Heather’s heart raced so fast she felt dizzy. “Is there any way out of the beam?”

“If we fight it, it will rip the ship apart,” Loka said. Still, his hands skimmed across the panel as he adjusted power flows.

“We can’t let them get us. They know we tried to escape.”

“I can’t figure out why they haven’t blown us out of space like the other ships. Why drag us back to the station?”

Heather drummed her fingers on her knees. “Do you know who was on the ships that were blown up?”

“I only spoke to one of them. It was an alien.”

Concern slid over Heather. “What if the other ships only contained aliens? What if they’re interested in this ship because there is a human on board? We saw how they treated us. They wanted all humans in the holding cells on the station. The cyborgs didn’t seem bothered what happened to you.”

“They consider you an asset,” Loka said. “They want you back. They want to keep you alive.”

Dread clutched at Heather’s stomach. “They’re going to do something awful to the humans they capture, aren’t they?”

Loka took hold of her hand. “Many races consider you a big commodity. They want access to what you’re supplying. Many aren’t prepared to wait to be matched with a suitable female through My Single Alien.”

“They take what they want, even though they’re not allowed it?” Heather heard the wobble in her voice. “It has to be the Banti behind this. Since they’re banned from using our services, they’ve decided to get what they want anyway.”

Loka nodded. “Honestly, I’m surprised it hasn’t happened before. Not everyone abides by the Council of Representatives laws. Most are happy to wait their turn before they gain access to My Single Alien. There are less patient aliens, less law-abiding aliens. They want your services now and are willing to disregard your rules. This isn’t the first time aliens have stolen humans.”

Heather knew about Roswell, Wycliffe Well, and Area 51. “All the stories back on Earth about people being abducted are true?”

“Most likely. There’s a rumor of a gallery of humans somewhere on the other side of the wormhole.”

Heather stared at Loka. “A gallery? Some alien is displaying humans?”

“It’s most likely human parts, rather than a living human.”

“Like our old museums full of stuffed animals.” Heather grimaced. She’d always hated those rooms crammed with glassy-eyed birds and small mammals.

“What about the probing?”

“Probing?”

“People abducted by aliens always talk about probing. Why do aliens love to probe so much?”

Loka smiled and looked down. “You are soft and warm to the touch. I expect they wanted to explore that.”

“That’s gross and creepy.”

“I see how it would seem like that.”

“These aliens are stealing humans,” Heather said. “To do what? Kidnap and impregnate?” It was the stuff of nightmares. Every horror movie nut’s wet dream.

“I have also heard a rumor about an underground market, where they sell humans acquired illegally,” Loka said.

Heather’s throat tightened. “The Banti want us for this market?”

“It’s not definite,” Loka said.

“If the Banti are working with the Vincole, it’s a possibility.”

“Yes. The Banti want you for food. The Vincole want to run their own version of My Single Alien or expand into the human auction opportunities.”

“Alone, the Banti aren’t coordinated enough to be successful, but if they’ve formed an alliance with the Vincole, it could work.”

“The Vincole are the aliens behind the rumors of illegal trading,” Loka said. “I know of at least one slave auction broken up by the military police.”

Heather’s fingers snagged through her hair. “We can’t let them take anyone from the station. What about the other aliens? What will they do to them if they can’t use them in their sick auction?”

Loka pointed to the ship debris floating past. “Get rid of them. That must be why they want to separate us. They won’t want any interference as they take their prizes.”

“I’m not anyone’s prize. I won’t be sold off in an auction to whoever places the highest bid.”

“You won’t be. We’ll get out of this.” Loka’s thumb rubbed across her knuckles.

“We shouldn’t have run. We should have stayed there and fought back.”

“And gotten ourselves killed?”

“We could have hidden somewhere in the station,” Heather said. It had been wrong for her to be tempted away from the station by Loka. His offer of a life together had swayed her. She didn’t realize how much she wanted it until it was offered. It wasn’t fair to be offered that and have it taken away so quickly.

“Until the cyborgs found us.”

“When we get to Prodigy, whoever is dragging us back will be mad as hell.”

“We’ll deal with them.”

Heather smiled. “You’re a good fighter, but you’re just one alien. You can’t take on a whole station of angry cyborgs.”

“Cyborgs don’t get angry. It’s not in their programing.”

