Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 56021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 280(@200wpm)___ 224(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 280(@200wpm)___ 224(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
Lettie herself went down to the planet and got caught. She wasn’t just kept as a captive. She was actually bred. She has a baby to Shan, her saurian mate who returned to the ship with her, along with the infant.
They are breaking the no boys and no babies rule that Captain Sullivan instituted, but I am not going to be the one to point that out. Good for her. She’s the only one of us who has managed to return to the ship, but that’s because her remote location allowed us to pretty much go and pick her up once we found her. The rest of the crew remains very much under lock and key down on the planet.
She’s also forgetting that I am the ship’s cleaner. I am not a spy like she was. Spies seem to be quiet and unassuming, but underneath it all they have nerves of steel and a determination few other people possess. That’s how they handle being undercover.
I’m barely a pirate. I’m more of a pity hire. Captain Sullivan would pick up any human woman she found in distress and give them employment on the ship. A lot of them became fighters or scavengers. I’ve been cleaning the ship since I came aboard. These days, the only weapon I know how to handle is a mop.
“Are you sure you want me to do this?” I ask the question nervously. “One of the other girls might…”
“The others are running recon and disruption,” she says. “You’re the only one who hasn’t been down to the surface yet — and that is a good thing. You’re innocent. Untouched. They’ll love that about you.”
I don’t think I want the saurians to love anything about me. I try to stay out of sight of the one that Lettie brought back with her. He’s the father of her baby, and I guess he’s nice enough, but he’s also a terrifying, massive, scaled creature. From what I understand, Wrath is a lot worse. Bigger. Meaner. Evil, maybe even.
“You’re going to be brave,” Lettie says. “And don’t worry. We won’t let him actually take you. You’re just there to draw him out so we can take him. He’s been damn hard to find ever since Thorn dedicated every resource he has to rooting him out. But I know he’ll come out for someone like you. You’re beautiful.”
I’m not. I’m just the last one they have left.
I’m not athletic like most of the other ladies on the ship. I’m soft and I’m round, and I have cushioning where they have firm muscle and pert assets. I suppose I have nice hair. It’s long and blonde and I only cut it when it starts interfering with my butt crack, so it’s all the way down to my tailbone, almost. Sometimes long hair is all you need. People don’t really look at your face — which I am comfortable with. My face is round, my features are cute, I guess, but not striking like some of the others. I’d happily stay out of the way forever if I had the chance.
I’m not comfortable in this tight, stretchy outfit which is showing all my flaws in high definition. Does she really think that a saurian alpha, the one who is ruthless and lawless and scheming and awful and generally the most intimidating creature I’ve ever heard of is going to want me, a lumpy human poured into spandex?
“I feel as though… I don’t think…”
“Good. Don’t think. It’s like I said. You’re not going to have to do anything except be down there and be very hot. We’ll have a transporter locked onto you the entire time. As long as you don’t lose your transponder disc — which you won’t, because it’s already sewn into your clothing, we will be able to bring you right up to the ship again whenever we need to. All you have to do is let him touch you, so the signal takes him too. It’s going to be easy. We’ve got the brig all decked out for him. This is going to change the tide of saurian politics, and you’re going to play a major role. We need to do something brave and bold. Something that makes a difference.”
Lettie is doing her best to hype me up, but she’s doing it in a near-empty bridge because not a single one of our simple little plans has worked out how we simply planned it. These saurians aren’t quite as technologically advanced as we are, theoretically anyway, but they’re smart. And they’re big. And they have muscles and scales and they don’t see us as people. They see us as things to take captive and then use for their own reproductive ends. If I were a betting woman — and I’m not, I’d say this plan is going to go sideways as soon as it is enacted.