Chapter 1

Freddie

When I first woke up on the cold metal floor, wedged between two crates, I thought I was in the storage trailer behind the café where I worked. I wasn’t sure how I would’ve gotten there, since I don’t work anywhere near the location of the festival I’d been at, but stranger things have happened to me on a wild night of partying. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, there wasn’t much to see aside from the shadows of cargo and LED lights running along the perimeter of the rectangular space. There were no voices from where I was sitting, but from the hum of the engines on all sides of me, I realized I wasn’t in a storage unit at all. 

You’ve done it now, Freddie. 

I loosened a breath, squinting my eyes into the darkness. “Hello?” No one responded. I struggled to my feet, my legs having gone numb from the way I’d been sitting. My head pounded. Gods. I’d really overdone it last night. “Anybody there? Jess? Olivia?” Nothing. 

I held my breath as I tiptoed around the crates, all larger than me, and into the aisle between the rows. The floor continued to hum beneath my sneakers, the air around me still and silent. Not seeing a clear exit, I chose a direction, turning to the left where neon green outlined the panels on the walls. I’d only taken a few steps when one of those panels swung open and a head popped in. 

The figure was tall and lanky, the head pumpkin-shaped above narrow shoulders. At first, I thought I must’ve been having a nightmare, but I wasn’t taking any chances. If I was dreaming, I could just as easily wake up wherever I was hiding. So instead of moving toward the door, toward the strange figure standing there and peering into the darkness, I returned to my hiding spot and climbed into one of the crates, wedging myself beside the contents and closing the wooden lid silently above me.

***

When I woke up the second time, cramped but less groggy than the first, there were voices. If one could call them that. The sound was high-pitched, yet mumbling at the same time, but in the background, I almost thought I could hear crying. Repositioning myself within the container that was barely big enough for me, I opened the lid just enough to see outside. 

In the darkness, it was hard to get a good view of where the sounds were coming from and I was too afraid to leave the safety of the crate. Everything around me began to vibrate, forcing me back onto my butt, the crate’s lid smacking me on my head as I fell. I stifled a curse, rubbing my head as I took a moment to plan my next move. Something was happening, I just didn’t know what.

A wisp of air made the lid of the crate jiggle, followed by several loud beeping noises and a door opened somewhere nearby. I held my breath, fingers tapping on my knee as I debated what to do. I couldn’t still be dreaming. There was no way. But what I’d seen couldn’t have been real either. If it had been real, then I was in trouble. 

I shook my head, squeezing my eyes shut and berating myself for wandering off on my own last night. Come to the fire festival, they said. It’ll be fun, they said. What my two roommates didn’t say was that they would abandon me as soon as they got approached by two barely attractive losers in polos and khakis. If it weren’t for my lame friends, I would’ve never had to find my way to the bathroom, by myself, when I’d drank one too many dune mules. It wasn’t all my friends’ fault, but at the moment, I needed to share the blame. 

Bracing my hands on the sides of the wooden crate, I clenched my teeth as footsteps moved past my hiding spot, followed by the sounds of something being dragged across the floor. The crates were being moved, unloaded maybe. I heard the cries again, which sounded so much like another woman, but I couldn’t call out to her, not when I didn’t know what was out there, not if I’d put my own safety at risk. This was the moment when the panic truly began to build, when my heartbeat became louder than every other sound in the room. I didn’t dare move as crate after crate was drug out of the room from around me, not knowing where they were being taken, or if it would be safer where they were going than where I was. 

I didn’t have time to consider my fate before my own crate, the only thing that seemed to be keeping me safe, began to move. The high-pitched vocal sounds got louder, followed by a deeper voice that sounded farther away. I tried to listen, just in case I could make out words, but it was useless as the base below me scraped along the floor, nearly tipping over. To my relief, the lid stayed closed. I knew they were probably wondering how their cargo had gotten increasingly heavier, one hundred and ten pounds heavier to be exact, but no one paused to open the lid. 

The deeper voice got louder as the crate stopped moving, the bass of it hitting me low in my belly, but I couldn’t make out any of the words. It wasn’t a language I’d ever heard before. Sitting as still as I could, I held my hand over my mouth trying to still my breaths as the crate was pulled another few feet. I could hear the door seal shut again, could feel the vibrations of the world around me as things powered into motion once again, but I wasn’t brave enough to look again. Not yet. 

The footsteps moved away, the sound of heavy boots fading into the distance. The tension in my body relaxed, my shoulders slumping back against the inside of the container. At least for the moment, I was safe. 

Chapter 2

Freddie

I wasn’t sure how long I’d slept when I woke up still inside the crate, but the world outside of my hiding place was unknown. The room around me was silent. The realization I was no longer in the desert filled me with fear, the bitter taste of it burning in the back of my throat as I rubbed my eyes and repositioned myself. There was no way I could remain where I was. I would need to eat, to drink, and I was beginning to have to pee. Unless I wanted to sit in my own filth, I would have to take a chance and leave the crate. Loosening a breath, I reached above me and cracked open the lid.

The moment I peeked out into the room beyond, it was clear I was no longer in the same space I’d been in before. Unlike the previous room, which was all darkness aside from the lights lining the wall panels and door, this space was lit with an ambient sort of light, almost blue in tint, and it was smaller and with less cargo. I didn’t hear any crying in this space, no high-pitched sounds that seemed like voices, but it didn’t look like a storage container any more than the previous location had. Wherever I was, I didn’t think I was on earth anymore—and the realization sent a shudder through me. Crate or no crate, I had no illusions about safety, and there was no use hiding anymore. I needed help.

