Rogue Warriors of Lorr
Stolen by the Alien Prince Chapter 12

Gianna had run from the D'Narvius as fast as she could, but she wasn't fast enough. Her one hope was to get back to the docking area and put herself on a shuttle, hoping he wouldn't kidnap her right there in a public place. A very vain hope.

Crime obviously ruled here. If she had pissed off the wrong guy, she knew security would probably let the criminals kidnap her. They might even help the bad guys.

She couldn't outrun the D'Narvius. He tackled her before she'd even made it ten feet. Gianna tried calling Kozien again, fighting off the alien as he tried to stop her. It was obvious the guy didn't have restraints on him, nor was he expecting her to put up a fight. We must be making quite a spectacle. I wonder if passersby think we are lovers or enemies. Maybe a drunk dance troop?

She kept struggling against the D'Narvius, even as he forced her down a street and into a bright, secure-looking building. She managed to put one more call through to Kozien before the D'Narvius took the device and shoved it in his pocket.

"Finally!" the alien cried as a bunch of other D'Narvius hurried down the hall. "She's a fucking firecracker, man!"

"Can't handle a little girlie?" one of them muttered. Her captor shoved her so hard, she went down on her knees.

"You take her. I'm done. Droka won't even know what's gone down. The supply chain should be uninterrupted."

"What's she got on her?"

"Not sure," the D'Narvius behind her said. He dug in his pocket and tossed the wrist-comm to the others. "I got this from her but didn't search her."

Gianna sat up, looking behind her and then in front. She was completely surrounded, so it was useless to fight.

The one who had caught her gave a mock salute and left. The two remaining D'Narvius looked at her coldly. The smaller one searched her and was quite rough about it.

"Find anything, Shep?" the big one asked.

"Interesting stuff, Whyatt," Shep replied. He peeked in the shoulder bag and whistled. "Tons of cash."

"Gimme that," Whyatt said, grabbing it. Shep continued to feel her up all over until he found the slim envelope and also gave that to his buddy.

"Okay, I'm satisfied you don't have any weapons," Whyatt said. "Time to meet the others."

Shep grabbed her arm and hauled her up, dragging her along the hallway. Gianna tried to keep her feet under her, but it was hard when fear made her knees weak. The two D'Narvius took her to a room partway down the hallway, where they dumped her in a hard, straight-backed chair.

The room wasn't as dark as the others she'd been in recently, and she could see the D'Narvius clearly. He sat in front of her in a comfortable chair with two massive aliens behind him, obviously bodyguards.

"So, dear lady. Who are you really, and what are you doing with drugs in my city?"

Gianna shook her head, tears threatening to run down her cheeks.

"I don't know. I have no idea what I'm doing!" the words came out in a jolting rush of noise. "I have no clue what I'm doing."

The D'Narvius raised his eyebrows and grinned. It was not a friendly expression and looked more like he wanted to cut her head off just for fun.

"Just let me go," she pleaded. "I don't know anything. I have no idea what I'm doing."

"I

I see," the D'Narvius said. "I'd like to believe that, but you've been throwing the name Gabe around in your travels. Have you not?"

"Yes," she whispered. "He's my brother."

"How did you know your brother was involved in my business?" the guy asked. Gianna tried to meet his eyes, but they were too terrifying, so she looked at the floor again.

Should I tell him it was all a wild guess? That I patched together a few words from shifty aliens and ended up here almost by accident?

"I'm waiting," the D'Narvius boss snapped. One of his bodyguards cracked his knuckles, making Gianna jump.

"I...uh, I've always worked closely with Gabe in all his business," she said, still hoping to get herself out of this and find her brother. "We discussed doing this for a long time. It's really good money." Gianna felt like her story sounded lame, but it was better than telling him she'd come here with almost no evidence.

I was caught with a stack of money, came up here with a huge pack of what was probably illegal drugs... I am so screwed.

The boss D'Narvius had narrowed his eyes to scowl at her. He looked pissed off, now, and she had no idea what she'd done to upset him.

"That's too bad," he said angrily. "You see, we told Gabe that if he told anyone what he was up to, we'd kill him."

"What?" she muttered. The boss didn't bother to answer. He just stood and gestured to his bodyguards.

Gianna yelled for them to wait, but they ignored her. She watched them file past her and leave the room, slamming the door shut behind them.

They are going to kill Gabe and then me.

