Rogue Warriors of Lorr
Stolen by the Alien Prince Chapter 19

The man jumped, startled by the sound of Gianna's voice.

He whipped around quickly, grabbing the side of the hull when he spotted them just a few hundred yards away from him. After a few seconds, his eyes widened as he finally recognized who was waving at him. Elation warmed Gianna's chest upon seeing her brother's familiar face.

Though he'd looked worn from whatever he'd been put through-deep lines marking his face along with the bags under his eyes-she still couldn't believe she'd finally found him.

Gabe looked around, scrutinizing the area around them before slowly walking over toward them. He had his head hunkered down and his shoulders drawn up practically to his ears. A squeeze of heartbreak raced through Gianna's chest. What the hell had these people done to him?

Without stopping to greet her, Gabe darted into a thicket of trees nearby, throwing a quick, "This way," at both her and Kozien when he passed by them.

Gianna turned to exchange glances with Kozien and saw worry etched onto his face as well.

Quickly heading after her brother, Gianna kept herself close to him, not wanting to lose him even though the path was pretty narrow between trees. She'd gone so long not knowing where he was that just the thought of losing him in some sort of crowd made her start to panic.

Gabe took them toward a back entry point, devoid of any other beings besides them.

He stopped and turned toward her, breathing slowly and dropping his shoulders. "Hey."

Gianna couldn't help but throw her arms around him, pulling him into a desperately tight hug. "I can't believe it's you."

Gabe let out a small laugh. "Yeah... Me, too."

When she pulled back from him, she grabbed him by both arms and looked him over. "Gabe, you look terrible."

He shook his head at her, glancing nervously over her shoulder to where Kozien stood a good distance away from them to give them both privacy.

"I know. Listen, I'm in the middle of a really dangerous mission, so I don't have much time to talk to you."

"Mission?" Her eyes darted between his. "Dangerous? For what? Why?"

He shook his head again. "It's complicated. But if they see you here, they'll kill you, Gianna. You need to go."

"What?" She felt the panic start to rise inside of her again. "No. No. I'm not leaving you here."

He started to untangle her hands from him. "You need to-"

"No." She tightened her hold.

"They'll kill you, Gianna!" he repeated, the words coming out between clenched teeth.

It made tears form in her eyes. How had their lives come to this? Sure, they weren't innocent, but what had they done to deserve to be separated like this? And for Gabe to be forced into some kind of... life-threatening mission. For what? Behind her, she could hear Kozien coming closer. He placed a hand on her shoulders, gently pulling her away from her brother and giving him space to pace around the small alley. She looked up, seeing Kozien's face drawn into a frown. "I can't let them see you," Gabe continued, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

Gianna fisted her hands at her sides. "Let me help you, Gabe."

Her brother shook his head again. "You can't. Plus, everyone will notice us. You've got some... random city guy here with you."

"Actually," Kozien chimed in. "I'm from here."

Gianna stepped forward and grabbed her brother's arm, stopping him. "Gabe, just come back to the ship with us. We can talk and you can tell me what's going on. You'll be safe there."

His brows pinched together, his eyes moving from her back to Kozien where he narrowed them.

"He's not dangerous." She squeezed his arm. "He helped me find you."

Gabe nodded slowly, leaning into her. "Okay..."

Gianna tugged him along, wanting to get him quickly to the ship before something changed his mind. No matter what, she was going to protect her brother and keep him from getting involved with the D'Narvius anymore than he already had. Kozien led the way back, his memory impressing her. While they hadn't gone very far, Gabe's wandering had confused her enough where everything had started to look the same. She was glad Kozien had the sense to pay attention beforehand. When they got back to the ship, Kozien opened the hatch and then closed it behind them. He secured it so even if someone had seen them wandering off with Gabe in tow, they'd need a lot more than simply blunt force to get to him. Gianna pushed her brother onto one of the benches near the rear of the ship, sitting down next to him while Kozien loitered over by the control panels in the front.

She put her hands on her knees and turned to Gabe. "What are they having you do?"

Gabe relaxed back into the bench and let his head rest against the panel. He looked so exhausted that it made her heart squeeze. She couldn't imagine what he'd been through since the last time she'd seen him. It made her want to go out there and take down the D'Narvius by herself.

"They're making me run this contraband. They call it Motley."

Gianna wrinkled her nose. "What does it do?"

