My Alien Prince: Claimed by the Atrexu (SciFi BBW Alien Romance) (12 page)

Emily's head had been spinning for three weeks straight on the alien world, but for some reason the wedding itself had grounded her, even if it had been the most spectacular and otherworldly event she'd ever taken part on or even heard of. Royal weddings on Earth were less huge than hers and Ar'Ric's had been. But now it was real – she was an alien princess, and one day she would be queen and Empress of the whole empire.

Everyone said that Ar'Ric had loosened up a lot since he had met her, that he laughed easier and smiled more frequently. And Emily thought that the same thing had happened to her, because she had never before felt as happy as she did with Ar'Ric.

Their first official duty would be a royal visit to Emily's home world, the Earth. They would only visit Tellus Station, and they would stay there for several days while they received presidents and dignitaries from the various countries on Earth. Emily had requested that Cadet Meller be given the task of cleaning the crew quarter toilets three times a day, There were six hundred of them on the ship, and there was no chance the cadet would be able actually to complete his task. It was a way of taking a small revenge on her nasty former superior.

She didn't need to take a more permanent revenge on him, because after all, everything had turned out right for her. If Meller hadn't been such a jerk, she would not have met Ar'Ric. She could almost forgive the spoiled cadet because of that. But not quite.

As for the fate of Commander Chevalier, who was really responsible for everything that had happened and should have known her crew members better, Emily would let others decide.

N
ot many people could give Commander Chevalier orders on the space station where she was the undisputed commander and ruled dictatorially, but Chairwoman Abeni was one of them. She headed the global committee that controlled the station on behalf of all the nations on Earth, and she had close to unlimited power over it. The commander was well aware of that, and the surprise visit from her superior worried her. Especially since the chairwoman had declined lunch and insisted that they have their meeting right away.

“It has come to my attention that one of your crew members is missing,” the chairwoman began without any ceremony, sitting down in a chair in a giant conference room with a view of space outside. “It interests me because firstly, that should not be possible, and secondly, it was not
you
who brought it to my attention.”

“Oh, that,” the commander said, even more worried at the chairwoman's chilly tone. “It was only a cleaning woman from the maintenance section. Not even an officer, just a civilian on a contract. Emma something. I'm sure she'll turn up.”

The chairwoman's face didn't betray any emotion, but her normally warm, brown eyes were cooler than ever. “Her name is Emily Fallon,” she said. “Didn't you know? The committee is most worried about this. We are also worried that even aliens seem better informed about the goings-on here on Tellus that we are.”

Commander Chevalier frowned. “Aliens? I don't understand.”

“The information that Emily Fallon is missing didn't come from you, as you know. It came from the Atrexu aliens, a civilization that was completely unknown to us until now. We are worried about that. Very worried indeed.”

Now it worried Commander Chevalier, too. “I assure you that the greatest efforts have been expended trying to find the cleaner woman. Keep in mind that the station is under construction, and there's any number of places she could hide.”

“Yes, it's under construction. But the places she could get to are quite limited. The construction takes place on the outside of the station, in the vacuum of space. From inside the station, it's not possible to reach those locations without putting on a space suit and exiting the station through an airlock, which would immediately raise alarms all over the station. No such exit has been recorded, to my knowledge. It surprises me that I have to tell you these things. It appears that you are not on top of what goes on here.”

Chevalier felt she was going pale. Everything the chairwoman had said was true.

“I assure you that I'm on top of it. Of course I was going to report the missing person. I just had to make sure that she was really missing before bothering the committee with a matter concerning such a low-rank individual.”

Chairwoman Abeni was obviously not reassured. “Firstly, the regulations for this station clearly state that any accident or injury to a crew member is to be reported to Earth immediately. Secondly, how can it possibly take you three weeks to determine if a person is truly missing or not? A complete search of this entire installation should take less than six hours. Thirdly, I'm amazed at your negative attitude towards a member of your own crew.”

“Well, I wasn't going to say this, but the missing woman was... not popular,” the commander lied. “She had terrible performance records. I suppose we didn't think it was that important to find her because no one liked her, and she was a net drain on resources. Besides, as you say, she couldn't possibly have left the station. She's here somewhere. No doubt about it.”

“I have of course looked into the records of everyone involved,” the chairwoman said. “Emily Fallon was rated the best member of her section until a new cadet took over responsibility for it. Then the performance reviews changed for the worse. I see that she was up for her two-year review on the day she went missing. Did you see her on that day?”

Chevalier felt that it would be better if she had not. “No, I didn't. She never showed up.”

Abeni frowned. “Really? I happen to know that she did. Apparently you had trouble remembering who she was, and then you told her that her performance reviews were so bad that she could not be promoted. In fact, you put her on probation for two more years!”

“Her performance reviews
were
bad. I had no choice.”

Chairwoman Abeni gazed levelly at the station commander. “She had five performance reviews while working here. The first four were some of the best I have seen. They were written by three different and respected people who have since had solid careers. The last, given by a Cadet Meller, was indeed bad. In every sense. I have read it. It's sloppy, subjective and full of mistakes in grammar and spelling. And it's mostly focused on Ms. Fallons appearance. I would never have accepted such a report from anyone, and neither should you.”

The commander shrugged. “I can't look too closely at those things. There are ten thousand people on the station! I can't know them all personally.”

The chairwoman wasn't swayed. “The crew only comprises two thousand. The rest are not employed by us. It should be easily doable for you to keep track of that number. Knowing your crew is the first duty of any commander.”

