Hers to rescue, p.1
Hers to Rescue, page 1
part #3 of Her Alien Crew Series
HERS TO RESCUE
HER ALIEN CREW BOOK 3
MARGO BOND COLLINS
SASHA CAINE
CONTENTS
Introduction
1. Tommelise Klein
2. Morpheus Madagar
3. Evik
4. Prince Alder Faeweather
5. Lise
6. Morpheus
7. Evik
8. Alder
9. Lise
10. Morpheus
11. Evik
12. Alder
13. Lise
14. Morpheus
15. Evik
16. Alder
17. Lise
18. Morpheus
19. Evik
20. Alder
21. Lise
22. Morpheus
Epilogue: Alder
About The Authors
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More Books by Margo
Also by Sasha Caine and Eli Constant
Hers to Rescue
Copyright © 2022 by Margo Bond Collins and Sasha Caine (Eli Constant)
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without prior written permission of the author except where permitted by law.
Published by Dangerous Words Publishing
Cover by Wilde Book Designs
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the authors.
Created with Vellum
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ABOUT HERS TO RESCUE
They’re the Galaxy’s Most Wanted—and they’re about to prove why.
Lise Klein's ragtag crew of mismatched aliens has one chance to save the galaxy from the corrupt slave trade and the galactic powers that control it—assuming they can evade the space fleet chasing them, duck local law enforcement intent on catching them, and strike at the heart of not one empire, but three.
Her Alien Crew is a slow-burn sci fi reverse harem romance featuring a fae prince with a giant ego and a smart mouth, an insectoid Chilchek warrior with a sensitive soul, and a mysterious, brooding fighter with the wings of a dragonfly—plus an illegally enhanced AI ship captained by one tiny human with room enough in her heart for them all.
Fans of Grace Goodwin, Ruby Dixon, Anna Zaires, and Rebecca Royce will love this hot new why choose sci-fi romance.
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INTRODUCTION
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1
TOMMELISE KLEIN
“Lise, you need to wake up.” The feminine, computerized voice of Bluebird, my ship’s AI—Blue for short—echoed through the transponder embedded in the bone behind my ear.
I groaned and blinked a couple of times, my vision resolving to show me the inside of my quarters on the ship.
“What is it?” I subvocalized grumpily. I hadn’t gotten nearly enough sleep the night before.
“Babin is coming in. He’s on his way back in with what he calls assistance. I am uncertain what he means by that, and he wouldn’t explain himself.” Blue’s tone was more than a little irritated—but Babin’s refusal didn’t surprise me. Anything he said over the comms channel could be picked up by the authorities, and that was the last thing any of them wanted.
Besides, Blue’s emotional response was unusual—and also strictly against the laws governing AIs throughout the galaxy—so Babin wouldn’t have expected it.
I tried to sit up, then shoved Morpheus’s heavy arm off its spot around my waist. He muttered in his sleep and rolled over from his stomach to his side, his giant metal wings clanking as they slipped off the side of the bed and hit the floor.
“What the starfucked shitballs?” he muttered, his eyes flickering open. I snickered at his use of one of Alder’s favorite curses, but didn’t have time to answer, as the door to my cabin slid open.
Evik, the insectoid Chilchek warrior who was part of my crew and another of my lovers, leaned his entire upper half inside. He clicked and trilled a few words, his automatic translator a split second behind his vocalizations. Blue says she needs you on the bridge, my Queen.
“I’m awake, I’m awake.” I shoved my long blond hair out of my face from where it had come out of my braid and scooted to the end of the platform—easier than climbing over Morpheus’s bulk.
I hurried out of the cabin, leaving Morpheus to sleep off our long night for as long as he could.
Evik scurried out of the way, then fell in behind me to follow me to the bridge, the giant, horned pincers on top of his head opening and closing nervously. Do you want me to wake Alder?
