Confusion surfaced. “Boat. Ship. Whatever you call it.”
“You are not on a boat,” Cair said. “You are on a spaceship.”
Now I laughed. “Did Andrea set this up?” It had to be a joke. Right?
“Who is Andrea?” Cair asked in a sharp tone.
The laughter dried up. “My friend. She did this as a practical joke to cheer me up.” I heard the desperation in my voice.
“I do not know an Andrea.” Cair tilted his head. “You are here because you interfered with my runner apprehension.”
“Wait. I didn’t mean to?—”
“I needed to get off the planet before anyone else saw us.” Cair gestured at the sterile room behind him. “You are in the ship’s brig. I will interrogate you to determine if you are uninvolved as you claim.”
“Brig? Interrogate?Spaceship?” This had to be stress, not aliens.
Cair continued as if I had not interrupted. “If I believe you are uninvolved, then I will wipe your memory and return you to Earth.”
I blinked at the cold, metallic walls, the low hum of unseen machinery making my head throb as Cair’s words sank in. Memory wipe? Return to Earth? My brain raced. “Return—wait. If?”
“If I do not believe you, then I will bring you to Vadhea along with Xelthar Zarnoth.”
“Who is Vadhea?” I asked, just as Xelthar muttered, “Fuck me. Vadhea.” Interestingly, in English. I wondered why.
One of Cair’s yellow eyes shifted to stare at Xelthar, while the other remained fixed on me.
“What the fuck?” I yelped. “What’s wrong with your eye?”
“Nothing is wrong with my eye,” Cair answered.
Xelthar laughed again, concern regarding whoever Vadhea was at least briefly forgotten.
“What … how … I don’t understand,” I spluttered, peering at his face, trying to comprehend how his eyes could move in separate directions like that. It seemed too purposeful to be a so-called lazy eye.
“I have monocular vision,” he explained.
“Oh.” While I wasn’t certain whatmonocularmeant, I understood it in this context.
“The interrogation will be quick and painless.”
That statement brought me back to my immediate situation, and I lost interest in Cair’s unusual eyes. “Yes, yes,” I frantically agreed, my head nodding up and down like a bobblehead. “I have nothing to hide. I’ll tell you anything you want to know. Then you can, uh, return me to Earth.” My tongue tripped over the final sentence. Part of my brain didn’t believe I was on an actual alien spaceship. But the glowing rings holding me against a metal wall begged to differ. Regardless, I wanted to be safe back home in my apartment.
“Excellent,” Cair responded with a curt nod. He crouched down in front of me.
Fuck. What was about to happen? “What are you doing?” I asked with trepidation.
A slight whirring sound reached my ears. Cair placed what resembled an electronic box cutter against the bottom of my dress and pulled it upward.
“Hey,” I spluttered when the fabric split apart. “What are you doing? Stop!”
Ignoring my entreaty, Cair dragged the implement higher.
I watched in dismay as he slowly, neatly, cut my dress open in front. Before I could object, he also cut the straps holding the two sides dangling in place. The dress fell off my body, leaving me restrained spread-eagle in my lacy black bra and thong.
“As I stated,” Cair began dispassionately, “this will be quick and painless if you are honest in answering my questions.”
“You could have asked me your questions while I was clothed,” I squeaked out.