“Smart ass. You know what I mean.”

“I’ll stop anyone from hurting you.”

Heather reached up and stroked the base of Loka’s horn. “It’s sweet of you to offer. I wish we had the A-Team here.”

Loka rubbed his chin. “Who are the A-Team?”

“You know, dah dah dah, dah dah dah. If you can find them and no one else can help.”

Loka looked confused.

“You’ve never heard of them? Retro human TV at its best. They’d get us out of this mess.”

“They’re not real?”

“They’re real to me,” Heather said. “I’ve watched the series so many times I can recite most of the scripts. This is the kind of situation they’d be perfect in. With all odds against you, when you have nothing but a metal pipe and a blow torch, they come along and rig up an incredible weapon. They’d take out all the bad guys without anyone being mortally wounded, save the day, rescue the girl, and ride off into the sunset with a grin on their handsome faces.”

“There’s plenty of metal pipe around here,” Loka said. “I’m not sure about a blow torch, though. I don’t know what that is.”

Heather sighed. “If we get out of this, we’re having an A-Team marathon. You’ll like them. It’s not the most scientific of shows, not like Star Trek, but you’ll get into it.”

Loka caught hold of her chin. “When we get out of this, I’ll take you up on that offer. It seems we’re going to spend a lot of our time watching movies or TV.”

“It’s sort of my hobby.” Heather met Loka’s intense gaze for a second before looking down. “It helps me switch off from the hectic nature of my work. It also reminds me of Earth, before it all went crazy down there.”

Loka traced his thumb across her chin. “I understand that. I sometimes become too absorbed in my own work. It’s good to have a distraction.”

“I’m happy to distract you.” Heather swallowed, suddenly nervous by how close they were. “I mean, with the A-Team and Star Trek and stuff like that. We can veg out on the sofa and watch as much as you like.”

“I’m not sure what veg out means, but I’m happy to try it if it means spending time with you.”

The ship lurched, reminding Heather they were being slowly dragged toward the station and whichever group of aliens wanted human females to barter with, or eat, or probe.

Her gaze turned to the confusing panel of lights on the ship’s control desk. “There’s really nothing we can do to stop ourselves going back there?”

“The ship will have a self-destruct mechanism. We can activate that and turn the ship into a bomb.”

“Blow ourselves up?” Heather shook her head. “As noble a sacrifice as that might be, I sort of love my life. I don’t want to die.”

“I’d never blow the ship up with you on it.”

Heather felt a tingle of warmth in her stomach. Loka always said the right things, even if the way he said them were sometimes odd. That warmth faded as she felt the ship turn. She looked out the window and saw Prodigy loom into view.

“We should arm ourselves,” Loka said. “Koobs must keep weapons on board.”

“They usually carry those weird gnarly looking fighting sticks.”

“Electro rods,” Loka said. “They’re just what we need.”

“Electro rods?” Heather had never heard a Koob weapon called that before. She’d never seen a Koob fight. They were generally a peaceful race, happy when serving others. “What do they do?”

“You have something similar on your Earth,” Loka said as he stood from his seat. “They have a power pod in them that is discharged when it makes contact with the skin.”

“Like a taser?”

“If that is the name of your electrically charged weapon.”

“I’ve never used one. They stop people dead. You get a taser attached to your skin and you’re flipping around on the floor like a fish out of water. They’re supposed to sting like anything.”

Loka scratched his horn. “Yes. That sounds similar to the way individuals act when prodded with an electro rod.”

“Stay here,” Heather said. “I’ll check for electro-taser rods.” She hurried out of the cockpit and began a swift search of each room. The ship was small, meant to house no more than a dozen Koobs. She checked the sleeping quarters first and came up empty-handed.

She found a store room. There was plenty of food, but no weapons.

“Bingo!” The next room was small, more a large closet than anything else. Inside were six long, metal poles. They were shaped to look like metal branches and extended three feet in length.

Heather carefully extracted two poles and then took two more. They were lightweight and easy to handle. She carried them back to the cockpit.

Loka’s eyes widened, and he grabbed the poles from her hands.

“How do they work?”

“Grip the handle and punch the base against your thigh. Make sure it doesn’t make contact with your skin. Everything other than the handle will have a powerful charge to it.”

