Captured By her Alien Mate by Ava York
Buried with her Alien Mate: Sneak Peek
Amber
“You piece-of-shit,” I growled, hitting the metallic panel over and over again. A few D’Tali workers stopped what they were doing to stare at me, but I paid them no heed. I just kept on hammering the metal ‘til my arms grew tired, then I just started kicking against it.
Finally, the damn edges of the panel slipped into place with a harsh click, covering a small part of the hull.
“What?” I stared back at the closest D’Tali worker, and he just arched one eyebrow. “This is what’s called high-level problem solving. This is how you fix things back on Earth.” The worker opened his mouth, a grin taking over it, but I shot him down before he could make some dumbass remark. “If you don’t get it, just move along. I’ve got plenty of shit to get done today.”
“Lunatic,” I heard him mutter, and I had to make a very conscious effort not to throw the wrench at his head. Instead, I grabbed a metal sheet and tried to fit it over the panel I had installed with my patented ‘kicking-it-into-place’ technique.
I was almost done with it when I heard the loud snort of a numa. I looked back over my shoulder to see a numa’s snout poking out from the edge of the crater where the ship sat. Standing up, I narrowed my eyes to see past the afternoon glow of a bright, sunny day. Beads of sweat rolled down my face, the heat almost oppressive, and I wiped them off with the sleeve of my overalls.
“Isabella?” I cried out, my voice ringing throughout the crater.
One second later Isabella climbed down the crater with the help of a tall, purple D’Tali with golden horns. I say tall, but it’s not like there were many short D’Tali around. It seemed like these guys had been fed fertilizer for breakfast during childhood.
“Have you brought me what I need for the locking mechanism?”
“I have,” she replied, now standing right beside the ship. I sat at the top of it, right where the sun felt most punishing, which meant that I had to look down at her. “Torvok is bringing it down.”
She pointed at the D’Tali that had helped her climb down, and I looked up to see him enlist the help of two other D’Tali. Using a couple of ropes and wooden beams for support, they were dragging a thick metal block down the crater’s slope.
“That thing isn’t a porcelain cup,” I shouted at the D’Tali hauling it down. “Are you afraid it’s gonna break or what? Hurry up!” The purple D’Tali shot me an annoyed glance but he didn’t say a thing. He just continued leading his slow-ass procession down the crater’s slope, driving me crazy in the process.
“Don’t rush them, Amber,” Isabella said as I climbed down the side of the ship. “What matters is that the piece is already here.”
“And thank God for that.” I wiped the sweat off my face once more, but all I managed to do was get a smudge of grease on my cheek. Oh, well. “I’ve tried opening those damn doors in every imaginable way, and I’m dying to see what might be inside that cargo bay. I really hope that this thing is really gonna work.”
“It’ll work,” Isabela replied, stepping aside as the D’Tali finally closed in on the ship’s ramp entrance. “The coding mechanism was damaged, which kicked the security locks in place, but with this bypass—”
“Yeah, yeah.” I waved her down, not really interested in the details. Isabella was a genius at what she did, but I wasn’t a fan of going theory-crazy like she did whenever I asked her a question. I was all about making things happen via sheer intuition.
Of course, that didn’t mean I was clueless about my job.
In fact, it was just the opposite.
I spent my childhood inside my pop’s garage, rebuilding classic cars, and I had been pretty damn good at it. Sure, now I was rebuilding a massive starship, but there wasn’t that much of a difference. I figured that a spaceship was just a mountain-sized version of a 1965 Shelby GT 350, and it didn’t hurt that my methods worked more often than not. That’s why Isabella had placed me here.
“Where to?” that giant purple D’Tali asked Isabella, straightening his back.
His muscles rippled under his shirt, making his forearms seem like battering rams. He also had a soldier’s sharp jawline, but something about him told me that he wasn’t a warrior. Not that he wouldn’t be able to fight—with muscles like that, he’d be able to punch through a brick wall. His body, though, seemed to have been shaped by something more practical than war.
“Come with me,” I barked at him, leading the way up the ramp. Isabella trailed after me. Soon enough the grunts of the D’Tali filled the vast hallways of the ship. Shaking my head, I grabbed a heavy-duty dolly and walked toward them. “For God’s sake, put it here. If you keep on pushing like that, this is going to take ages.”
The D’Tali did as I told them, but the purple one shot me another annoyed glance. “Can you speak softly?” he grumbled, clearly annoyed. What, was I too loud and bossy for him?
I folded my arms over my chest and stared him down. “This is who I am.” I threw back at him. “Got a problem with that?”
“Just my luck,” he muttered under his breath. I was already cocking my arm back, ready to send a wrench on a collision course with his head, when I felt Isabella lay her hand on my arm.
“That’s Torvok,” she said, her voice dipping into a whisper so that he wouldn’t hear us. “He’s a blacksmith, and he’s the best at what he does. You wouldn’t believe the stuff he’s capable of doing. I think you two are going to get along.”
“Yeah,” I said with a sour laugh, “right.”
I wasn’t known as the gal that got along with people easily and, besides, it didn’t look like I had gotten started on the right foot with this Torvok guy. But whatever. It’s not like I was particularly worried about being liked.
Once the metal block Isabella had built was on top of the dolly, I started pushing it across the maze of hallways, leading the entire group to the cargo bay. The massive doors rose in front of us, taunting me, and I stared at them with unbridled fury. It was time this obstacle was crushed into oblivion.
