AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Thirty Two
Tayla
“Holy shit, they really did it…” Alec said, his mouth gaping open as he stared through the front window of the shuttle.
I barely had time to catch the distant streak of a ship leaving the Orb before I was forced to turn back around. As I predicted, the Guardsmen came to pay us a visit after my outburst earlier, and they had set up shop inside our shuttle. So far, they hadn’t placed us in handcuffs and dragged us back to their prison cell, but that didn’t mean we were free. They kept a very close eye on me as they slowly inspected every nook and cranny of our ship.
The guards didn’t know what they were looking for because their eyes skimmed over important equipment with hardly a pause. However, they were making it very clear that they had no intention of leaving us unattended now that they were inside. Despite the tight space, half a dozen of them pushed their way in, taking up wide stances so that neither Alec nor I could squeeze past if we got such a notion.
“Are you sure it was them?” I asked under my breath, and one guard came to stand in front of me, his face just inches from my own as he examined my features.
“I don’t think one of the Patrol ships would take off like that. At least, not on purpose,” he added with a frown.
I shifted sideways so I could get a better view through the window. Alec was right. Whatever had just left the Orb looked to be struggling, and it wasn’t as fast leaving the atmosphere as one of those shiny Patrol ships would be.
So this was it then? Adreax just packed up and left, taking my battery and a little piece of me with him, and leaving disaster in his wake. There was a certain finality to that that was hard to swallow. I guess part of me never really believed he would go without a word. But could I blame him? I was the one who told him to get out. Granted, I asked him to leave without causing any more damage, but if he knew he was leaving anyway, he probably didn’t care to show me even that bit of kindness. Now, whether I lived or died down here was probably the last thing on his mind, and I hated him for it.
I stayed silent. What could I say? It hurt to think that those private moments with Adreax were a meaningless fling, and it hurt worse to meet Alec’s eyes and show my weakness. Right now, I had to stay strong for the both of us, and Adreax could go straight to hell with Herod for all I cared.
“Don’t worry, Tayla. When we get back home, I’m sure you’ll find someone.”
I whirled and narrowed my eyes at him, warning him to shut up. I would not pretend that we were friendly enough to discuss my relationship issues. Not now, not ever.
“I’m a little more worried about surviving the next twenty-four hours than I am about finding my soulmate, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
My tone was icy and Alec recoiled, giving me an apologetic look before stepping back and pressing his lips shut. This conversation was over.
“Is there anything I can help you guys find?” I asked sweetly, taking a step toward one of the bigger guards and hoping that someone had given them a translator.
The guard growled at my approach and thrust his arm out, striking me in the chest and making me stop short. Okay, no translator.
Down the hall, I heard the clang of a door opening and someone rummaging through a case of instruments. My eyes darted that way nervously, worried about what they might damage in their search. Instantly I regretted my thoughts because the offended guard picked up on my expression and barked a harsh order to his companions. There was more rummaging, and then I watched past the guard’s shoulder as two men hauled the case outside and dumped it on the ground.
As the whole mess clattered to the dirt, I sucked in a breath through my teeth. This was all Adreax’s fault. If he hadn’t come here, the Patrol never would have found us. We would have finished our tests by now and headed home as planned. I cursed Adreax for bringing so many complications down upon me and cursed myself for ever inviting him into our camp. Now he was gone, and he left me to clean up his messes. Looking up at the sky, I wondered how many other women he had charmed into cleaning up after him.
“Don’t touch that!” I screamed as one man picked something up from the pile and held it up to inspect. Unthinking, I lunged toward the door, desperate to save the instrument from destruction.
The guard in front of me did not hesitate, pulling a gun from his side and leveling it at my head. I froze, my hands up above my head, realizing my careless mistake. These guys were serious, and from the way they were treating my things, they were definitely not interested in science.
He poked the gun at my head until I took several steps back and slowly lowered myself to my knees. No more taking chances with these guys. I wasn’t even sure if saving my equipment would do any good. Our research was interrupted not once but twice, and it was in such a state of disarray that it was probably worthless. I was hanging onto a thread of hope that the Earth lab could draw something useful out of it all, because there was no way I would ever get clearance to make another trip like this in the future. As a matter of fact, I wasn’t sure I would even want to. I wanted to put this whole hellish nightmare behind me and go back to filing daily lab reports in the comfort of my office.
