The cell door closed. Lily moped in her pen. She toed the continent of dried MSac fluid crusting the tile as doctor Puu removed the drive key the captain left with him. The lock chimed and its interface shifted red.
"Compiling your species report and processing your samples won't take more than an ard," the doctor said. "Once he has more information, captain Vortrand will release you."
"What will he do with me after that?"
"I cannot say."
Lily nodded. Lost in a fog of anxious thoughts, she didn't hear the doctor leave. A deep, sibilant voice from the neighboring cell enticed her to reality.
"Vortrand won't harm you until he can afford to harm you," the voice said.
Lily whipped left. Gloved hands resting on the slatted bars, Barracuda braced himself against their cells' center partition. The intensity of his focus backed her up a step.
Barracuda chuckled. "Did you open my storage globe?"
A syllable croaked from Lily's mouth then her jaw snapped shut. People like Barracuda weren't locked up for no reason. The alien's stance, angles, stature and outfit all screamed, "sinister." Angling away from him, she picked at the sealant peeling from the stab wound in her palm.
Groans from Lily's stomach gurgled embarrassingly loud in the chamber's quiet. Ghostly hands twisted her insides. She ground a fist under her navel then bent with another sharp spasm.
"Haven't fed you?" Barracuda slipped his hand into one of the utility pouches attached to the left leg of his black suit. "Here." A long arm wormed through the slats. A brown wafer balanced on his palm. "The Pashmi brings me nutration bars twice a turn. I don't mind sharing this one."
Food. Lily's mouth watered. Though she leaned towards the proffered bar, she wouldn't move an inch nearer Barracuda. The alien jostled his offering.
"I'm the least of your worries in this place."
A single step brought Lily closer to Barracuda and the meal. Then another. And another. Then she halted and pursed her lips.
"If you don't want it..." As Barracuda withdrew his arm, Lily leapt for the nutration bar. The alien whipped his hand out of reach. The morsel dangled overhead. "Did you open my storage globe?"
Grunting as she jumped, Lily swiped at the bar. She couldn't get high enough. "Give it to me."
"Give me what I want and you'll get what you want. Did you open the globe?"
Folding her arms, Lily said, "Yeah," then flapped out her hand.
Barracuda crooked his arm. The bar lowered. If she wanted it she'd have to get closer.
YOU ARE READING
Spaced Out
Science FictionLily Abadie never expected to spend her summer at the center of an intergalactic war. When a spacecraft crashes into her family's summer cabin and she's pulled on board that's exactly where she ends up. After an alien device uploads a huge data-dump...
