Page 39 of Bound to the Alien King
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Question That’s None of My Business
Nera Cotrobin?Sorry.Of course it’s her.To this day, the image of her on the viewscreen pleading to go to war with the Faid still haunts me.I know it’s a touchy subject for you, and now for me too, but that’s the best I can explain it.
Email date: 3/30/2635
From: [email protected]
Subject: Question That’s None of My Business
When the Faid tech charged up your thoughts and memories, I made sure everything went smoothly.It did, of course, but I couldn’t help but notice that you thought of Nera often.In fact, you still do.Why is that, do you think?
You don’t have to answer, and I know I’m prying even deeper into something that’s none of my business.It’s just that I care for her immensely and wish that things had turned out differently for us.I regret everything s…O… much.
Chapter sixteen
Nera
Mycrewwascomingwith us.Not that they had a choice, but I gave them one anyway.TheOdessaand the luxury cruise ship were airlocked together so that all of us had free rein across both ships, though they kept to our ship mostly.
Darc took a single step inside the other ship and then turned right back around, her pink head swinging a hard nope.“No thanks.Too fancy for me.”
I agreed, but I shuttled back and forth between the two ships anyway, between my former life and my surreal current one.Sometimes, when I was feeling extra spicy about the position I’d been put in, I stood in the center of the airlock, straddling that line between my two lives.Which was also known as procrastination.
I hadn’t exactly told my crew why I wanted them to come back with me to Klio-3.Or, you know, told them that our employer sucked yeti balls.Mosely knew since he’d been with me when we interrogated Jorran, but he only knew part of it.
So yep, why do it today when I could do it never?
Because they deserved to know.Also because Major sat at the end of the airlock with his little orange head tilted and staring at me expectantly.
“You’re not the boss of me,” I scolded.
Swear to god, the cat rolled his eyes.
“Fine.We all know that’s not true.”I hauled myself toward him to get this over with.
Inside theOdessa, I found the nearest intercom on the wall.For a moment, I could hear Darc and Philip on the bridge arguing playfully while playing gin rummy, which were two of their favorite things to do.
“Who opened the bag of idiots now, sucka?”Philip asked.
Darc laughed, so happy and bubbly that I hated to burst in.
But I did anyway.“Meet me on the bridge in five, everyone.Coincidentally, I have another bag of idiots to tell you about.”
Major trotted after me.Crew meetings were his favorite since he often stole the show, yet another example of who was really boss around here.
Less than five minutes later, we were all gathered on the bridge, even Doc who made kissy noises as soon as he saw Major.We were a small but mighty group, the six of us, and I loved them deeply for never once second-guessing me, even though I definitely deserved it sometimes.
“So, I feel I should be honest with you about a lot of things,” I began, “but if you could just hear me out first, and ask questions second, that’d be super great.”
I forced a breath, my nerves twisting around my lungs.“Earth Space Fleet hired an assassin to kill King Maxx, his daughter, me, Miekil and Pete fromAlien Love Island, and possibly Maxx’s wife, dad, and brother as well.They’ve also built cloaked spaceships out of wild buxxen pee and elixxir poppies and didn’t bother telling anyone except one of their assassins.They might have also played a part in poisoning the Xenoxx water supply in order to eventually take their very valuable planet for themselves.They might have also caused and fabricated the entire Faid War for reasons I’m not quite sure about right now.Oh, and I’m pregnant with Maxx’s baby, who, by the way, is a Faid clone of the real king who died along with his wife in the embassy explosion.And…I think that’s about it.”
The bridge’s intercom beeped on.“I have newspaper proof if—”
“Not now, Rain,” I snapped.