Gabe shook his head. "I'm not sure, but it's laced with nanobytes."

"Nanobytes?" Gianna repeated, glancing over at Kozien, whose frown mirrored her thoughts.

"Umbrosis, the person or organization behind this thing. They're the ones pushing to get it all across the galaxy."

"For what purpose?" Kozien chimed in.

Gabe shook his head. "I think they're trying to build an army and take over the galaxy."

This concerned Kozien greatly.

Not only was this Motley contraband potentially highly infective and deadly, but it was also going to be used for some kind of generalized takeover?

"They're silencing anyone who speaks out," Gabe continued. "By any means necessary. That's why they threatened me. I knew if I messed up, they'd try and hurt you."

Gianna moved over and wrapped her arms around her brother, pulling him into a tight embrace. The sight made him want to sigh. It was sad to see such loving siblings being ripped apart because of the manifest destiny of another.

Greed and power were synonymous with the terrorizing of those less fortunate. It was one of the many reasons why he didn't approve of his own father's authority over Lorr. Too much could be exploited when one held that kind of power in their hands. Leaning away from his captain's chair, Kozien moved around to sit in it and start up the engines.

"We need to get you two to a safe location. If this Umbrosis is to be feared, we shouldn't take any chances with them catching us."

"I agree," Gianna spoke, her footsteps coming up from behind him a moment later.

She leaned over the copilot's chair and looked out the windshield. "Where will we go, though?"

Flicking on a few of the monitors and power receptors, Kozien turned to look at her.

"I can take you both to somewhere safe far from Delta Gamma, but we're going to need money to cross the borders. There are fees to leave this sector, not to mention to dock with an out-of-region ship. Being here is dangerous for me, but if we get closer to the royal lands, I'll have enough of a signal to get into my accounts and transfer money we can use."

Her eyes widened. "You'd really do that, Kozien?"

He fought back a smile. She really was so sweet and endearing when it came to him wanting to take care of her. Her distrust was understandable, considering what her life had been like before they'd met. But her constant surprise over him wanting to help her still made him want to laugh a little.

He'd only traveled across the entire planet and gotten way too close for comfort to his family's lands for her to potentially find her brother. Yet she was still questioning him.

Really, he might as well write a sign and stick it to his forehead for her to refer back to when she doubted him.

"Yes, but we must be careful. If the royal guards or my father catch wind that I'm here, they'll surely do whatever they can to bring me back, and they might not be too concerned about who else gets hurt in the process."

Gianna's shoulders straightened, her mouth pulling into a determined line. "Of course. We'll be careful. If you can't get far enough, we'll leave and figure something else out."

Kozien wanted to groan and pull her into his lap so he could wrap his arms around her and bury his face in her neck. This Terran had turned out to be anything but what he'd first thought of her when they met. Her concern for his well-being touched him deeply. "All right." His voice came out a little rough.

She smiled.

"How close do you need to get?" Gabe's voice piped up from the back of the ship.

"Within walking distance of the central bank."

Gianna's fingers drummed against the copilot's seat. "That might be too risky for you to go. We can go instead. You'll just need to talk us through the process."

Kozien frowned. "Someone could recognize you."

Gianna shrugged. "We'll wear disguises."

"Disguises? Of what?"

Gianna laughed softly. "Don't they have royal servants or something? Guards? Anything that we can dress up in that has a uniform?"

Leaning back in his chair, Kozien lifted a leg and crossed it over his knee.

"Yes, they have royal servants. Though, the outfits are a bit... hard to come by unless you steal one from someone on the streets."

Her grin was practically diabolical. "Gabe and I are experts at stealing."

That made him bark out a laugh.

"Just tell us what they look like and leave the rest to us."

He regarded her for a long moment, taking in her serious attitude despite the smile on her face. He knew that Gianna was resourceful and could take care of herself if it came down to it. But the thought of her roaming the streets of Lorr without him there to protect her made him anxious.

He had to trust her, though. It was the only way any of them were going to come out of this alive.

"I'll have you wear a bug in your ear. That way I can direct you toward the bank and through the process to withdraw the funds from my accounts. Since you'll be going in as servants, we can get you into my safety deposit box."

Gianna nodded. "Perfect. Gabe, you good with that?"

"It's better than being forced to be a contraband mule."

"All right." Gianna smacked her fist into her hand. "Let's go."