AllFreeNovel
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It seemed they were in a deserted area of a public dock. Not far away, she could see bright lights and crowds of strange beings gathered around beautiful, silver ships.
To her, the planet looked too dark and gloomy to be a holiday location. Gianna didn’t know if it was night or if Jorvlen was naturally a dark place. The shadows seemed to be alive, creeping along behind her like living snakes.
The aliens took her to a large hangar and guided her into the back area where the hallways were narrow. They shoved her into a small, dark room and stood behind her in the doorway as she stumbled, almost losing her feet.
The room was very dark, so gloomy she couldn’t see the corners. From the ceiling in the center of the room, a soft glow illuminated a shimmering curtain.
“Come closer,” a voice rasped from behind the curtain. She complied, taking short, slow steps. “You, woman,” the thing on the other side of the curtain hissed at her. “You want to work for us?”
“Yes,” she whispered, her voice caught in her throat. Gianna felt like fear was strangling her.
“If you want in, you must prove yourself first. We need to see that you can be trusted.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes.”
She heard a strange sound, a hiss, and a cough. Gianna thought the thing—whatever it was—might be laughing.
“We will give you a package. You must take it to the space station that orbits the planet and deliver it to the place we name. Everything you need to complete the mission will be given to you. Once you drop off the package, you will be given something in return. When you get back here with the payment, you will have proved your worth to us.”
“Okay,” Gianna muttered, fear nearly strangling her. The space station was known to be a rough place, far rougher than the area where she lived with Gabe.
“What about weapons?” she asked. “Surely, I can defend myself on this mission?”
The thing behind the curtain laughed again. “No, no. You must impress us with your strength and skill. We can’t hand over weapons until you have proved your worth.”
Gianna stood there for a moment, feeling lost and confused. When one of her alien captors appeared beside her, she jumped and cried out. Everyone laughed.
“You won’t make it far with nerves like that!” the strange creature behind the curtain decreed. “Go ahead. Give her the resources.”
The alien handed her a small shoulder bag and Gianna opened it gingerly. She had no idea what she was going to find.
She opened it slowly, waiting for a nest of vipers to erupt. To her shock, it was full of a ridiculous amount of galactic cash. It was accepted anywhere, and enough was in there to buy a small house in a nice neighborhood.
They want to know if I’m going to take the money and run. If I do, they’d hunt me down and kill me.
“In the side pocket is the package you must deliver,” the whispery creature said. Gianna opened the zipper and looked inside, seeing a thick, rectangular package wrapped in brown paper and string.
“How do I get to the space station?” she asked.
“We will release you, my dear. This is a port. Is it not? You can head over to the public sector and find yourself a transport. Shuttle up to the station, meet your contact, exchange goods and return.”
It made things sound so simple.
“Okay,” she whispered, zipping up the bag and settling it on her shoulder.
“You are to tell no one. Do you understand?” the creature snapped. “You tell anyone—and I mean, anyone—about what you’re doing, and we will kill them and make sure your brother disappears forever.”
Gianna nodded, gulping to cover her fear. The aliens turned to lead her from the room.
“One more thing,” the creature wheezed. “Get receipts for everything you spend that money on. If you don’t, we’ll take it out of your skin!”
Gianna didn’t bother to answer. She just rushed from the room. She wondered how many people had been in this position, and if they had chosen to run with the cash.
It could be tempting, if only she knew where Gabe and Kozien were. Gianna followed her captors out onto the runway as they led her toward the public sector. She had to find Gabe. That was all that mattered.
Kozien strode through the dark streets of Noxxa, his heart pounding with fury. Conflict flooded him but he knew he had no choice about what he did next.
Of all places, why Jorvlen?