Landing on the floor harder than I’d intended, I winced, fighting back a yelp when my ankle twisted to the side. Staying where I was for a moment, I wiggled my ankle and was relieved it wasn’t sprained. The last thing I needed in the situation I found myself in was an injury where I couldn’t walk, or run, for that matter. Not that there was anywhere to go. There were no windows to the outside, nothing but paneled walls and cargo. Blowing out a breath, I stood on shaky legs and peered around the crate.

The floor vibrated below my feet, and I rubbed my hands against my arms to warm them. We were moving, but not fast enough to throw me off balance. “Hello?”

My voice echoed around me, but none responded. Taking a few steps forward and into the aisle between the dozens of containers, I stilled my breath. “Is anyone there?”

A strange whirring noise sounded from outside the door, and I jolted to the side, taking cover behind some of the cargo as a panel in the wall opened, and a silhouette stepped into the doorway.

Breath catching in my throat, I backed myself further into the shadows as a shape came into view. Unlike the figure I’d seen in the last location, this one was tall with broad shoulders, and it was definitely not human. If there had ever been a question before, I realized at that moment that I was no longer on my own planet, and if I was, I was afraid I’d gone crazy. Humans didn’t have horns and they were not an iridescent shade of grayish blue.

The male, or what I thought must be a male, moved further into the space, his footsteps heavy against the metal floor. He called out in a language I did not recognize, but his voice was familiar. It was the same deep voice I’d heard when the cargo was being moved before I’d fallen back asleep.

Swallowing back my fear, I stepped out from behind the crates and fully into view. If he was going to kill me, or toss me out of his ship, I’d better just get it over with. It would be better than starving to death. “Hello,” I said again, my voice coming out in a higher pitch than usual. Maybe if I sounded unassuming, helpless even, it would make him less likely to harm me. “I’m not sure where I am. Can you help me?”

Instead of responding, the giant horned man scratched at his chin and walked back out of the room, the door sliding shut behind him. I stood there for a moment slack jawed. He’d literally just walked out and closed the door, leaving me standing in the cold cargo hold.

Folding my legs beneath me, I dropped to the floor, my limited options flooding my mind. Still yet to shed a tear, I realized I must have been in shock or something. If not, I certainly would have been crying for my mother at that point, even though she and I had never really been close. My bladder was painfully full, and if he didn’t get me out of the cargo hold soon, I was going to have to piss all over whatever it was he was transporting. I was thirsty too, and a few headache pills would have done me some good, but my pockets were empty aside from my...

Scrambling onto my knees, I dug my hand into the ridiculously tight pocket of my faux leather pants and pulled out my cell phone. As was my fear, it had no signal. It was useless.

Groaning, I shoved my phone back into my pocket and rose to my feet. If he was going to try to ignore me, I would make it impossible for him to do it in peace.

Chapter 3

Aevo

 A ruking human! I knew the Gresum filth transported stolen humans, but how one had found their way onto my ship? Ruk! 

This is what I got for trying so hard to keep my nose clean of any illegal trading after my last run in with the intergalactic police. Growling under my breath, I stormed back to the bridge and pressed the button on the telecom to contact the Gresum, intending to tell them to meet me at the nearest station, but I canceled the call before it was connected. If I sent the human back…I didn’t know if I wanted that on my conscience either. What they did to humans in the galaxy was something I would’ve never wished on any sentient being. It was why I always stayed far away from the flesh trade. I spun in my chair, checking my navigation as I pressed the button to summon my android, Mechi. Maybe he would know what to do, or at least his programming would.

When he swaggered in, I couldn’t help but to chuckle. Mechi may have had brilliant programming, the best my credits were able to buy when I left the service of the Omnos government, but he certainly had some quirks. With a kitchen rag wrapped around his waist like one of the short skirts dancers wore in the station pleasure rooms, I’d say he had plenty of them. The android stopped in front of me, seemingly clueless as to why I was grinning. 

“You summoned me, Captain Aevo?” 

Just as I was about to explain the predicament I’d found myself in, a loud bang sounded from the direction of the cargo hold. The human was beating on the door, trying to get my attention. It was working. Gritting my teeth, I turned back to Mechi, who had begun to tap his metal boot on the floor. 

“Mechi, we seem to have picked up a stowaway at the last exchange. A human.” The words were like acid on my tongue. I was on a tight schedule, and finding a place to safely leave a human wasn’t on it.

His robotic mind calculating, Mechi remained silent for a moment, the only sound in the ship coming from the unruly passenger banging on the cargo hold door. “We cannot return her to Earth, Captain.”

I had been counting on Mechi telling me something I didn’t already know. Every ship’s captain knew it was illegal to enter Earth’s atmosphere according to the treaties that had been forged between its government and the intergalactic alliance decades ago. Huffing, I spun my chair back around, studying my map. “I’m aware of that, Mechi. Are there any other safe locations for humans in our galaxy? Preferably somewhere along our flight path?” 

The android went silent, its brain in thinking mode again. With the loud beating on the door down the hall, I hoped he wouldn’t take too long. Thankfully, he didn’t. “The nearest planet where human refugees can be safely taken is two lightyears away, Captain. Planet Amotron in the neighboring Odag galaxy. It is not on our flightpath, Captain.”

