My Alien Prince: Claimed by the Atrexu (SciFi BBW Alien Romance) (7 page)

Ber'Ain looked at the prince. “Why did you decide that we would not turn around and take her to where she came from as soon as we knew we had only been attacked by an automated system?”

“I take responsibility for that, of course. If it was dishonorable, then I must live with that. But you both know why we went on this expedition. She appears to be everything we looked for. We need time to evaluate her aptitude as a princess. Now we will have that time, during the two days we will be in transit.”

“And if she demands to be taken back?”

“Then we will do that. Anything else would be dishonorable. We're not kidnappers.”

“I don't like any of this,” Ber'Ain said flatly. “I urge you to reconsider.”

“The decision has been made, Ber'Ain,” Ev'Ax said. “Why are you suddenly discussing orders? It's not like you. Ar'Ric, should we tell her about the purpose of our visit to her station?”

The prince thought for a moment.

“Let's not. To start with, I mean. At some point it will become necessary, I suppose, once she sees our own women and realizes that, with her genuinely female shape, she possesses immense beauty, compared to their boniness. It's bound to make her suspicious. And I don't want her to know who we are. Or, specifically, who
I
am. If she were to, say, fall in love with me, I want it to be not because of my status, but because of myself.” 

The words hung in the air, and the Prince felt himself blush. This was not a common topic among Imperial officers. “Of course I know there's little chance of
that,
” he snapped, embarrassed. “I'm not attractive, as I well know. But I'm just saying
if
. If there's a chance for a big win, one must not block that avenue for oneself. That's sound military philosophy.”

“Be that as it may,” Ber'Ain said, “it's my opinion that we should take the woman back to her station right away. Too many things about this whole situation are mysterious and frankly dangerous. We know nothing about her, except that she was heavily armed and that she has the highest possible code of honor. And the fact of the matter is that she did fire her weapon at the Heir Apparent of our Empire, although at its lowest power setting. Can we be completely sure that she isn't a spy or a saboteur or an assassin? And what if she's unwilling to consider any proposal? She may have hidden powers or weapons. It seems to me that by allowing this alien to enter our home world, we're taking a huge chance, Ar'Ric. And don't get me started on the lunacy of making this alien an Imperial Princess!”

“She must be vetted, of course,” Ev'Ax said calmly. “Potential royal brides always are.”

“But you have already made up your mind, haven't you, Ar'Ric?” Ber'Ain said, his voice low and strained. “You
want
this alien! Yes, she's wondrously attractive! Even I can see that, despite that sackcloth she's wearing. But I warn you, Your Highness, as one officer to another: Don't let your cock determine the future of the Empire!”

The prince felt the blood draining from his face in anger. It was not the way Ber'Ain was phrasing his challenge, which was perfectly and unassailably formed, but more that what he said hit too close to home.

“I'm well aware of my responsibilities as concerns the fate of the Empire,” he said coldly. “I will not be lectured on that topic. I spend most of my waking hours with that on my mind, not that it has done me much good so far. In this alien woman, I see the best chance for securing the succession and future of that empire I have ever seen. Shall the Crown Prince, of all people, have to marry a female that leaves him cold? Shall not
I
have the right to take my chances on marrying a woman from love and attraction? I demand that right. And I will have it. If this arrangement is not to your liking, Ber'Ain, then so be it.”

“It's
not
to my liking, as I have already stated. I will do my duty, follow orders and fly this ship to Atrexu. But-” Ber'Ain suddenly went quiet, as if struck by an idea.

“But what, Ber'Ain?” the prince demanded.

“I have nothing to add.” The pilot disengaged from the conversation, swung his seat around and busied himself with the ship's instruments. A noticeable chill had descended on the cabin, and there was a long silence, only broken when the prince got up to check on the alien female.

E
mily stretched comfortably. She felt wonderfully refreshed and ready for anything. She had planned to clean the Level Six public toilets today, which was not the most pleasant task, but at least it was in the alien section, so there was always a chance to see maybe a weird being or two. Or maybe she would never have to clean toilets again, depending on how the meeting with the commander went. No, wait... the commander? She already had that meeting! And...

