Chapter Three

ALLEX

I washed up and went home after my shift, using the transporter because I was tired. Avren had messaged me, asking if I wanted to have dinner with him. Most of the time, I happily ate with my brother even though he was a little quiet.

I didn’t want any company tonight.

As I walked into my quarters, I felt frustrated and trapped. I was sick of my life. I didn’t know what I wanted, but I knew it wasn’t this.

I probably seemed like an ungrateful bastard. I had everything anyone could want. I was a doctor, I had my brothers around me, and we had found women to help us repopulate our planet.

But it wasn’t enough for me. I wanted something more, and I would know what it was when I saw it. I felt compelled to hide from everyone. I didn’t want my brothers passing by and trying to cheer me up.

I remembered the place Anders and I used for ourselves on level ten. We used to hide there when Father was angry with us. Nobody knew about it but the two of us. It would be the perfect place to spend the night. No one would bother me down there — I could escape. Tomorrow I would go back to being a responsible, people-pleasing person, but tonight, I felt like getting away from my life. And when I was stuck on a starship, an unused heating conduit on level ten was the furthest I could go.

I looked at the spot where the door opened into the passageways. It wasn’t like I had anything better to do tonight.

I had only taken a minute to change before heading to the secret passage. I pressed a particular spot on the wall, and a door silently slid open. The tunnels were barely lit. I climbed in and closed the door behind me. I made my way to a flight of endless stairs leading down to level ten. I thought I knew the precise number of steps to take.

Once I started moving down the darkened stairwell, though, I quickly became disoriented. I hadn’t bothered to count the steps, so I had no idea how far down I was.

The overhead speakers suddenly turned on.

“Attention all passengers. Your captain is indisposed at the moment, and I will be assuming his responsibilities. My name is Dercom Haldoan, and I am head of the Guild of Private Spacecraft Detention and Reassignment. You might know us as the Scarfaces.”

The Scarfaces had been all over the news lately. They were supposed to be one of the most ruthless criminal organizations in the galaxy. Their name came from the scars across one of their eyes, which was part of their initiation.

“We will be detaining your ship until we can reassign all your cargo to new owners.”

I didn’t know why they felt like speaking in code. Maybe it made pirates seem like legitimate businessmen. They were going to steal everything. Fortunately, things could be repurchased. We could easily replace anything of value on the ship.

The pirate wasn’t finished. “You are carrying a lovely cargo which should fetch a high price at the slave markets. As long as you cooperate, we will spare the men’s lives.”

We couldn’t replace the women. We needed them. They were going to be our wives and the mothers of our unborn children. They were going to bring back aunts, grandmothers, and girlfriends. They were more precious to us than our own lives.

The pirates couldn’t have them. But what could I do?

My communicator lit up. Ayrie’s face appeared. “Allex, get to the panic room.” Ayrie usually looked bored and indifferent, but today he looked anxious. He must have been scared out of his mind.

I was about to say yes and follow orders, but I felt something else rising inside of me.

“Allex, did you hear me? Everyone else is either with me or on the way. Get moving. And why is it so dark there?”

I was starting to think I didn’t want to be in the panic room with the rest of my family. If we were all there, who was going to defend our crew against the pirates? I didn’t have a family to lose. I could stay outside and figure out a way to fight.

“I heard you. I’m not coming. I can be more useful out here.”

“Stop talking nonsense, Allex. Get your ass over here. We don’t need to worry about you, too.”

I wondered who else they were worried about, but they would have to panic by themselves. It was time for my family to seal the panic room without me.

“You don’t need to get worked up about me, Ayrie. I’ll find a place to hide and stay safe. I know this ship like the back of my hand.”

He frowned. “Well, we can’t all wait for you to make up your mind. You’ve got to do something for us if you’re out there. It’s about Anders.” Ayrie stopped talking and started looking at something I couldn’t see.

“What about Anders?”

“If Avren’s here, go ahead and close everything.” Ayrie looked at me again. “Allex, I have to go now. You know I won’t be able to contact you when we seal the panic room. Anders is...”

The screen went black.

I supposed I wasn’t going to learn what Anders was doing for a while. I was glad they shut the door. They might have to worry about me, but I was comforted knowing they were all safe. I would do what I could to get rid of the pirate bastards. I wasn’t going to watch them sell our women. I had no idea how I could stop them, though. I was only one person.

Before I decided on a course of action, I needed to get to safety. I kept walking into the darkness until I reached the bottom step. I felt around, pulling a catch which released a door leading out of the secret passageways and into an enormous room filled with heating pipes. Anders and I knew about one that was never used. The largest heating conduits were tall enough to fit a grown man standing up. I could find it even in pitch darkness.

I counted the pipes, turning without hesitating. I hadn’t been down here for many years, but I remembered the path like it was yesterday.

An open space in front of a maintenance door led into the conduit. I would have to crawl through the entrance. I opened the door and lowered myself onto my hands and knees to enter before standing up in the shadows.

A beautiful, naked pirate waited for me. The image of her nude body burned into my mind. I spent a few seconds ogling her. She gasped, and suddenly she was flying at me, luscious breasts bouncing in the air. How could I be having these thoughts about a pirate at a time like this? I put out my hands to stop her from hitting me, but I didn’t notice the length of pipe she carried at her side.

When the weapon made contact with my head, my legs buckled and I fell unconscious.