Hands gripping the arms of my chair, it took everything in me not to put my fist through the control panel. I did not have time to go to another galaxy to drop off a human. “What are my other options, Mechi?”

Head tilting to the side, the android resembled one of those fluffy canines my mother always kept when I was a child. “Humane options, Captain?” 

“Of course, humane options, Mechi,” I gritted out, my patience nearing its end.

Just when I was counting to ten, lack of sleep from the late night trade catching up with me, the human began not only banging on the door, but yelling through it as well, in a language I did not understand. 

Mechi took several steps in the cargo hold’s direction before stopping and turning back to me. “She wants you to let her out, Captain. She says if you don’t, she will urinate on everything in the room.”

Mouth twisting in disgust, I stared at Mechi with renewed hesitation. I didn’t know much about humans, but I’d at least thought they were bathroom trained. The cargo in my hold was worth thousands of credits. I couldn’t have her destroying all my products before I delivered them. “I cannot understand her language Mechi. Can you reprogram my language translator?” 

Giving the android an order he could easily perform, Mechi moved back toward me, typing a few codes on the panel that controlled what languages were cycled through the chip implanted behind my ear. It only took him a moment and the blaring screeches from the other side of the cargo hold door came through as speech in my ear. She wanted to be let out and shown to a bathroom. She also wanted food, water, and something for head pain. With all her demands, I realized I would need medication for head pain before long as well. 

Sighing loudly, I stood from my chair. Even with no plan of what to do with the human, I couldn’t leave her where she was, but after living in my ship alone for so long, I was not looking forward to the company, especially not from a squealing, demanding, human female. I felt my head pain growing already.

Turning to my control panel one more time, I set the autopilot on for the next station. “Get one of the extra sleeping quarters ready, Mechi. I’m going to let the human out of the cargo hold.”

Chapter 4

Freddie

I’d planned to beat on the cargo hold door until he came back and let me out, but I had to admit it was a faulty plan. After only about fifteen minutes, my hand hurt only slightly less than my head did. Still, I heard no sounds from the other side. No voices and no footsteps. In a last-ditch effort to get the big horned alien’s attention, which even I had to admit was counter-intuitive, I began yelling at him through the door. If anything pushed him into action, I figured threatening to pee on everything would do the trick. When I heard heavy footsteps coming down the hall only a few minutes later, I realized it had worked, and I immediately regretted my decision. Maybe I could have been a little less pushy. I didn’t want to piss him off, after all. Not if I wanted him to help me.

Stepping away from the door, I pulled myself onto one of the crates, sitting on the top with my feet hanging off and I waited. There was a slight whirring sound, and the panel slid open, leaving the doorway filled with a muscular body and horned head once again. He may have not been human, but the way his large body strained against his black jumpsuit took my breath away, iridescent blue or not. Everything I’d thought about five minutes before, how I was going to try my best not to piss him off and get thrown out into space, completely left my mind when I jumped down from the crate and said “It’s about time you came back.”

My mouth always did get me in trouble, and when he turned on his heel with a grunt and began walking swiftly down the hall, I realized he hadn’t appreciated my pushiness. Running after him, my head was on a swivel as I took in the sleek metal walls, and the room with all the lit up panels in the opposite direction in which we were headed. “Hey! Wait up!” I tried to catch up with him but his legs were too long. He had to be at least nearly seven feet tall, with arms the size of my thighs. If I’d been smart, I would have been intimidated, but my intelligence had flown out the window the moment I’d stumbled into a spacecraft while looking for the bathroom, or maybe when I’d hit my head hard enough that it was possible I was  imagining the entire thing. “Where are you taking me?”

The pleading in my voice seemed to give him pause and he stopped walking, turning around to face me. In the bright lights of the corridor, I got my first good look at his face, which was masculine and terribly grumpy. The alien’s hair was long and ebony, hanging straight to the middle of his back. I had an overwhelming urge to braid it as it whipped over his shoulder with the turn of his head. His eyes were a depthless, midnight blue, almost black, and they seemed to pull me in like a black hole. Rubbing his forehead with a massive hand, he looked to be praying for patience. 

“Until I figure out where to bring you, human, I’m going to put you in the extra sleeping quarters.” He paused for a moment, like he was making sure I could understand his words. At that moment, I felt like a naughty child. “But I ask you to please use the facilities to urinate. I do not have another bed for you if you soil the one I give to you.”

Oh no. All I thought at that moment was, Freddie, you've gone and made the alien think you aren’t potty trained. 

Cheeks heating like a furnace, my embarrassment grew with every moment he waited for me to respond. Just as I was about to pull myself together and tell him that I wasn’t actually going to pee on anything, well, so long as we found a bathroom in the next five minutes, another set of footsteps approached from behind him. A robot.

Aside from the yellow dishrag it had randomly fastened around its waist like some makeshift sarong, it reminded me a lot of C-3PO from Star Wars, except it was silver instead of gold. 

Truly close to pissing myself, I squeezed my thighs together to refrain from doing a full on pee pee dance, which didn't do any favors for my reputation of being a bedwetter. “Look, I’m not going to urinate on anything as long as someone gets me to a toilet right now.” 

My threat seemed to land home and the big horned alien finally broke his visual assessment of me and turned to face his robot companion. “Bring the human to her room and show her how to use the facilities. Get her food and water and let me know if there’s any trouble.” His eyes returned to me, as I was squirming in my skin-tight pleather pants, when he said the word trouble. My face fell into the picture of mock offense, but he was probably right. No matter where I was, mischief always seemed to find me. 