Her good mood evaporated completely when she recalled the meeting with Commander Chevalier. That damn Meller jerk! But something else had happened afterward, something strange... She racked her brain to think of it. Something about lights and space... And a face... That face! She abruptly sat up. That perfect face on a perfect man! Who was that? Had it even been real? It didn't feel like it had been a dream. And why was she wearing her overalls and utility belt in bed?

The room was very dark, but not completely. Some starlight seeped in from a  tiny, round porthole in the wall. Yeah, that was not her quarters that she shared with Tonya. Where the hell was she?

She looked around, thinking furiously, and some details started to come back to her. She'd hid in a small compartment out of the way... Then someone had come. And then... They'd tried to grab her! And they had succeeded! Two men with faces like angels, especially one of them! And then... She remembered making a mental note, to remember asking guys about the size of their... And then she had asked! Oh
fuck!
She felt herself going pale in horror. A spaceship, some guys that seemed too good to be real, her sprouting nonsense and getting turned on by that hot guy and then... She remembered nothing more until she woke up in this very comfortable bed.

She should probably be very worried. But she was more puzzled than anything else. What exactly was going on? And, one part of her mind said, was there any coffee somewhere around?

She swung her legs down on the floor and stood up. She could just about spot a panel that she thought would be a door of some kind. If it was locked, she was probably a prisoner. And that meant trouble.

I was not. It slid silently to the side when she approached, and she stepped out of the room and into a short and narrow corridor. There was no sound, except for a background hum that seemed to come from machinery. She tiptoed towards an open end of the corridor in the cheap boots that was standard issue for all civilian Tellus maintenance workers.

She carefully looked around the corner. And there he was! It was the same guy, no question. He was sitting in a chair, looking ahead through a windshield. Yep, it was a spaceship.

She was drawn to look at him as if she couldn't get enough. His profile was clean and classic, with a strong chin, deep-set eyes and a straight nose. His hair was blond and had a curly structure to it. It looked like he was wearing a uniform, because the two other men in the cabin wore similar garments.

They were obviously human, but somehow she just knew that they didn't come from Earth. The interior of the ship was also very different from anything she'd seen. Yep, she was aboard an alien ship going somewhere.

She took a moment to check how she felt about that. Should she be afraid? Surely she should? But the fear didn't materialize. Instead, she felt betrayed and sad. Not because of these guys, but because of the conversation with Commander Chevalier. She remembered every word of it, every dismissive gesture the station chief had made. She plainly had no future on Tellus, either the station or on Earth itself. But this...

A grain of excitement grew in her mind. This... could be interesting.

S
he casually walked into the cabin and sat down in the one free seat beside the sensationally handsome man.

He looked calmly around at her and smiled. “Finally up, I see.”

The two other men in the cabin turned and looked at her. One of them smiled and nodded in greeting while the other just looked her up and down and turned back to his instruments.

“So,” she said, wanting to keep the initiative, “who are you guys and what's going on?”

“We are officers of the Atrexu Empire,” the man said in a deep and melodious voice. “I'm General Ar'Ric, that is Colonel Ev'Ax, and our pilot is Lieutenant Colonel Ber'Ain.”

“A bright guy, huh?” Emily said, but Ar'Ric just looked at her uncomprehendingly. “I mean if he's called 'Brain'?”

“I'm afraid I don't follow,” Ar'Ric said. “But certainly, all our officers are at least somewhat intelligent. Though it must be admitted that for some of them, tying their shoelaces is quite beyond their capabilities. Do
you
have a name?”

“You can call me Emily.
Not
'Em' or 'Emma' or 'Emmy'. The full name. Just saying. So you don't get mysteriously slapped in the face.” She smiled sweetly.

“Very well, Emily.” His accent was fully understandable but very exotic. She liked the way he pronounced her name. She sort of wanted to stare at him and take him in fully but managed to look out the windshield.

