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Chapter Thirty Four
Tayla
I don’t know how long I waited on my knees with my hands raised over my head. It felt like an eternity. Eventually, I had to lower my arms because my hands were tingling and my muscles were growing weak, but the guards didn’t lower their guns. I hung my head in defeat, telling myself that surviving this would be enough.
In the long period that followed, I had plenty of time to think about the steps that led me here. A never-ending cycle of reminders that I had almost fallen for Adreax, and this is what it got me. I couldn’t even meet Alec’s eyes, afraid that he would hate me for getting us into this mess.
Eventually, I was ripped away from my self-deprecating thoughts by a burst of activity from the guards. They were shouting orders to one another and there was tension building in the room.
“What’s going on?” I asked, mostly to soothe myself.
Another guard barked orders at me and waved his gun in my face, and I scrambled to my feet, eager to comply although I didn’t know what that entailed. He grabbed me by the arm and shoved me ahead of him, down the short hall and out the door to where my equipment still lay in the dirt.
Standing on the other side of the heap was a new face, an alien face. The strange being with scaly skin and tentacle-like beard eyed me up and down as if scanning me for weapons. Then it broke its silence and hissed at me, it’s long, drawn-out sounds slowly forming into words that I could make out.
“Where is the data?”
I scowled, a renewed sense of indignation filling me at the request.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The thing reached out faster than I could react and slapped me hard across the face. It felt like a jellyfish or something had stung me. I could swear that my cheek was going numb where I was struck.
“Do not lie to me, girl. I know you have what we seek.”
“I don’t have the data,” I tried again, preemptively closing my eyes to prepare for another slap. But it didn’t come.
“Your people promised us the data. Where is the data?”
Listening to the alien’s raspy voice was enough to drive me crazy. The slithery sound of the words made my skin crawl, and my body was quaking with fear.
“We lost it.”
The creature stared me down, scanning me with its eyes again. I waited, expecting a verdict like he was some kind of impartial judge. To my relief, he seemed to believe me, and I saw confusion replace the haughty look on his face.
“You are not lying. What happened to the data?”
I paused, considering my options. Where did I begin? Did I dare tell them that the rogue aliens they chased to my doorstep destroyed the first data set? Or that their own guards had gone on a rampage and turned my second, much smaller, data set into the heap of trash that stood between us? Now didn’t feel like a good time to share the trials and tribulations of my last two weeks with these strange new visitors, and I wasn’t sure it mattered much either way.
“Everything I could salvage was already sent back to my people. It was my understanding that they already shared that data with you.”
The alien creature didn’t miss the fact that I had not answered his question, but he seemed unbothered by my diversion.
“That is correct. And in that case, we will require your cooperation to fulfill the rest of the deal.” He turned away from me, and I relaxed, thinking that I had gotten off easy. But then he spoke again. “Bring her.”
Instantly, hands clasped around my upper arms again and I was escorted after the creature. The guards ahead parted like the sea, making way for him on the way to the odd, bulbous structure that had landed just steps from my shuttle. I blinked up at the obtrusive thing, wondering how an object of this scale could sustain flight.
“Where are you taking me?”
“To meet the others,” he answered plainly, not even looking back at me.
“No. No way. I am not going in there.”
I put my feet down to drag myself to a halt, but it was no use. The guards on either side simply clamped down harder on my arms and lifted me a few inches off the ground, carrying me forward as I kicked and screamed.
“I said I would cooperate! I did not agree to being held! Let me go! When my people find out about this, they’ll—”
The doors of the newly arrived ship yawned open silently, and I cut off my protests. If they got me past that door, there would be no hope. I would never make it out. My thoughts raced to Alec, presumably still held hostage on our shuttle, and then to Adreax, flying away from this place to take his freedom back. I couldn’t stop the tears that came spilling out, or the way I wheezed, begging them to let me go over and over.
“Do not worry, girl. You will like the others. They are like you.”