Before I had a chance to ask about what kind of trouble I could possibly get into, he turned and started to walk away. I watched as he made his way down the hall, finding it impossible to ignore the movement of his glutes in his jumpsuit. I was a woman, after all. I didn’t know if the parts were the same, but I could have definitely set a food tray on his ass and have myself a little snack. I shook my head, surprised at the direction of my thoughts. 

Just as he placed his hand against one of the panels on the wall, a door opening in front of him, he turned back to where we were standing. “Watch her door, Mechi. I don’t need her crashing my ship or ejecting herself out into space while I’m asleep.” 

Ejecting into space? That’s what I’ve been trying to avoid. 

Chapter 5

Aevo

I really was in over my head with this human, and I was no closer to determining what to do with her, aside from keeping her alive. Exhaustion weighed heavily on my eyelids, but I didn’t know if I would be able to get any sleep with a strange creature aboard my ship and only Mechi watching her. He wasn’t exactly the most responsible android. All she would have to do was offer to fashion him new clothing and he’d be willing to turn the entire ship over to her.

Huffing out a breath, I unzipped my jumpsuit and turned the water on in the shower, wondering if I should go back and check on them before I tried to sleep. I hadn’t even told her my name or asked for hers. I shook my head as I stepped into the stall, the hot water soothing my aching muscles. There was no reason to get on a first name basis with her; it wasn’t like I was going to keep her any longer than I had to.

Showering quickly, I turned on the air dryer before pulling on a clean pair of sleeping shorts. Normally, between making a trade and arriving to deliver the cargo, I would set the next fueling station’s coordinates in the autopilot and get a good night’s sleep. Being on the ship alone, with only Mechi to watch over things when I slumbered, didn’t afford me that much free time. Working in intergalactic transport was a demanding career, but it paid well.

Even knowing the human was safely in the guest quarters after watching the lock engage on the ship’s security panel, I still couldn’t relax enough to fall asleep. The autopilot had its coordinates set and would safely take us to the Sanu station, where I would need to refill the ship’s fuel and my stocks for the journey to the planet Xara. Once there, I would be paid handsomely for the cargo of cybernetic parts, and then I could find a safe place to drop off the human. There was nothing I could change at the moment, no detail to dwell on instead of sleeping, but still, my mind wouldn’t rest.

I laid in my bed and watched the navigational screen as the ship continued to move through space, my eyes periodically flicking to the security panel at its side. She was still in her room, not that I should have expected her to be anywhere else. My fingers tapped on the panel control on my wrist, a nervous tick I couldn’t seem to resist.

Static came through the intercom briefly before Mechi’s voice cut through, startling me. I hadn’t pressed the button purposely, or had I? “Did you have a need for me, Captain?”

“The human...” Unsure exactly what I wanted to say, I hesitated for a moment. “Is she settled, Mechi? Has she been able to use the facilities? Eat and drink? Do we have something adequate for her to wear after she showers?”

Had I really just inquired about the human female’s bathroom habits? She had threatened to urinate on everything, but the mortification building in my chest told me I could have left that inquiry unspoken.

As if to add insult to injury, an exasperated huff sounded in the background, and I realized she’d heard me. My cheeks burned with embarrassment, the warmth spreading all the way to the base of my horns, and I was relieved to be alone in my private quarters where no one could see me making a total fool out of myself. Mechi’s communication went quiet for a moment, and I held my breath, waiting for his response.

“The human female said to tell you that her name is Freddie.” I could hear her speaking in the background, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying. “And she said to tell you one more time that she’s potty-trained and isn’t going to pee on anything. Also, Captain, Freddie wants to know what’s wrong with her clothes?”

The warmth in my cheeks nearly bursting into flames, I ran my palms down my face. This human truly was getting the best of me, and she’d only just arrived. I’d been alone on my ship for years. I didn’t have the temperament for company, especially not that of a female. Deep within my own thoughts, I’d forgotten Mechi was still live on the intercom until I heard his boot tapping through the feed. “Anything else, Captain?”

“No, Mechi. Please tell her there’s nothing wrong with her clothing, and I’m...umm...glad she’s settled. That’s all for now.” The feed went silent a moment later and I laid there, sweat dripping down my face, completely flustered. At least for now, the human was safe and out of my hair, but if we were going to cohabitate for the foreseeable future, I had to get myself together.

Chapter 6

Freddie

I had to admit, I hadn’t expected the robot to be such pleasant company. Sure, his humor was a little dry, and he was terribly impatient, but at least he listened to me as I rambled, and always had a response to my questions, although I realized his responses were calculated by whatever programming he’d been created with. The ship’s captain—well, I couldn’t get more than three words strung together before he always stomped away. 

After the captain, Aevo, disappeared into what I assumed was his personal quarters, the robot, Mechi, led me down the same corridor and into one of the doors on the other side of the hall. The ship’s corridor felt incredibly like a hospital, sterile and white, and I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t in a drug-induced delusion after having somehow lost my mind. There could have been something hallucinogenic in the dune mules I’d drank, but I really didn’t think so. The moment seemed much too real to have been merely my imagination playing tricks on me. I was really in space, and I wasn’t nearly as afraid as I should have been, not with a sarong-wearing robot showing me how to use the most high-tech toilet I’d ever seen. 

