Page 11 of Sold to the Alien Smugglers

The only thing I need to focus on is getting to planet X12 – and gettingawayfrom this kind of life.

X12 has a very low crime rate – and as part of the Human Alliance, there’s no slavery, no Scorp attacks, and very few Toads.

I shiver just at the word.

Toads.

Toads are the worst of the races.

Hell, between the Toads and the Rogue Aurelians – the exiles and renegades who kidnap women in their fanatical search for their Fated Mate – the universe is a dangerous place.

Ugh. I hate those alien bastards. Toads, Rogue Aurelians, and all the bloody human scum who ply the same grisly trade. Pirates or slavers, call them what you will. They’re always out there – endlessly patrolling the dark reaches of space, looking for their next victims.

I guess I shouldn’t judge them by their species. Every race has its fair share of scum. It’s not the DNA or genetics of a slaver that makes them disgusting – it’s their vile and revulsive lack of basic morality.

I stare out through the viewport. Through the murky glass I lose myself in the endless chasm of space; eternally hungry to suck you up and make you disappear.

I need to disappear. That’s why I’m heading to X12.

Sudden movement in the far distance – well beyond the glass of the viewport – makes me tense up. Did I imagine that?

I saw movement – I’m sure of it. Somewhere out there, in the blackness of space.

But there should benothingbut dead space ahead of us. Nobody comes here. Untamed Space is reserved for lunatics like the captain of the Elnor; who only took such risks to carve eleven months off a similar voyage through protected sectors.

So, either we’re running parallel to a rogue meteor shower or…

…my eyes widen as I count ten, twenty, and then thirty lights twinkling in the distance – definitely not stars.

“No!”

Tessa whips her head around to see why I’d gasped. Then, she follows where my eyes are locked. The moment she sees what I do, Tessa’s glass plummets to the deck – the thick plastic bouncing away as Tessa freezes at the sight screaming towards us.

Thirty Toad attack ships.

There’s no mistaking the Toad craft. Just like the creatures that pilot them, Toad starships are ugly, uneven things; bulging with engines and weapons, and then swept with gangly, disproportionate ailerons and fins.

They might look wrong – but there’s no denying the speed or lethality of a Toad attack ship. Generations ago, they proved themselves to be the only species in the universe that could threaten the Aurelian Empire through force of arms and technology.

My chair shudders. The creaking hulk of the Elnor protests as the engines fire up to full burn.

The floor of the bar skews to the right, and I realize that the captain is turning the vessel sharply away from the oncoming Toad ships. Tessa and I actually feel the shift, as the captain turned so sharply even the inertial dampeners can’t fully compensate for the incredible g-force produced.

But it’s futile against the fast Toad ships. Within minutes, they’re on top of us – and, as they approach, lances of las-fire burst from the attack ships.

The Elnor rocks from side to side, barraged by explosions. I grab Tessa and drag her beneath the table.

I’m petrified – until the voice of my dead best friend cuts through my panic and confusion.

Ling was always robotic under stress – and now, I can hear her voice almost as if she’s whispering directly into my ear.

Get deeper inside. Las-fire can only penetrate the outer hull.

She’s right – or my imagined memory of her is. The dorms are safer than the view decks.

I steel myself and grab Tessa’s hand – dragging her after me as I clamber out from beneath the table and stumble across the tilted deck toward the doors.

The ship lurches as I slap my hand on the open button, and I crack my head sharply against the wall. For a moment, stars flash in front of my vision – but I shake them off quickly.

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