“Now what?” Torvok asked, hands on his hips as he looked from the doors to the piece. Eventually, he found the large hole on the wall, right next to the doors. “Is that where it’s supposed to go?”
“Yeah,” I replied, surprised. “That’s exactly where it’s supposed to go.” The two of us unloaded the piece and, side-by-side, we pushed it into position. Once it filled the hole on the wall, I connected the ship’s wiring to it. I immediately heard an electric crackle. “Oh, this sounds promising.”
“What does?”
“There’s a current going through here,” I said, tapping the metal block. “That means there’s a chance this is going to work. The locking mechanism for the cargo bay was pretty banged up, but I think this is gonna solve it.”
Without giving him the time for more questions, I spun around, making a straight line toward the electrical panel on the side. The cover slid aside with the push of a button. It revealed a tangled mess of wires and connecters, but I didn’t hesitate.
I reconnected the wires then punched the large red button mounted beside the doors. There was a whooshing sound, and the hydraulics started hissing furiously. Just a couple of seconds later, the gigantic doors lifted up, tucking themselves inside a hidden partition on the doorway.
“Now this is what I’m talking about,” I exclaimed, a wave of excitement washing over me. Without even thinking about it, I pulled Isabella into me and hugged her tightly. “You, my friend, are goddamn genius.”
“Let’s check it out,” Isabella said, chuckling as she tilted her chin toward the massive cargo bay. I nodded and, without waiting for anyone else, strolled inside the large room we had just unlocked. Dim lights flickered overhead, revealing mountains of crates covered in dust.
“I figure there’s at least three hundred of them,” I said, doing a quick count. They were of different sizes and shapes. With some luck, they would all contain things which would make life easier here. Or, even better, things that would help us rebuild the ship even faster.
“I think this might be where the cargo manifest is stored,” I heard Isabella say, and I looked at her to see her messing with a wall-mounted display. She continued speaking but, once I noticed what was behind her, I stopped hearing.
“Holy shit,” I muttered, unable to believe myself. “Is that a…?”
I rushed past Isabella, Torvok, and the other D’Tali. Moving as fast as I could, I made my way toward the far end of the cargo bay. I marveled at the vehicle someone had stored there. It reminded me of those futuristic hovercrafts you’d see in old science-fiction movies, except this one was real. It seemed to have a cockpit, and the engines seemed to be located underneath the—
“Amber, I’m gonna need you to do an inventory,” Isabella said, laying a hand on my shoulder. “It’s important that we—”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, still not listening. “Paperwork. Great.”
How could I listen to her?
I enjoyed the process of working in a massive spaceship, but now I had an opportunity to do something I hadn’t done in years. I was gonna tinker with this thing until its engines purred like kittens. Then, I was gonna sit behind the controls and… well, I was gonna drive the hell out of it.
I was in hog heaven.
But first… I’d made a promise to Isabella, and I should get that done first.
I wondered what was in all these crates. I walked over to some shelves along one wall of the cargo bay.
I will have to investigate this stuff if I’m going to give Isabella her inventory list… Don’t lie to yourself, Amber, you know you just want to snoop.
Okay, that too.
So I started snooping. Let’s start with those shelves in the back. I inspected some of the crates, trying to decide which I wanted to open first. Some of the crates had display panels with different settings.
Wish I could read this. Maybe some of these crates are temperature controlled. That would make sense for smugglers.
I dragged a large crate from the bottom of the shelves so I could reach the smaller crates packed at the top.
Might as well, I’ll need help with the larger crates and I wasn’t not ready to get anyone else involved. I pulled a medium sized crate over, opening it like a Christmas present. I miss Christmas presents.
I pushed that thought to the side and focused on the here and now.
A glow poured from the crate as I lifted the lid. My eyes went wide as I saw more power crystals carefully packed into it.
Isabella was going to love this! I quickly closed it so I wouldn’t damage them before I could give them to Isabella, placing the crate next to my legs.
I quickly scanned the shelf, looking for the next to explore. This was better than finding a suitcase of money under a floorboard!
A smaller, bright orange crate caught my eye.
Wonder what’s in there…
I pulled it to the edge, trying to be careful. This one was pretty high up. Maybe I should find another crate to step on.
I hefted a sturdy enough looking crate onto the large crate under my feet. I stepped atop it, using the extra six inches of height to get my fingers on the orange crate and worked it to the edge of the shelf.
What’s even in this? Seems heavy for something so small.I pulled.
The orange crate came down—and brought another with it. The two crates and I tumbled right off the crates upon which I stood. With a resounding crash, I found myself on my back on the cargo bay’s floor, the orange crate cradled in my arms.
I looked over to the crate the orange one had dislodged. Looks like that one was damaged in the crash. It hung open, vials filled with something fuchsia filled it. One of the vials lay shattered on the floor near my head.
Damn, Amber, you did it this time.
Well, I didn’t know what was in it, but, at least, I didn’t break all of whatever it is.
The broken vial’s fuchsia filling lay near my face.
And then, the fuchsia thing twitched.
No. That’s creepy. Is it… alive?!
It uncurled, waving what looked like tiny legs attached to the circumference of its segments.
Oh, no.
I tried to push the heavy orange crate off me so I could get away from the little creature, but it was really awkward. Before I could get distance between me and the critter, it crawled right for me.
Hell! That thing was moving fast!
I squealed as it crawled up my head and—into my ear.
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