Snapping myself out of my thought spiral, I tried to pay attention to Mechi as he pressed this button and that button, darting past him as he opened the toilet lid and dropping my pants on the spot. The thought flashed through my mind that maybe the ship’s captain could see me through the robot’s eyes, but only a momentary flash. It wasn’t like I knew how any of this space-age shit worked, but I had to pee, and maybe it wouldn’t have been such a bad thing if he witnessed me urinating in the proper spot. Then maybe he wouldn’t refer to me as though I was a puppy who needed housetraining. 

I had to admit, the groan that came out my mouth when the dam finally broke was overly dramatic, making Mechi stumble back into the wall, but I didn’t care. Letting out a long whistle, I reached for the toilet paper, but found none. The robot just stood there, head tilted in a way that told me he was confused, but didn’t offer up any help. “Sorry Mechi, but if you could show me the toilet paper I would greatly appreciate it.” 

If I didn’t find a way to embarrass myself, I truly wasn’t living. The robot’s eyes whirled as he processed my statement before he took a step forward, pressing a button on the commode behind me only moments before water shot up from somewhere below me and blasted my lady bits with an unexpected geiser. I nearly jolted off the toilet, but the sensation hadn’t been all that bad. Actually, I kind of liked it. “We do not have what humans call toilet paper, Freddie. Would you like me to repeat the instructions for how to operate this device?”

It was like school all over again, and I hadn’t paid attention and failed the test. If I had been listening to his monologue when we’d first entered the bathroom, I would have known to expect a bidet. Realizing all the vital information he’d probably given me when I’d zoned out, I leaned against the vanity and listened to Mechi’s repeated instructions on how to operate the toilet, and the shower, along with its self-drying capability. Apparently, bath towels were a low-tech tool of Earth, although I admittedly still wanted one. I eyed the dishrag around Mechi’s waist with interest. If anything, I’d just have to steal one of those for my shower. I hoped to be able to use the panels in time, if I could ever manage to learn the alien language, which looked like nothing more than random shapes and scritch scratch. 

After showing me all the bathroom’s amenities, I followed the robot into the bedroom where the bed took up most of the room. The frame was a sleek white as were the blankets, but the fabric didn’t feel like the cotton of my own comforter. Instead, it was like silky vinyl. I ran my hands across them, the strange fabric cool to the touch. Mechi went over how to operate the panel next to the door, and had been just about to begin pressing icons on the screen when a tone sounded from the intercom, a call from Aevo, who’d seemed to have pressed the button on accident. 

Stumbling over his words, one of the first things the captain asked was if I’d peed in the right spot. Up until that moment, at least since the last dumb thing I’d said, I’d been telling myself that I would watch my mouth and try to not get thrown out into space, but my attitude got the best of me again, and I threw out a smartass comment. It poured out like word vomit before I could even stop it, but it seemed that Aevo was too horrified by his own question to react to my response. I may have had a habit of speaking before thinking, but it seemed my new alien roommate was no better at it than I was. 

When the intercom went silent, I dropped onto the bed with my face in my hands, rethinking what I knew about my situation thus far. I was stuck in space with an alien who thought I was a helpless human who wasn’t housetrained, and it didn’t sound like going back to Earth would happen anytime soon. If Aevo and I were going to be stuck in such close confines for a while, I needed to change my image, or I would surely find myself floating among the space debris.

 Chapter 7

Aevo

There were only so many hours until we arrived at the fueling station and I would need to return to the bridge to navigate my ship, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t sleep. Maybe if I went and checked on the human, made sure she was secure and wouldn’t get into any trouble, then maybe I could rest. It was a weak plan, but with my head getting no quieter, it was all I had. Huffing out a frustrated breath, I pulled on a clean jumpsuit and left my quarters, the door sliding shut behind me. 

I stood in the hallway for a moment, unsure where I should go first. If Mechi had yet to feed Freddie, maybe she would be hungry, or thirsty. Turning in the direction of the kitchens, I’d only gotten a few steps before I changed my mind. Surely my android had already seen to her basic needs. Instead, I aimed toward the bridge. I knew I wasn’t needed there. The ship had its course, but I needed something to keep my hands busy. So I continued on to the bridge, dropping into my captain’s chair and pulling out my charts. I had only been reviewing my flight plan for a few minutes when the sound of voices and metallic footsteps interrupted my solitude. 

Giving the navigation one more glance, I turned around in my chair to see Mechi approaching the end of the corridor with Freddie by his side. I’d told him to keep her secured in the guest quarters, so I wasn’t sure why I expected him to have listened to me. Him defying me wasn’t a surprise. What was a surprise was that Mechi no longer wore the rag around his waist, and was instead wearing the clothes Freddie had been wearing when I’d sent them into the room earlier. Freddie’s tight black pants were somehow fitted over Mechi’s robotic legs, the length much too short for him and nearly reaching his knee joints. Her top, which was barely enough fabric to cover her breasts, had been pulled over Mechi’s metallic breast plate and was stretched beyond what should have been physically possible. I covered my face to block them from seeing my clear amusement. Mechi needed no encouragement. 

When Freddie noticed me sitting in my chair, she stopped walking, glancing from me and back to the robot at her side. Having had no females in my ship in longer than I could remember, I didn’t know if there was any clothing in the craft that would fit her, but Mechi had always been resourceful when it came to clothes. My jumpsuits would have been too large for the petite human female, but since they’d cut the bottom half of the jumpsuit off, Freddie was wearing it like a makeshift dress. The leg section of the suit had been removed and the top was belted at her waist with a strap. 

