon was doing everything he could to provoke a reaction from the Toad commander, right down to using that insulting nickname of ‘Hopper’. Aelon seemed almost disappointed when Hoplan had turned and fled.

I realize now that Captain Aelon lives for the chance to challenge people – and that he’ll never back down. I’ll have to play him extremely carefully to stand any chance of getting out of this situation alive.

With the guard still staring at me, I demand:

“If Captain Aelon’s so dangerous – why doesn’thego down to that moon? Why does he send you guys down there if he isn’t willing to go himself?”

It’s a question I’d wanted to ask Aelon myself, but I hadn’t got the chance before my crew had tried to stage their ill-fated escape.

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