Page 30 of Stripped By the Alien

“Use any method to stall. Tell him as little as you can. The fate of Earth and all of mankind may be at stake.”

Yeah. That was starting to become clear to me, too. The refugees flash through my mind. The stories. The harvested worlds. The civilizations that disappeared. Billions of people who have no idea creatures like this exist.

It’s as if a big weight was placed on my shoulders.

The locust takes a step closer. My attention rises automatically to meet his. He put one of the flowers on his own chest, then searches for a place to stick the other one on me. It’s a blue flower, intricate and round, about the size of a walnut. The stalk is green and thin, and the locust finds nowhere to put it.

But this actually looks like a friendly gesture, so I gently take hold of the flower and stick it behind one ear. “Thank you- shit!”

As I look up, something bright flashes across the plates of his chest. Tiny blue-white sparks jump between ridges of armor with a sharp crack before disappearing again.

The locust looks confused and reaches up to touch his chest where the small lightning bolts appeared.

For a moment I forget about Earth. I simply stare. “What was that?”

“An electric discharge,” Lucius says. “Twenty thousand volts. Static electricity. Enough to sting but not to harm.”

Damn. A defensive thing in his armor? Or is he part electric eel? “Anything to do with the flowers?”

“I don’t think so,” Lucius says.

The locust reaches down and lightly touches the flower.

“Kast,” he rumbles. Then he points to his own. “Kast.”

I look up again. Standing this close, the giant alien feels overwhelming. Every movement carries effortless strength. The hard plates of his body catch the living light of the chamber. Even now, after nearly getting me killed, he looks far more attractive than he has any right to be.

Standing this close, I can feel the heat coming off him. His arm still circles my waist, hard enough that I know exactly how strong he is. And he just gave me a flower. When was the last time someone did that for me?

In a split-second flash I remember the way I felt when I came to, after the minefield, and I wonder what would happen if I now pretend to be more injured than I am-

I cut that idea off at the root. Get a grip on yourself!

Lucius rises between us. "He has a question."

I already know which one. The locust watches me steadily as he speaks. There are no gestures this time. No guessing. No awkward attempts at communication.

Lucius translates. "He wants to know where your world is. Don’t tell him."

I hold the giant alien's gaze for several seconds while I think through the consequences. Then I slowly shake my head.

"No."

Nobody speaks. The sparks don't return. And suddenly the room feels a lot colder.

9

- Krix’vorr -

I can’t be sure that the translation is correct. Surely that little alien female didn’t just tell me ‘no’?

“Repeat the question,” I order the flying machine. “And take great care when you translate the answer.”

But the result is the same. She speaks only one alien sound, and there’s a finality to it that even I can hear.

I’m more puzzled than furious. Nobody ever says ‘no’ to me. This is the first time I can remember. And it’s not even another Harrower, but an alien, possibly from a harvestable world!

“Are you sure she understood the question?” I demand.