All I could think when looking at her in that outfit was that she was so much smaller than the women of my own kind, but her figure was still…appealing. All Omnos people had the same skin and eye color. It was what set our people apart from other alien races. Freddie’s skin was fair ivory, and her hair was yellow like the precious metal mined in the Odag galaxy. I’d had few opportunities to see humans in the universe before; they were usually for sale in markets or in brothels. Although I’d never interacted with one, I was surprised at how diverse their appearances could be when my own people had so few variations. 

“Mechi was taking me to get something to eat.” 

So lost in my own thoughts, her voice surprised me. I shifted in my chair. “And do you…um…do you find the sleeping quarters to have everything you will need to be comfortable while you are on my ship?” 

Nodding, she turned toward Mechi. “Your robot showed me how to work everything and helped me into some more comfortable clothes.” Her words came out faster than I was used to talking but I tried to keep up. “I hope you don’t mind that Mechi chopped one of your outfits in half. It was the only way it would fit.”

I didn’t mind one bit, because it honestly looked better on her than it looked on me, but I couldn't tell her that. Instead, I grunted and turned my eyes to Mechi, who’d been rather quiet for the past several moments. “Check the station records, Mechi, and find out where we can get Freddie proper clothing when we stop to refuel.” Dipping his head, Mechi took Freddie by the arm and led her toward the kitchens just as I turned around in my chair and pulled my charts back out. Just because I wasn’t busy didn’t mean I couldn’t pretend to be if it would help me to avoid any more disruptions. 

Chapter 8

Freddie

Aevo certainly had the brooding silent type thing down. Noted. I preferred the company of the Tin Man anyway. At least he didn’t criticize my clothing every time he saw me. So, although I was intrigued by all the screens and gadgets in the control center of the ship, I followed Mechi into the kitchen. It was a better idea than standing there and staring at the ship’s captain who was either busy, or pretending to be. Either way, he didn’t seem to want company. 

The kitchen in the ship was what I would have expected, with metal walls and sterile enough to eat off the floor, not unlike a lab in some biotech company. The walls were all silver, and there were compartments built into them with panels to operate the dispensers. The displays came to life with brightly lit touchscreens, images and a language I didn’t understand scattered across them. There were none of the appliances I was used to back home, no stove or microwave, at least from what I could tell. After my experiences with the toilet blasting my bottom unexpectedly, I had to admit I was a little nervous about trying to cook food. With the luck I was having, I was likely to set the whole damn ship on fire. 

As Mechi began pressing buttons and explaining what everything did, I tried to pay attention, but my brain had fully gone into overload. It didn’t appear as though I was going anywhere anytime soon, so I didn’t need to learn everything in one day. I nodded and threw in a few affirming sounds periodically, but I wasn’t paying nearly as close of attention as he thought I was. Maybe, if I hadn’t been trapped there, I would have been more fascinated by everything he was showing me, but I was hungover, and a little bit in shock, so I was more interested in simply surviving until I found a way home than how cool the gadgets were.

Ultimately, I just wanted a bowl of something, and then I hoped to return to the bedroom and take a nap. I’d slept a lot already, but I was still tired, and my head still felt like it had been hit by a truck. To be honest, I was probably experiencing some intergalactic form of jetlag. Snickering at my own joke, I turned back to the robot as he pressed one more button on the panel and out came a mushy substance that looked a lot like oatmeal. I hated oatmeal, so the yumminess of said mystery meal was in question before he even handed it to me. 

“What is this?” 

Not that I wanted to sound unappreciative, but I at least needed to know the contents of the bowl before I ate it. 

Unfortunately, the ingredients that poured out of the robot’s mouth might as well have been in a different language. It probably was. 

Pulling out a chair at the small table near the wall, I blew out a breath, sat down, and took my first bite. The mush may have been made of mystery ingredients, and the greenish color left something to be desired, but it wasn’t half bad. If I had to compare it to something from my own world, I would’ve said it tasted a bit like the stuffing my grandmother made for Thanksgiving, just a bit heavy on the broth. I wasn’t the biggest fan, but in the interest of not starving, and not being tossed out to space for being too difficult, I ate while Mechi watched. 

“So, Mechi.” 

Tilting his head to the side, the robot took a step toward the table. “Yes, Freddie?”

“Is your captain always so grumpy?” 

Before the robot could even answer, not that he would have spoken negatively about his own captain, the door to the kitchen swung open and the tall, muscled, and horned alien trudged into the room, stopping when he saw me sitting at the table. I grinned with a mouth full of food before swallowing, the sound way louder than it needed to be. The spaceship was much too quiet for my presence. 

Mechi turned toward Aevo, leaving me without an answer to my question. I doubted I would have gotten one anyway. “Ah, Captain. Can I make you something to eat? A juice drink perhaps?”

“If you have juice, I’d like some too, Mechi.” Never the best at playing host at my own house, I was always more of the “if you’re in my house then wait on yourself” type of person. The problem was, I didn’t know how to operate anything in the kitchen, and I didn’t know what the general decorum was for the chateau spaceship. 

Seeming to need no more direction, Mechi moved toward the wall panel and began pressing buttons, but Aevo just stared at me, sort of like I was a fly that needed swatting, but he wasn’t sure if I would bite him first. Horns aside, just taking in the huge mass of him, his hair that was more flowy than mine, and the sexy cut of his jawline, I could totally bite, but he would have to be nice first.

