She sighed as she zipped past a semi. “When we get to the farm, do you want to go in the back? I figure they’ll be expecting us to bust in the front door with guns blazing, but if we split up, we might catch them off-guard.”
“Yeah. Sure.”
Her stern expression softened. “I’m sorry—again. I know you and Prince N’kal have a relationship. I should be more sympathetic.”
“No, it’s not your fault. I’m … worried. N’kal didn’t have any weapons to defend himself, and from what we saw of the Xalanite guards’ bodies … I just don’t want to think about it.” I gave her a weak smile, the best I could muster given the situation. “You’re doing your job, which is all I have a right to askof you. I can’t be begging special attention just because of who N’kal is to the Xalanites.”
She patted my shoulder. “Anyone whose boyfriend gets abducted by an alien psychopath deserves special attention.”
“Mytyr’il.”
“What’s atyr’il?”
I shook my head to clear it. Damn nanites took over again. “Mate. It literally translates to ‘twin to my hearts.’ It’s a more fitting word than ‘boyfriend.’ Better describes how I feel about him. Except I only have one heart to N’kal’s two.”
“That actually speaks volumes to your strength and compassion. The fact that you can love a man so different from yourself so completely that it takes two of his hearts to equal your one.”
I hadn’t thought about it like that.
I wiped my sweaty palms on my borrowed pants. It felt weird wearing Amber’s oversized loungewear on a rescue mission, but there hadn’t been time to pick up clothes that fit me. As long as the hems of my leggings didn’t come unrolled, though, I shouldn’t trip on them.
Our car was the first one on the scene. Director Hall had left the others in the dust. With as fast as she drove, it could be ten or fifteen minutes until backup arrived. Ten or fifteen minutes might not have seemed like much, but when lives were on the line, every second counted. The director reached over and opened the glove box, which held a spare service weapon. I nodded my thanks as I checked it and chambered a round. Having a gun in my hand made me feel more secure, more confident.
I can save him. I have to.
“You ready, agent?”
I nodded again.
“Good.” She chambered her own weapon and cut the engine. “Let’s go save yourtyr’il, shall we?”
We left the car and split up as planned, with Director Hall heading for the large, open barn door and me creeping around to a smaller back entrance. No light spilled out from inside, though that didn’t mean the scarred Xalanite wasn’t in there with N’kal; Xalanites could see perfectly well in near-pitch darkness, a serious advantage over our species.
Low voices drifted to me once I got inside. The door creaked when I nudged it open, but I could hear no indication that anyone had noticed me.
It helped that the director was making plenty of noise on her own.
“AARO! You’re under arrest for murder and kidnapping. Release the hostage and come out with your hands up.”
While I didn’t think it was the director’s smartest move ever, I understood the reasoning behind it. She was drawing their attention, creating a distraction so I could sneak up on them. A bit suicidal, given what we knew about the scarred Xalanite, but it was too late to try to stop her. I just had to do my best to get N’kal free and clear while she kept them occupied.
I only hoped she lived long enough for the tactic to work.
“You think we care about Earth authorities? We are proud Xalanites. No Earth agency can control us.”
The voice, a female’s by the pitch, came from the other side of the ship. So, my gut had been right. Not quite the time to gloat about that, but I’d be sure to point out the director’s error later.
If we survived.
A lower, grating voice responded. The scarred man.“Ignore her, Mother. She will be dead soon enough.”
“Mother,” huh? I wondered if he was the child in the redacted birth record. That would make the woman Lliaa. Even more evidence that I was right to suspect her.
I finally reached the open hatch of the ship. From my new angle, I could see the two enemy Xalanites standing in front of the vessel, backlit by Director Hall’s flashlight. The younger Xalanite brandished a vicious-looking knife at the director while the woman stood off to the side in a stark white Earth-style ballgown, looking bored. The dark, silky material hugged her curves, fitted like a glove to her multitude of breasts. Such a lavish dress seemed completely out of place in the old barn.
“You know, it’s really quite rude to use Xalanite in front of me. Maybe you could switch to English in the spirit of politeness? I’m sure you could afford the nanites.”
More diversionary tactics from the director. So far, it looked as though it was working. The two Xalanites standing outside the ship didn’t appear to have noticed me. I tiptoed up the ramp leading onto the ship. N’kal was nowhere in sight outside, which meant he was likely still on board.