Chevalier was getting desperate. This was not going well at all. “I have a lot on my plate here. Running a space station is a lot of work!”

“Again, knowing your crew is the most important thing you do. No, be quiet. I've heard enough. Your excuses are feeble. You've lost a crew member; you have blatantly lied to me here, and you plainly lack all integrity. We made a bad mistake when we hired you to command this station. But I will fix that mistake right now. In the committee's opinion, you're not fit to run as much as a table lamp, much less a huge space station with responsibility for thousands of people. You're suspended. A shuttle is standing ready to take you back to Earth, where you will be detained pending an investigation of your whole tenure here. That's all. Your quarters will be cleaned out for you and your belongings shipped to you.”

Chevalier slumped in her seat, stunned by the course the meeting had taken and by having her own version of events taken completely apart. “Who told you all this?” she asked dejectedly. “Aliens, you said?”

“In a way,” the chairwoman said, standing up. “It was Emily Fallon herself who told us in detail what happened. She was taken away by an alien ship from a civilization we didn't know about. Fortunately, it turns out that she's coming back here next week.”

Former commander Chevalier was too dumbfounded to get up. “I don't understand.”

“Oh, didn't I mention it? The royal visit is because of her. She's Crown Princess Emily. She will be Empress Emily of Atrexu when the current Emperor passes away. There are several thousand planets in their empire. Her influence is immense. She's one of the most important people who have ever lived.”

Chairwoman Abeni left the room, and two large sergeants with the letters 'MP' in yellow on their uniforms came in. Former commander Chevalier looked out the window to space. Somehow she knew she'd never see the stars that close again.

T
he view from the Earth was even better from the giant Atrexu battlecruiser that had taken Emily and Ar'Ric the many light years from the heart of the Empire to her home planet. The giant warship dwarfed Tellus Station, and when it docked, it completely obscured the station's view of anything but black space. But Emily could see both the Earth, the Moon and the blackness of space, punctured by thousands of bright pinpoints that were the stars of the galaxy. Many of them belonged to the Atrexu Empire. The thought made her head spin.

She sat on the floor in the royal stateroom, a calm oasis while the rest of the ship was a disciplined frenzy of activity. Ar'Ric sat on a couch right behind her and played with her hair. Its brown color fascinated him, and he always had trouble taking his hands off her.

One hour from now, they would enter Tellus Station as the revered representatives of the mighty Atrexu Empire.

“What do you think they'll say when they see me, my love?” she mused.

“I don't know, and I will not give it much thought,” the prince said. “The actions of others is beyond our control. But some of them will be surprised, I think. Unless it's common knowledge who you are.”

“It shouldn't be. I told Chairwoman Abeni that I wanted it to be known only to her and to Chevalier. I doubt she'd tell anyone else. Of course some people in the maintenance section will remember me.”

“Does it matter at all? You're a princess now, representing Atrexu to the Earth and the Earth to us. You're above all that. No need to worry about those things.”

“I guess not. Just idle thoughts, nothing serious.”

The Earth turned slowly outside the giant panorama window. It was her home planet, and she supposed that it always would feel that way. She felt her royal husband's hand in her hair, caressing her the way he liked. She liked it too. Her love for him had both deepened and broadened since the day she met him. It seemed so long ago now, but it had only been about a month. Her life had changed so much in that time since that she hadn't yet been able to process it. But she had a loving husband who she knew would turn heads, and she felt safe about the future. That was all she knew. But it was enough. Well, almost.

“Do you mind if I stay a little longer on the station tonight? I mean, after all the ceremonies?”

Crown Prince Ar'Ric thought for a second. She knew he didn't like letting her out of his sight, but he was not the jealous type. “I suppose that's fair. As long as you observe all safety precautions. Any plans?”

“Oh, there's just an old friend I want to see. The one I told you about.”

“Your co-worker? Tonya?”

“That's her. I had an appointment with her, and I want to keep it.”

The prince twirled a lock of her hair between his fingers. “Does this appointment involve that barbaric fluid you call 'beer'?”

“It might,” Emily said innocently.

Oh yeah, it definitely would. She and Tonya would have a fucking
ball.
And as a royal alien princess, she could make sure that Tonya's career took off for real. She was determined that her new station in life would be good news for her friends as well.

“Huh,” her husband grunted. “
Aliens.
”

- - -

C
alista Skye 2015

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ear Reader,

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***

H
e's a prince of the stars.

She's an ordinary girl from Earth.

Can they be allowed to fall in love?

Jen Sullivan is the lowest of the low in the Earth delegation to the aliens called Derigaz. Her boss is a junior assistant sub-secretary, and her most important task involves carrying a bottle of skin lotion everywhere she goes.

But when the clumsy intern stumbles into the Derigaz Prince Tar'Shoc, the most powerful man in the galaxy, they soon find it impossible to think of anything but each other.

Can a prince and future emperor really marry a fluffy Earth girl with borrowed shoes and a tendency to trip over her own feet?

Powerful forces are vehemently opposed to such a union and will do anything to prevent it, even if it means sending their own children to their deaths...

My Alien Prince: Claimed by the Derigaz
is a science-fiction romance with majestic and sexy aliens, funny situations and death around every corner. And a steamy happy ever after for our chunky and awkward heroine!

The first installment of the
My Alien Prince
series of standalone stories!

- - -

N
ostalgic for home, Ki struggles with the summoning of the Kalet whose set his eyes upon her with an intent to claim her mind, body, and soul. New to the ways of the Kalion people, she strains to adjust to the possibility that she might never see Earth again.