Chapter 9

Aevo

I didn’t know much about the human sitting at my table, but she certainly had no reservations about asking for exactly what she wanted. Mechi handed Freddie a glass of fruit juice, a luxury being so far away from the planet where giddy fruit grew. Approaching the table, I sat across from her, Mechi placing my own juice and bowl of veg mash in front of me. I thought about warning Freddie about the effects of giddy fruit before she took her first sip, but she’d downed the entire glass before I’d even had the chance. It only took a few moments and the growing grin on her face told me she was starting to feel it.

“Mechi,” she said in a sing-song kind of voice. “What was in this juice?”

Biting back a chuckle, I waved the android off, realizing it was best if I answered her question, and made sure she didn’t drink anymore. He left the kitchen without argument. “You should have drunk that a little bit slower.” 

She glared at me as I reached across the table and slid her glass to me, further proving my point.

“Why? What was in it?”

I could no longer hide my chuckle when her questions came out as no more than shrieks as the effects of the drink began to make her delirious. “Giddy fruit juice is a fermented drink made from fruit grown on the jungle planet Volvonoe.”

“Fermented! Like an outer space moonshine?” Her eyes shrinking into slits, she pointed her very tiny, slightly wobbly finger at me from across the table. “Are you trying to get me drunk?” Letting out a huff, she pushed her chair away from the table, nearly falling over. “I swore I would never get drunk again. That’s how I got into this mess in the first place!” 

When she nearly fell off her chair again, I rose from the table and went around to push her chair back in. “I do not know what moonshine is, and I am not trying to get you drunk,whatever that means. If you remember,” I said as I returned to my own seat, “you asked Mechi for some juice before you knew what was in it. Let this be a learning experience. I’d imagine there are many things here that are different from your own world.”

She rolled her eyes, still wagging her finger at me. Something in me wanted to grab it, maybe even bite it, but I fought that desire and took a sip of my drink instead. Licking her lips, she reached for her glass that was on the table in front of me. My eyes tracked the movement of her tiny pink tongue, everything on her so much smaller than my own features, but the way her lips shined with the moisture her tongue added to them made my cock twitch in my jumpsuit. I rubbed my hand across my eyes, surprised at my body’s reaction to the petite human. I wasn’t going to keep her any longer than I had to in order to keep her safe, and I certainly wasn’t going to mate with her. 

So caught up in my own head, and my cock’s reaction to her licking her lips, I didn’t notice that Freddie had taken my glass of juice from in front of me and had drunk the rest of it. When an over exaggerated belch left her mouth, I realized she’d definitely had too much. “You probably shouldn’t have drank all that,” I said as I walked to the water dispenser and filled a glass, setting it down in front of her. “I wouldn’t want you to get sick.” 

She opened her mouth to respond, but closed it again as another belch came out, her hand lifting to cover it. “Oh, no. I think I shouldn’t have drank the rest of that.” Trying to stand, she dropped back into the chair, her legs a little too wobbly to carry her across the room. She’d definitely had too much to drink.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Returning to her side of the table, I slid Freddie’s chair out and lifted her into my arms, surprised at how light she was. She couldn’t have weighed anymore than one of those fluffy sprix my mom kept as a pet. The moment Freddie’s scent hit my senses, however, I knew she wasn’t anything like a fluffy creature. Their scents never made parts of me stiffen. 

“Come, Freddie,” I grumbled. “Let’s get you to bed.” 

Thankfully, this time, she didn’t argue, because she’d already begun to snore in my arms. My chuckles were silent as I walked her down the hall and into her sleeping quarters. I realized, as I laid her on the bed and covered her with the blankets, that I hadn’t laughed that much in a long time. I wondered if maybe having Freddie on my ship, at least for a little while, wouldn’t be so bad. 

Chapter 10

Freddie

When I woke up hours later, tucked into the bed in my sleeping quarters, I needed headache medicine more than I had when I’d first awoken in space. Whatever was in the juice Mechi gave me the night before had made me more than a little tipsy. I didn’t remember much, but I vaguely remembered mouthing off to Aevo before he carried me back to my room. I’d never expected the grumpy alien to be sweet, but it seemed I may have misjudged him. I didn’t want to let it go to my head, however. I wasn’t sure if he saw me as any less of a pest than he did before, but I appreciated him taking care of me when I was unable to care for myself.

Waking up in the sleeping quarters alone, with no Aevo or Mechi in sight, I didn’t know what I was expected to do. Climbing out of bed, I made my way into the bathroom to relieve my bladder and shower, barely remembering how to operate the panels, but after I dressed in another one of Aevo’s sliced and diced jumpsuits, I returned to sit on the bed, still unsure how to get out of the room. I realized in that moment that I really should have paid better attention to the robot’s lessons. I could only hope someone would eventually come to check on me before I starved, although I wasn’t looking forward to more mystery mash. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait long. After only a few of my knocks against the metal door, and random button pushes on the panel, the door slid open and I was able to walk out into the corridor.  

When I first left my room, the panel door sliding shut behind me, there was no one there to greet me, but it only took a few moments before I heard the metallic clanking of Mechi’s boots as the robot sauntered up. Still wearing my clothing from the day before, I wondered if he truly liked the black faux leather pants and crop top, or if he just couldn’t take them back off. Either way, I giggled when I first saw him. He truly was a strange individual. 

