Page 36 of Stripped By the Alien

Krix’vorr leans over, piercing me with his stare. “You are protecting this world. You think I want to cause it harm.”

I try to hold his gaze. “Don’t you?”

I expect him to give me some smooth lie. Instead he looks away. “I will do my duty as commanded.”

I tilt my head to the side. “And your duty is to strip my world of everything, eat all that can be eaten, carry away everything that can be carried, murder my people and leave my planet as a dead, smoking rock.”

I regret the words the moment they come out. But I’m not a spy. I’m not a diplomat. I’m a Space Force officer faced with my worst enemy. Perhaps it’s time he knows that.

The room goes quiet. The lobster turns all its eyes on me and I swear Krix’vorr’s mandibles drop a millimeter. Well, at least I shocked them.

“That was incredibly stupid,” Lucius hisses, barely audible.

“Who told you that?” Krix’vorr finally snarls, taking a step closer.

“Who told me that?” I repeat, committed now. “Thousands of refugees fleeing from you told me that. They call you Space Locusts. Did you know?” Yes, admitting that I know who he is may have been stupid. But now, despite the silly cardboard I’m wearing, I feel like an officer again, not a victim or a friendless castaway. I represent Earth, and I will do so as well as I can.

The locust’s mandibles move and I spot fangs behind them. “This is not just an idle fancy, female. My Queen expects me to return with the exact position of your world. If I don’t, it will be the end of me. And of you. Our only chance to survive the next ten cycles is if you tell me exactly where your world is.”

I swallow in a dry throat. He’s not lying, that’s obvious. This predator has never needed to lie. “I don’t know anything about any Queen.”

“Queen Szum-zic is the Queen of our Brood! She will kill us both if I don’t deliver your world. Now point!” He points to the bowl.

All the blood drains from my face. He’s not kidding about this. Every cell in my body is screaming at me to obey, to get on the good side of this obviously deadly predator. But I can’t budge. Not about this.

“She refuses,” the lobster says with her bright voice. “She can no longer claim innocence or ignorance. That can be fixed, Chief Harrower.” She lifts both claws and snips them with ugly, metallic noises. They’re obviously knife sharp.

I gasp in fear as Krix’vorr suddenly takes two steps closer and grabs my upper arm. “Certainly there are ways to fix it.”

The lobster crawls up onto the alien bed. “Place her on the resting platform, Chief Harrower. Remove the packing material.” The claws snick together and she sharpens one pointy leg against another with an ugly grinding sound.

“I’m running out of options, female,” Krix’vorr snarls as he tightens the grip on me.

Blue-white lightning suddenly cracks across the plates of his chest, bathing the room in blinding light for a split second. The bang is much louder than last time.

Krix'vorr freezes up. His grip on me loosens.

The lobster goes rigid. Lucius drops three inches in the air.

“Chief Harrower,” the lobster whispers.

Krix’vorr slowly turns his head toward her. “Sris. Leave.”

“Sir?”

“Get out,” the locust grates.

“The interrogation has barely begun, sir,” the lobster says, confused, holding up one claw. “We can easily-”

“Out!” Krix’vorr bellows, making my ears ring. He grabs the lobster and flings it at the wall where the membrane was. “Get out!”

11

- Krix’vorr -

Sris hits the soft wall. The membrane opens and she scurries out without another word.

Silence settles over the chamber.