“You asked where we're going,” Ar'Ric said. “We're on the way to our capital planet, Atrexu. And you are aboard because you snuck inside our ship and hid while we were out. We didn't discover you until we were underway, and by then it was too late to turn around. We got you secured in that seat before we had to perform some very violent maneuvers with the ship, and the forces made you pass out.”

“Uh-huh.” She remembered now. She'd needed a private moment, and she had crawled too far into the unknown hole in the wall. “And what's the plan? Why are you taking me there?”

“Ah. We thought you might want to see our Empire. Since we were going there anyway. You'll be the first person from Earth to go there, because your civilization was just discovered. That's why we wanted to take a closer look at your newly discovered world. You
are
from Earth, correct?”

Emily didn't like all that she was hearing. “Sure. You know, you speak super good English for a guy who just
discovered
our
civilization
. I guess I'll be the first to discover
your
civilization. Great, huh? You'll finally be discovered! No more primitive living! I'll make sure we send some missionaries and conquistadors, okay? You'll just
love
it. Try not to catch measles, though.”

Ar'Ric and Ev'Ax exchanged glances. It had probably not occurred to them that discovery could run both ways. She was laying it on pretty quick, but damn, she would
not
have Earth talked about as a primitive little stone age world that needed discovering. And she was not in the best mood to start with.

“I wonder what I'll call your home planet once I
discover
it,” she continued. “I'm thinking
Emilia?
Like, after myself, the
discoverer?
But seriously, you're taking me on some sort of vacation?”

“It's sometimes hard to follow your manner of speech, Emily. I suppose you can think of it as a vacation.”

“Yeah, so, did it occur to you that I might have some sort of life back home? I don't, as it happens, but is it a little presumptuous of you to just take me along?”

“Do you want to go back? We would like you to stay for a little while, but if you'd prefer to return to Tellus Station, we will turn around. And I did ask you once before. You agreed enthusiastically to come with us. But possibly you were not in a position to make that decision at that time.”

She thought for a moment. The guy seemed sincere. She had read once about how everyone always trusts beautiful people and automatically assigns them good intentions, and this man was without a doubt the most beautiful guy she'd ever laid eyes on. She had to be careful about judging him too lightly. But being in his company for a while didn't seem like such a bad thing, certainly not if the alternative was facing Meller again.

“Nah, now you got me all geared up to discover your planet. Will you take me back if I ask? I mean, even after we get there? Or will you, like, put me in a zoo?”

“We will take you back anytime you want. I don't understand the second part of your question.”

“Like, will you put me in a cage and let people look at me? Like, see the weird alien for two space dollars? One space dollar for kids?”

Ar'Ric looked at his friend as if to ask him if they understood. But Ev'Ax just shrugged.

“Again, I'm not sure what you... Nothing will happen that you object to.”

“Can you be sure? I mean, you're a general and all, or so you say, but if you come home with a chunky Earthling in some very crappy maintenance overalls and hair that needs a good conditioner, will everyone else agree that I should not be exhibited at a freak show or cut open for experiments? I've been watching a lot of science fiction horror, just so you know. You can't blindside me about these things. I'll be on to you like
that.
” She snapped her fingers, but the sound wasn't as impressive as she'd wanted.

“I can be sure.” He was very definitive. And if Emily was any judge of people, he fully believed what he was saying. She'd read a lot of pop psychology books, and he hadn't made any of the classic liar's mistakes.

“Well, Emily, we've been wondering what you were doing on our ship, armed and obviously ready for resistance.”

“Yeah, I...
armed?
”

“You may have forgotten, but you fired your weapon at me. At a very low setting, of course, for which I'm grateful, but still. Plainly an exotic sidearm.”

She did remember having tried to hose that guy down with the all-purpose cleaning spray. But she was pretty sure that fighting aliens was a purpose that the manufacturer had never had in mind. What should she say? Admit that she cleaned space toilets for a living? Or would that make them have her clean their whole spaceship? She needed more information.