“Can I get you something to eat, Freddie? Drink?”

Part of me wanted to lay into him about the giddy juice, but I realized it was my own fault. I’d asked for it and he was a robot. He wasn’t responsible for analyzing my decisions, so I bit my tongue. “Is there anything to eat beside the mystery mash?”

Mechi’s mind seemed to process my question for a moment. “Until we restock at the station, we are low on most of our foodstuffs, but we have noodles and what you call mystery mash. We have dried meat and berries, but they are the captain’s favorite.”

If I were a better person, I would have made a different decision, but meat and berries sounded better than the other options, so that was what I asked for. It may have been Aevo’s favorite, but he would have to share. 

Following Mechi to the kitchen in the front of the ship, I could just make out Aevo’s horns above the large, red chair in the center of the ship’s control center. Maps and panels were lit up in front of him, and he plugged away at the screens without seeming to notice our approach. 

I thought about going and talking to him, thanking him for taking care of me the night before, but I didn’t want to interrupt him. I didn’t know much about what he did for a living, but it was clear we were on the ship alone, so I knew his responsibilities must have been great. He turned as I followed Mechi into the kitchen, dipping his head in a semblance of a hello, but turned around in his chair before I’d had a chance to smile in response.

Sitting at the table where I’d been the night before, I watched as the robot pressed buttons on the wall dispensers, trying to absorb some of what he was doing. These were all things I needed to learn how to do if I was going to be able to live on this ship. 

Part of me hoped Aevo would join me as the homesickness began to creep in. He may have not been much for words, at least with me, but I had been conscious enough the night before to recognize his kindness. He’d carried me to the bedroom and had tucked me in, and that said something about the kind of male he was. I’d never been really close to my family, but Earth was all I’d ever known, and as the shock began to wear off, it felt further away than ever. For the first time in my life, even with Mechi placing a plate of food in front of me and standing so closely, I’d never felt so alone. 

Chapter 11

Aevo

I’d tried to keep myself occupied when I woke from just a few hours of sleep, going over my plans for the rest of the journey to deliver my cargo and preparing for our arrival at the station, but the look on Freddie’s face when she’d stood in the corridor caught my attention. Whether or not I liked it, or had signed up for the job, she was my responsibility as long as she was on my ship, and it was clear something was bothering her. So, although part of me wanted to remain on the bridge and minding my own business, I huffed out a breath and rose from my chair.

The first thing I noticed when I entered the kitchen was that Freddie had the last of my dried meat and berries on her plate, although she didn’t appear to be eating them. With us arriving at the station in one more day, I could restock our food and hopefully find things she would like to eat. Her face set in something more somber than I’d seen her before, she slid the berries around on her plate with the utensil, her eyes focused on the tiny, red spheres as they moved. I didn’t have experience dealing with females, so whatever was bothering her, I didn’t know how to respond.

As I stood in the doorway for a moment, Freddie glanced up at me from under her lashes but didn’t speak. Mechi leaned against the wall, waiting for his next orders.

“Are you going to eat that, or just play with it?” With the way she looked at me, I regretted the words as soon as they’d left my mouth. I truly didn’t know how to speak to females. I worked better alone.

Mechi stepped forward and his metallic boots clanged against the floor. “Would you like something to eat, Captain?”

Pulling out the other chair, I nodded and sat down. “Yes, Mechi. Is there any meat or berries left?”

The android thought for a moment, his head tilted as he processed my question. I already knew the answer. There were none. The last of it was on Freddie’s plate, being pushed around like the stones I played with as a young Omnos male. It only took Mechi a moment to confirm. If Freddie was going to remain on my ship, I needed to get a wider variety of food at the next station.

She glanced up at me again before pushing the plate across the table. “You can have mine. I’m not hungry.”

The tone in her voice had been unexpected, sadder than the feisty one she’d used before. I eyed the plate against the tips of her fingers but didn’t take it. She needed it more than I did, even if it was the meal I preferred.

Shaking my head, I slid the plate back in her direction. “You should eat it. I can eat something else.” I cleared my throat and turned to Mechi, who was still waiting for my response. “Anything is fine, Mechi. We’ll get more meat and fruit from the station.”

I wondered if Freddie’s hesitation to eat the food was because she didn’t like it, or maybe she wasn’t hungry, but something told me that wasn’t the case. If it had been, then would I have seen the same dejected facial expression before she’d even gone into the kitchen? I didn’t know the female well, not at all, but she wasn’t the same as she had been the night before.

She watched me for a moment, seeming to wait for me to change my mind, before pulling the plate back into her hand, but she didn’t make a move to eat. “Will we be at the station soon?”

I nodded as Mechi set a bowl of vegetable mash down in front of me. It wasn’t my favorite meal, but I wasn’t picky. “We will be there in one more day.” Taking a bite, I continued. “Is there a type of food you would prefer? I know the food is different, but maybe if you could explain what it is you like...I may be able to find something comparable.”

Dropping the utensil on her plate, Freddie dropped her head into her hands, shaking it. “When we go to the station, is there a way to get me back to Earth? Even if you can’t return me, maybe someone else can.”

Her question made it clear exactly what was bothering her, and the sheer desperation in her tone made my heart clench. I may have not been the most emotional male, but what she was going through could not have been easy, and I understood that. She was homesick and my answer to her question would only hurt her more. I didn’t want to inflict anymore pain on her, but I couldn’t lie to her either. “There is no way to get you back to Earth, Freddie.”