Gianna's blood ran cold as she realized by trying to save her brother, she'd gotten him murdered instead.

Kozien tried again to track Gianna's signal. The closer he got to the main port, the stronger the signal became. Encouraged, he began to jog until he was back in the public area of the dock.

Holding the comm in front of him like a tiny oracle, he followed the glowing signal to a large building. Her signal had definitely stopped moving and was in this complex.

I hope I'm actually tracking her, not just the comm.

He had no choice but to push on. Even if he was just tracking the device, and Gianna no longer had it in her possession, it wasn't like he had a whole lot to go on anyway.

At the very least, he might track down guys who knew where she was. It was better than doing nothing.

Kozien took a stroll around the building, trying to get a good look at the place without seeming too suspicious. He had to be very careful because D'Narvius and Jorvlen aliens were everywhere. He couldn't afford to be caught, for so many reasons. He checked his tracker multiple times from vantage points outside the building, pointing it in different directions. Her signal was getting stronger and brighter, beaming from inside the compound.

Kozien walked around to the back, finding only a rusty chain-link fence in his way. He tore a hole in it easily and hurried over to inspect the back of the building.

Even though the rear area was not well guarded, the door was thick and locked with impressive chains. He couldn't get in that way. Kozien stuck to the shadows against the wall and made his way around the corners, searching for a way inside. Partway around, he spied a small door. It was cut into the wall very low to the ground, like a duct or service entrance. The gap was tiny, but it only had a thin metal grate over top, and no chains.

It only took one sharp yank to open the grate. When he stuck his head and shoulders in, Kozien almost groaned in dismay.

It was a very cramped, metal duct, obviously designed for one of the smaller races to fit through, which made sense because they were often slaves or low-paid workers.

I sure as hell never thought I'd be tunneling through a service area like this.

Kozien sighed, pulling his head back out. He took a deep breath of clear, fresh air and then put his hands forward like he was about to dive into a deep pool before pushing off with his feet.

He slithered into the duct, feeling it pressing in on him from all sides. Kozien took a few seconds to acclimate himself and then began to crawl.

The going was incredibly slow. His limbs and joints were cramped, and he couldn't fully stretch out. The long robes he was wearing constantly got caught on the duct itself or snared around his elbows and knees.

Behind him, he heard a faint but definite click. It worried him, but he decided the best thing was to keep moving. He desperately wanted out of the duct. His muscles were beginning to cramp painfully, and his back ached as he tried to crawl faster. Finally, he saw slivers of light ahead. He managed to crawl forward a bit faster and when he reached the grate, triumph crackled through him.

Until he shoved on it, and it didn't budge.

Kozien slapped it a few more times, worried about attracting attention. He took a deep breath and held it, trying to calm himself. Even though the idea was so distasteful it was physically painful, he knew the best thing to do was crawl back down the duct, get outside, and try another way.

Turning around was difficult, and his muscles and joints screamed in protest. Kozien tried to control his frustration as he righted himself and began to crawl back the other way.

The journey back felt a lot longer than the way in. So far, he'd distracted himself from worrying about Gianna by focusing on his own predicament, but now worry for her was crowding into his mind.

This is taking too long! They could be doing anything to her right now!

Kozien couldn't stand to think about it. He tried crawling faster, but he just got stuck. He fumed for a few seconds and considered thrashing with all his strength until he made a huge hole in the duct.

With an act of extreme self-control, he stopped himself from lashing out. Kozien was almost beyond keeping his emotions in check now. When he saw the faint light of the outside grate, relief flooded him. He tried to pick up his pace but only got stuck again. With careful, slow movements, he approached the grate. Touching it was like meeting salvation. He gave it a hard shove.

Nothing happened.

He tried again, harder this time. The grate didn't even rattle.

Dimly, he remembered the far off click he'd heard when he was deep inside the tunnel. He realized with horror that the sound had been someone locking the door behind him.

He smashed the grate once more, not even making a dent in it. Kozien held in a roar of fury, clenching his fists and shaking his head as he fought for control.

Do they know I'm here? Was this purposeful?

Even though it could be, he expected that his captors would be here to gloat if they had gone to the trouble of trapping him. Of course, they could be just hanging out nearby, watching his reaction for kicks.

Or it could be a totally random act... someone locking the door simply because they saw it open.

"Fuck," he muttered, struggling to accept his situation. Kozien had no idea what to do-he was trapped.