Page 2 of Loved By the Alien King
“Shoot him for lying too,” the other behind me said.
Fuxx.Another approach, then.
“By order of our peace treaty with Earth, no harm shall come to any Xenoxx warrior by the hand of any human,” I reminded them. “At the risk of breaking the treaty and causing a war, I demand you put down your weapons.”
“We don’t take orders from a Faid,” the officer behind me said. “Nice disguise though.”
“It’s no disguise.” I lifted my arms to show them my scales, which only made the redhead suck in a breath and clench his weapons tighter.
“This thing don’t lie.” He waved the Faid detector so the orange dot spiraled over my bare chest. “Youarea Faid.”
“I’m not disagreeing with you,” I said calmly. “I amalsothe Xenoxx king. Look, I can prove it to you.”
I moved my hand toward my communicator on my wrist, and the redhead jerked his gun to follow my every movement.
“Careful,” he warned.
“My High Sword will be on the other end. He’ll confirm who I am.”
“Great. The word of another Faid.”
“No. He’s not.” I waited for the communicator’s boosted signal to connect. “Does that thing work through holographic viewscreens?”
He shrugged. “Supposed to.”
“Axxel, I have company,” I told him when his face appeared,beforehe said something embarrassing, like if I’d run out of pinecones for my mango-pinecone salad with the frosted flakes of my enemies’ dried blood sprinkled over it.
His easy, relaxed smile froze in place when I swiveled the viewscreen so he could see my surroundings. Stark viciousness soon replaced it.
“So this is an act of war, then,” he bellowed. “King Maxx, I’ll arrange for Earth’s total annihilation to happen within the hour.”
Nothing but straight to the point, my High Sword.
“Wait, wait,” the officer behind me said. “Please. We believe you. Just don’t touch Earth, okay? It’s got enough problems as it is.”
The red-haired officer lowered his gun but not the Faid-finding weapon. “You’re still a Faid though. We can’t just let you go.”
Axxel’s usually good-natured chuckle dripped with venom. “Sure you can. Just turn your backs, leave, forget this ever happened. Easy.”
The officer shook his head. “We have orders. We don’t show Faid mercy. Ever.”
“Take me in, then,” I told him.
“Maxx,” Axxel said through gritted teeth. “What are you doing?”
The redhead rubbed the stubble on his chin. “Like…capture you?”
I nodded once. “Keep me alive, and we won’t start a war.”
“Maxx.” Axxel’s mounting fury solidified the weight in my chest.
This was the only way out though. And the only way out was into Earth Space Fleet. The alternative was death, not just for me but for the billions of people on Earth.
This was the only way for me to stay alive and hopefully see Nera again. Even as a prisoner of Space Fleet. I could withstand the hatred in her big, brown, soulful eyes when she found out what I was if it meant seeing her one more time. My selfish heart wanted one more glimpse of my beautiful star before she dissolved her memory of me into one of bitterness.
Slowly, I moved my hands behind my back. “I surrender.”
“Maxx!” Axxel shouted from my wrist. “Don’t you dare touch him, or I’ll—”