“Got it. Don’t prod myself with the big metal stick.” Heather took one of the electro rods and pressed the base of it to her thigh. The hair on her arms tingled as the power from the rod flared out.

“We’re about to enter the station,” Loka said.

Heather watched with wide eyes as the tractor beam pulled the ship into the docking bay. Their ship was the only one that had been returned, confirming her suspicion that they kept this ship intact because they wanted her.

Had the Banti and Vincole already got their hands on everyone else? Where was Vegas, Nell, and Avril? What about Diadora? Was she standing up to the cyborgs, or had she hidden somewhere to wait until the attack was over? Would they be interested in her with her cybernetic arm? The rest of her was human; Heather was sure of that. Although her boss was scary, she wouldn’t mind having Diadora aboard this ship right now. She punched as hard as the next cyborg.

The ship rocked from side to side as it came in to land. Its locking mechanism attached to the ground.

“We’re here,” Heather whispered.

“So are they.” Loka’s words came out low as he stared through the cockpit window into the docking bay.

In front of them stood five full-sized cyborgs. They were accompanied by six broad-shouldered aliens wearing head to toe black body armor. Their faces were hidden by black masks. In their hands, they carried plasma swords.

“Although I can’t see their faces, they look like Banti fighters.”

“It looks like they’ve come to claim what they think they’re entitled to,” Loka said.

Heather tried unsuccessfully to moisten her dry mouth. There was no way they’d fight off the cyborgs and the Banti, even with their super-charged electro-taser rods in hand.

“Is it too late for us to hide somewhere inside the ship?” Heather said.

“They’ve scanned us,” Loka said. “It’s the reason we are still alive. They know you’re here. If we don’t go out there, they will come in and take us. If we go out, we’ve got more of a chance to get away. In here, they can pick us off easily.”

“Like sitting ducks.”

“If you say so.” Loka looked over at her. “Are you ready?”

“No.” Heather’s insides felt like they were bubbling. She was either going to melt or throw up. Fighting was not her thing. Watching actors fight in carefully staged movies was her thing. Fake violence was good. Real violence, where people got hurt, blood was spilled, and limbs were hacked off by plasma blades, no thanks. She’d pass on all of that.

Loka placed his electro rods down and turned her to face him. His large, warm hands clasped her shoulders as he stared down at her. “They won’t hurt you. They need you alive.”

“That’s not reassuring, knowing what they want me for.” She gripped Loka’s hands. “What about you? What will they do to you?”

“You can’t worry about that. They won’t get you. They’ll have to go through me first.”

That made her feel no better. Heather didn’t want Loka dead because he’d tried to protect her. “No. We shouldn’t fight back. We’ll go out and let them take us. It’s the sensible thing to do. That way, no one gets hurt.”

“I might not be in your A-Team, but is that what they would do in this situation? They put their hands up and walk straight to the enemy, without even trying to fight back and get away?”

Heather thought about the hundreds of episodes she’d seen. “Only when they had a plan, a double-cross. They’d pretend to surrender and then one of them would save the day. It was usually Murdoch. He’s my favorite.”

“Do we have a plan?”

She chewed on her bottom lip. “No. Maybe you’re right. We should go out fighting. I don’t want them to take me. I also don’t want to die.”

“I didn’t say you should fight. Use your electro rods to defend yourself. Focus on getting out of the docking bay.”

“And leave you behind with those thugs. Not a chance.”

Loka grunted. “Maybe you’re right. We need a cross double.”

“You mean a double-cross.”

“That’s it. We could go out and pretend to surrender, take them off guard and then attack. It could give you a way through. You could find your friends and look for a safe place to hide until this attack is over.”

“A way through for both of us,” Heather said. “We’re both getting out of this docking bay.”

Loka lowered his head until their foreheads touched. “Of course. Whatever you want.”

Surprised by his show of affection, she pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Don’t go being some gorgeous, horned alien rebel out there. I like my aliens alive. I don’t want anyone to give themselves the role of sacrificial victim.”

The sound of the ship’s docking ramp being forced down made them both raise their heads.

Heather licked her lips and stepped away from Loka. She activated the second electro-taser rod against her thigh.

“Are you ready to fake your surrender, Princess?” Loka grabbed his electro rods.

Secretly wishing the A-Team would arrive and rescue them both, she nodded. “Let’s go and kick some alien butt.”