Ethereal Lives: A Romantic Sci-Fi Novel

Chapter 5

"What the fex is going on?" Ax barked into the intercom while hitting buttons to turn off the alarms.

"It's the human," Trel shouted back.

"I told you not to let her touch anything." The siren finally stopped even though the lights continued to flash red. "Where is she now?" Ax asked, wishing his ears would stop ringing.

The silence from the intercom answered for him. Trel had lost her.

"Praid, get on the monitors and find her," Ax said.

He scanned through cameras as well trying to spot her; where the hell was she? The woman seemed to leave a trail of trouble wherever she went, it couldn't be that hard to find her. He activated the intercom, calling all his men to report in. It didn't take long for Bizax to reply.

"Ax, she's with me in the engine room."

"What?" Fear shot through him. An image of Ariane randomly pressing buttons, and the ship exploding ran through his mind. "What's she doing there? Why did you let her in? Don't let her touch anything, whatever you do."

Bizax chuckled. "Calm down, everything's fine."

"Did you not just hear the sirens?" he asked frowning at the monitor, "that human is a menace. Keep her there. I'm coming to get her."

Ax ran to the engine room, half expecting the ship to start falling from the sky at any moment. If the fexing woman touched something she shouldn't, she could crash them. What possessed Bizax to let her in there?

By the time he reached the engine room door, the lights had returned to normal. He weaved between the humming machines, heading for the centre where Bizax would be. The sound of female laughter greeted him before he saw anyone. His steps slowed, and he waited just out of sight, listening.

"I like you," the human said surprising him. No one liked Bizax. Well, no one beside him and his men, but they were different, family. Most other people avoided the man, He was the tallest of them all no matter what form they took and for some reason always used a rough appearance. A tiny, fragile, human liking him was just inconceivable.

"What are you doing here?" Ax asked rounding the corner.

The laughter stopped as Ariane got to her feet. "Guess my fun's over."

"Why is she in here? Are you insane?"

Bizax stood too and faced Ax. "Relax, she's fine."

Ax's surveyed the room. "I'm not worried about her. I'm worried about my ship. Did she touch anything?"

Ariane gasped, and Bizax chuckled. "Nah she didn't touch anything. We were just talking."

He gazed at the two of them warily, what could they possibly be discussing? "You don't need to converse with her, she will be gone soon."

Her face fell at his words making him feel oddly guilty, but he pushed the feeling aside. She was a money source, nothing more. "Follow me," he said, turning to lead her from the engine room. He got about ten paces before he noticed she wasn't following. He turned with a frown to see her still talking to Bizax.

"I'm coming," she snapped before he could say anything. Pushing by him, she stormed from the room and headed back to her quarters.

He walked behind her, rather astounded by her blatant disregard for his authority. "Tell me, do you know what a prisoner is?"

She glanced over her shoulder at him. "Oh, I know what one is."

He had a very strong feeling she didn't. "Would you care to explain it to me?"