Page 4 of Alien Abduction for Experts
"I came across all sorts of names while reading," I told him. "Not a single one of them ended with X. Hix and Hex might be unusual enough names for us to find them in their databases."
Xil smiled. "Handy. I assume they must be special in some way since Professor Katila wouldn't do this for just anyone. Klat, she tried to kill us. I highly doubt they're just some students or even friends of hers."
"You think she has friends?" I asked drily.
"You're right. Unlikely. It would really help to know what they are to her. I might go through the IGU records, see if they're listed as students or staff somewhere. That would give us a clue to their importance."
He handed me half a piki cake before turning back to his own communicator. He swished through the information much faster than me, but he'd probably grown up with this technology. Earth was so far behind all this. I felt a bit like a cave woman coming into a modern city.
While nibbling on the cake, I continued my search. It was hard work, mostly because so much of the information was repeated or irrelevant. At some point, Xil showed me how to make notes so I could keep track of what I'd found. We worked in silence. I kind of wished I had the little tribitt on my lap, but I couldn't be bothered to get up. If I stopped reading now, it would take forever to get back into the swing.
"Look!" Xil suddenly exclaimed and pushed a holographic image to the main screen.
I stared at it in shock. "It can't be," I muttered after a moment.
It was a video recording of Professor Katila walking arm in arm with Hix and Hex. They were on some kind of space station with bright corridors full of people. Katila and the males were pressed against each other, closer than friends would be. We couldn't hear what they were saying, but Katila was clearly happy and laughing. One of the males - I didn't know which head belonged to which male - bent to the side a little and kissed her.
"Mates," Xil said, looking at me with the same confused expression that likely displayed on my face. "Klatting mates."
* * *
Matar
It had taken forever to order all the parts we needed to repair the ship. The Jade had taken more damage than I'd first thought, but at least the vital systems were all intact. Thanks to our newfound wealth, I'd splashed out on the fastest delivery and repair service available.
I met Havel on the way to the bridge. He was covered in soot and dirt.
"Did you crawl through the pipes?" I asked with a smirk. I'd managed to keep the stains to my overalls, leaving my handsome face clean for Trish to admire. Havel, on the other hand, had black dust all around his cheeks. If I had to decide who to kiss, I'd definitely choose me.
"Very funny. The med bay has taken some damage and I tried to fix one of the devices. It exploded in my face before almost setting the ship on fire. I'm lucky to get away with only some soot as the only damage."
"I never heard a fire alarm," I said, taken aback.
"That's because it's not working. Didn't you check the alarm systems? They're offline."
I stopped in my tracks and pulled up a system status overview on my wrist communicator. The alarms showed as functioning. Strange.
"They're online," I said, showing it to Havel. "They should have worked."
"They klatting didn't. Suppose it was better this way, I wouldn't want to have scared Trish unnecessarily, but we need to get them working again."
"I agree. I'll handle it. The first delivery should get here in a moment, can you go to the airlock and sign for it?"
He huffed as if he wanted to complain, but then nodded and walked away in the opposite direction. I continued to the bridge. I wanted to check the screens there, maybe they would divulge why our alarm system wasn't working. It was urgent. If another fire broke out due to the damage, we wouldn't know until it was too late.
I found Xil and Trish laughing hysterically. Trish had tears in her eyes while Xil's yellow cheeks had turned ochre.
"By the Great and Terrifying A'Ta, what is going on?" I demanded. "Are you on some kind of drugs?"
In response, the captain simply pointed at the main viewscreen. I looked, blinked, looked again, then understood why they were laughing.
Professor Katila was snogging the aliens we were supposed to abduct. She kept alternating between them, leaving wet traces all over their faces. Their down-covered arms were around her, massaging her bum. I gaped at the video, unable to believe what I was seeing.
Trish turned to me, giggling when she saw my expression. "We think they broke up with her. That's why she wants us to abduct them."
I didn't have the words to reply to that. Klatting professor. She was getting us involved in her personal life? That was wrong on so many levels. If they'd left her, they had a good reason for it, and after she'd attacked our spaceship, I could imagine a whole range of reasons.
"Does that change things?" I asked Xil. "Can we do this if they're unwilling to be with her?"
