Page 41 of Bound to the Alien King
Everyone else nodded, but they didn’t say anything, and didn’t let it bring down the lighthearted mood either.
I was so grateful to them, for every single cell inside them that made them the best crew in the universe, but I didn’t trust myself to speak right then.We’d been through so much together, and they’d just accepted everything thrown at them, including their wayward, broken captain, with the grace of true friends.
Darc lightly slapped Philip’s boot he had propped on his knee.“And Philip is just here to get beat in rummy.”
“You found me out,” he said with a chuckle, and a little color rose to his cheeks.
Pretty sure the real reason he came was sitting right next to him, but as far as I was aware, nothing beyond Philip’s salivating had ever happened between them.
Or they fucked like monkeys every hour, on the hour.It wasn’t really my business.
I took a deep breath and forced my voice to come out evenly.“Okay.Good.I thought I was going to have to put you all back in your cages, but since you’ve all agreed to fly to your doom, IsupposeI’ll let you keep roaming free.”
“Will we get two bits of kibble in our food dishes tonight, or just the standard one?”Philip asked.
“What do you think this is?A fancy restaurant?”I asked in faux admonishment on my way to the door.
Mosely grunted.“It’s fine.I know where she hides the bourbon.”
“And I know where she hides the kitchen,” Darc said.“Super sneaky, that captain, but not sneaky enough.”
I chuckled on the way out, my chest lifting at the weight they’d all happily taken from me.I’d have to find a way to repay them so they’d know how much I valued them.If we all made it out of this alive.
My next stop was the room I kept Rain in, andhernext stop would be the brig once I moved her.I strolled on in without knocking, and she stood in the middle of the floor like she’d been expecting me.Dressed in green- and white-striped overalls, she looked like she was about to start painting the walls or something.
“I was only trying to help, Nera.”
“I know,” I said, waving her off.
“They believed you without any proof.”
“I know.”I did a double-take and searched her blue eyes.“Wait, were you listening in?”
“I promise I wasn’t trying to, but voices carry easily through the air shafts.”
I growled under my breath.That was something I’d have to keep in mind for future private conversations.For now, I had more questions.
“On Klio-3, inside Earth Space Fleet’s bunker, there were all sorts of topographical maps of the planet, every single one of them wrong.Why is that?”
“That’s Klio-3’s best-kept secret.”A hint of pride crept into her not-quite-human voice.“I chose to go there because of its unpredictable nature.Unpredictable because it’s not a real planet.”
My brain scratched, and I screwed up my mouth to find the right response to that little nugget of weirdness.“I… What now?”
“It’s a synthetic planet I created.”
“You…created…What?”
“I used to be able to make it look however I wanted it to for whoever followed me there.Like Earth Space Fleet.For them, the planet is nearly impossible to traverse because of the steep, rocky cliffs.Pair that with all the fake Faid they’re warring with there, and it’s the perfect distraction to keep them preoccupied so I can keep an eye on them.But for you andAlien Love Island, it’s paradise.I offered the planet to the show’s producers to film there, long before Earth Space Fleet found me there, and now it’s a very busy planet.”
I just stood there for a long moment, stunned.“Let’s go back to the part where youcreateda whole, bigplanet?”
She shrugged one shoulder.“It’s not that big.”
“So…what, do you think this makes you like a god now?”
Her eyes widened in surprise.“A god?No.Just a Faid who needed somewhere far away to go where I wouldn’t hurt anyone else.”She looked down at her shoes, sagging a little.“A place like home.”
The image of the abandoned building on the cliffside she’d decorated with items from my Earth house flashed through my head.She wanted her home to look like our old home.