PRIYA

The man who crumpled to the floor in front of me wasn’t a pirate. He didn’t have a scar across one eye like I had seen on the actual pirates. As I looked at him, I realized I knew him. He was the hot guy from the testing center. I had inadvertently attacked an alien man, the one named Allex.

I remembered how it had felt when he had held me briefly. My nipples hardened, and it drew my attention to my nakedness. I had been changing after my sponge bath before going to bed on the thin futon. Since there was already furniture here, I was prepared to have a visitor at any moment. But I hadn’t seen another soul in the months I had spent hidden aboard the ship.

When I had heard the announcement and someone entered my home, it was reasonable for me to assume they didn’t have my best interests at heart.

The gorgeous guy stirred. I ran for my clothes and put them on in record time. When he groaned and sat up, holding his head, I made sure I was all the way across the room, fully dressed and armed with the pipe. I didn’t know what he was doing here, but I wanted him to leave. If he was aware that I existed, he was an enemy.

After a minute, he opened his eyes and looked around. As soon as he saw me, he glared. “I think you’ve given me a concussion.”

“Sorry. I’m not sorry, actually.” I didn’t feel apologetic at all. “You shouldn’t come into a person’s place unexpectedly. I don’t know if you have been living under a rock, but pirates have taken over the ship.”

“Do I know you?” He drummed his fingers on his thigh. “I ran into you at the testing facility, right? What are you doing here?”

I didn’t answer the question. I wanted to stop the wheels from turning in Allex’s handsome head. He wasn’t going to get the chance to turn me over to the authorities. “It feels like that was ages ago.”

I was surprised he still remembered me. I still remembered him, of course, but he was gorgeous. His type didn’t usually notice people like me.

I saw the moment he realized what I was. “You’re a stowaway, aren’t you?” He looked worried.

I didn’t try to deny it. My intentions didn’t matter.

“Do you know how much trouble you can get in for being an undocumented passenger on our ship?”

“No, I don’t. Why don’t you enlighten me?”

“You could go to jail, for starters, or pay a stiff fine. How badly did you want to be part of the trial?”

“I knew there would be consequences, but I didn’t have a lot of choices. Not everyone can afford a first-class ticket on a luxury spaceship.” I had never met Allex before, but he seemed like the kind of guy who would travel in luxury. Something about him oozed confidence and the entitlement of wealth.

“That’s true, but not everyone decides to smuggle themselves onboard, either.” He didn’t seem impressed with my behavior.

“What are you doing here? Are you ditching your first-class room because the pirates boarded us?”

“I came to hide here. You’re in my place.” He looked around like he owned the place. I had stayed here since I was forced to make my home on the ship.

“What do you mean? We’re in an unused heating conduit. How can you own it?”

He had a nostalgic look on his face. The only piece of furniture was an abandoned futon I used as a bed. A sturdy metal duct ran along one side of the conduit about waist high. I used it to prepare food and store extra blankets.

A black look passed over his face, and he glared at me. He was making me feel like I was an intruder in my own home.

“My brother and I used to play here when we were younger.”

He had grown up on the ship. For a moment, I thought it was interesting, but that was before I realized I shouldn’t be thinking about the entitled asshole in front of me at all.

“This place used to be yours, but it’s mine now. Squatter’s rights. Go find another pipe to play in.” I motioned him away with my hands.

“The entire ship belongs to me, if you want to get technical. Besides, there isn’t another one this size that isn’t being used.” A thoughtful look appeared on his face. “Although there is an old elevator shaft we stopped using after we installed the transporters. It’s cold. There’s always a breeze in there.”

“How do you know?”

“I grew up playing in every nook and cranny of this ship.”

“Well, you can’t possibly stay here.” I put my hands on my hips.

He narrowed his eyes. “I certainly can. You’re the stowaway, not me. I’m afraid you’ll have to find another place to sleep.”

I pressed my lips together. I wondered if he was really going to throw me to the pirates. “Do you think it’s okay to send me out there? They’re going to sell me into slavery.”

An outraged look appeared on his face, replaced after a moment by resignation. “Fine. You win. We’re stuck together until we can get the pirates off the ship.”

The ramifications of sharing a small space with a gorgeous, sexy, and annoying man started to hit me. I glanced at my bed. The futon was barely big enough for one.

He followed my gaze. “I’ll figure something out. Are there still extra blankets?” I nodded. I had found eleven clean sheets in a stack and hadn’t needed many of them. It was warm down by the heating pipes. “I can make a bed on the floor out of those.” He started grabbing blankets from the pile.

“That works for now,” I said. “What about after the pirates are gone? I’m still going to be here when you go upstairs again.”

He looked me over. I felt like he was judging me by my appearance. “I guess we’ll see what happens when it’s all over.”

“Sorry, I need to know if you’re going to turn me in.” I felt afraid for the first time since I hit him with the pipe. Even though he was a stranger, I wasn’t scared of him, but if he planned to turn me over to the authorities, I would need to get away from both him and the pirates.

“I’m not sure what I’m going to do.”

To me, it sounded like he might report me. I had two problems now. I had to stay away from the pirates and find a new place for myself. It didn’t matter if I was attracted to Allex. He was off limits to me. I wasn’t in a position to trust him or try to make friends with him.

Ever since I left Earth, I had been alone. Allex’s presence wasn’t going to change anything.

I felt more alone now than before he arrived.