Alien Prince: (Bride of Qetesh) An Alien SciFi Romance Read Online Free Page A

aboard our tiny little transport vessel. I was, however, slack-jawed with shock when Teldara’s co-pilot strode over to them and shook hands with one.
    “Five females, three Europax, two Human,” the co-pilot said, and I saw Tel’s jaw tense with the onset of her rage.
    “Fitz, you disease-ridden son of a whore,” she spat, and her co-pilot, Fitz, just chuckled low and shrugged.
    “It’s nothing personal, Tel,” he said, “It’s just business.”
    “You promised us six, Fitzgerald,” one of the Keldeeri hissed, his words caught in the trap of his mandibles. His eyes looked like those of a bee, and they were trained intently on Teldara. “The difference will come out of what you’re owed.”
    “How about,” Fitz offered, holding his hands out to the side, “I throw in the cargo. We’ve got Earth wine, Qeteshi greenery, clothes, electronics, some Keldeer grains.”
    “He’s lying,” Teldara spat, looking smugly satisfied as he absently tapped the place on her hip where her gun would have been if this hadn’t been a standard run with someone she trusted. “We haven’t picked up our cargo yet.”
    “I meant,” Fitz insisted, “that I would bring it to you after I picked it all up.”
    “No,” the Keldeeri said. He led the contingent, and gripped a large rifle in his three-fingered fists. “We will take the girls and dock you for one.”
    “Fine,” Fitz conceded, and another Keldeeri, with scales the color of piss, began to swipe his fingers over his communications tablet.
    “Your account number, please,” he said to Fitz, who took the tablet in hand.
    “You’ll explain to everyone what’s happening, won’t you, Tel?” Fitz asked as he handed the tablet back to the Keldeeri, and secured a cloth over his nose and mouth.
    “She can explain it,” the Keldeeri in charge interrupted, “after she wakes up.” The Keldeeri put their gas masks over their horrible faces as Fitz disappeared into the cockpit. Then, one of the smugglers rolled a small silver ball into the middle of the room. When it stopped, it hissed and sputtered as smoke began to rise out of it. In an instant, everything went black.

CHAPTER THREE: LORELEI VAUSS
    I clawed my way back to consciousness, and awoke on the metal plates of the bottom of a cage. I sat upright, and rubbed at my eyes; I could feel my heartbeat in my temples, hard and fast, and my head ached from the sudden change in angle. The cage wasn’t large enough for me to stand in, and if I stretched my arms out at my sides, I could touch both ends with my fingertips. I tried to force myself not to panic.
    “Lore!” I blinked rapidly at the whispered hiss of my name, and made my eyes focus on the space around me. Teldara hunched over to my immediate left.
    “Tel!” Glancing around, I saw the other three women: two other humans and one other Europax, all of whom slowly roused to consciousness. “What’s going on?”
    “Slavers,” she said. “I knew immediately when they walked on board.”
    “How did you know?” I asked, willing myself to focus even though my head swam from whatever it was they’d drugged us with.
    “Insignias on their uniforms,” she said. “The crossed-crescent — they’re the Quarter Moon slavers.” I’d never heard of them, but Tel’s expression told me that they were not to be trifled with.
    “Where are they taking us?”
    “To Keldeer, probably,” she said, curling her delicate fingers around the bars of her cage. “That’s where they’ll have the most need of us.”
    “What will they do with us?” I asked, envisioning fields to plow, cargo to hoist, that sort of thing. Manual labor. Maybe some house service. I knew I’d burn if they had me working outside too long, and assumed that they did not provide sunscreen to slaves. Housework, that I’d be better suited for. I began to construct a little speech in Keldeeri to convince them to keep me indoors.
    “They’ll test us for fertility,” Tel said, “and if