My Crazy Hot Interstellar Affair

27. Alien Dad Warns Son: Do Not Get One Scratch on Favorite Spaceship

When a person's hair is on fire, it demands one's full attention and focus. So was the case with Cyra who, despite being an advanced alien with access to mind-boggling technology, had never heard of 'stop, drop, and roll.' Andie's eyes watered from the acrid stench.

With Cyra running across the stage in her Sterling form, beautiful tresses rapidly turning to ash, Andie spared a moment to contemplate her still-sparking fingers. She seemed to get more powerful. But now a ballroom full of Amu knew she had contracted the royal family's signature weapon. Great.

Andie needed a plan. And quick. Before Cyra's hair finished burning and unleashed her attack-supermodels again. The Priority One had disappeared after the last of the doves flew wherever François had gone, so that option was out.

Perhaps she could Wormhole. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to picture a nice cozy out-of-the-way cargo hold on the ship, but she did not know where such a place would be. For all she knew, the Starship Magnificent had a chompers room like the one in Galaxy Quest and she'd end up there. She shuddered at the thought of being crushed between two metal cylinders.

"Open your eyes. You can't Wormhole here," Oliver said, grabbing Andie's hand. "There are Wormhole blockers all over the ship. We have to run."

"But ..." Andie said.

Oliver rolled his sparkly alien eyes and then lifted Andie, cradling her against his cinnamon-scented chest.

"Put me down!" Andie demanded as he sprinted down the center aisle toward the exit. Amu cleared out of their path as he ran, Oliver's blue light paving the way.

"I am not a child! And I don't trust you!" Andie twisted in his grip, which only became more ironlike. Stupid alien strength.

"I think trusting me is your only hope." The grand doors swung open. "Stay here!" Oliver commanded his Amu subjects. The doors closed, and no one followed. Oliver's boot steps echoed on the metallic floor of the empty corridor.

Exhausted from all the fighting and disappointment and hair loss, Andie gave up and slackened in Oliver's arms. He was right. She had no option but to trust him.

The corridor differed from the ostentatious pageantry of the wedding chamber. Its curved walls were industrial and a glowy white. With bright lights and sleek, utilitarian walls, it had all the personality and warmth of an MRI.

For the first time since arriving on the Starship Magnificent, a wave of awe engulfed Andie. As a little girl, she'd imagined herself on the Starship Enterprise, seeking out new life and new civilizations (though the civilizations were all the prime-directive variety and nothing remotely like this crew of insecure, arrogant, kidnappers), but this was real life. If she wasn't at the moment being jostled in the arms of a hot alien in clown pants, beating a path down the hall so fast her teeth rattled, and she didn't have a friend to rescue, she'd have definitely unleashed her inner sci-fi nerd and fondled every surface.

Oliver turned a corner so fast, that she bit her lip. Again. "Ow! Put me down." A bolt of blue energy zapped out of her fingertip and struck his neck.

"Ouch! And no. I will not let go of you. Ever. Now stop assaulting me so I can get us a ride out of here."

"Sorry. By the way, we are going to talk about this blue energy thing I've caught from you. Wouldn't it be easier to take the Priority One to wherever Sterling is?" Andie said, uttering a sentence she suspected had never been spoken by anyone, human or alien.