I scowled at the thought. The third member of my crew, Prince Alder Faeweather, had been cranky as hell since we had landed on this small asteroid and Babin, a Largeus fae and Alder’s childhood friend turned court medic, had taken off to try to gather information about the Bufo Alvarius Empress’s slave trade—the one we were planning to eliminate.
Although I’d been sorry to see Babin go, I had not missed the twins, Selanash and Sarahna, formerly oracles for the royalty of the fae planet Danicka and currently on the run from the Danickan army, along with their prince.
And Babin himself, of course.
To be fair, though, I didn’t think it was really the absence of his childhood fae friends that irritated Alder. It was the fact that I was sleeping with two of my crewmen—and not him.
Alder was jealous as hell.
Evik had suggested we solve the problem with one big orgy, apparently the way the Chilchek commonly had sex back on his home planet. Morpheus scoffed at the idea. Apparently, Evik had suggested the three of them get together once, long before I had arrived on the scene, and Alder had, in Evik’s entertaining translation of the phrase, misplaced his fecal matter.
“No. Let Alder sleep until I know more,” I sighed as I hit the bridge and made my way to the comms console.
Maybe Alder would get over himself now that his fellow Danickans were back.
I flipped over to the little-used channel we had agreed upon before Babin had left. “This is the Bluebird to the Behemoth. Come in, Behemoth.”
“This is the Behemoth. Good to hear your voice.” Babin’s booming tones echoed through the bridge, and I slid the volume controls down a notch.
“Blue tells me you’re headed in,” I replied. “What’s your ETA?”
“We’re looking at thirty-seven-eighty standard time,” Babin replied.
“With a surprise!” one of the twins called out from somewhere behind him. The saner of the two, I suspected.
“Surprise, surprise, a big surprise,” sang out the other twin.
Yep. The first voice was definitely the saner twin.
Not that I could really blame them—their ability to foretell parts of the future was a rare gift among the Danickans, and often drove the fae who inherited mad—so mad that they tended to commit suicide rather than suffer through it any longer. The fact that the twins were still alive well into what was probably the equivalent of their twenties was something of a miracle.
The twins were also part of the reason the Danickans had put a price on our heads.
That, and the fact that they were claiming we had kidnapped their prince.
Secondborn, as Alder would invariably point out, but a prince, nonetheless.
I shook off my uncharitable thoughts about the twins, who made no secret of the fact that they had slept with Alder before and wanted to again—maybe I was a little jealous, too—and replied to Babin. “The good kind of surprise, I hope,” I said dryly.
“Looks to be, though you might want to take precautions, anyway.”
“Understood. Catch you landing-side. Over and out.”
I heaved a sigh and pushed my straggling hair out of my face again.
I glanced at the chronometer. I had time to take a shower before I geared up to meet Babin and his crew—with weapons in hand, given Babin’s warning. The asteroid we’d landed on was light on edible food but had plenty of water and an atmosphere we could all breathe. So I might be hungrier than I preferred, but at least I could bathe regularly.
And then I would have to wake Morpheus and have him drag Alder out of his quarters, where the fae prince had taken to hiding and pouting as much as we allowed him to.
Looked like our respite on the asteroid was coming to an end.
Time to prepare for the reunion.
We met Babin’s ship in t
My heart still raced when I thought back to our nail-biting landing onto Babin’s ship and how he’d jumped to hyperspeed mere nanoseconds later.
I’d missed the giant… not so much the duo of fates.
The twins came racing down the ramp first, squealing at the sight of Alder and throwing their arms around him.
My jaw tightened, but I managed to give them a cordial nod when they finally finished kissing him all over his face and turned toward me, standing on either side of the prince, their arms wrapped around his neck and waist. Alder flashed a triumphant glance in my direction, but I did my best to ignore it. He wanted me to react, but two could play games.
Babin strolled more sedately down the gangway, stopping to wrap an index finger around my outstretched palm in his gigantic version of a handshake. He then turned and offered the same courtesy to Morpheus and Evik. The Chilchek responded by placing one of his forelimbs into Babin's hand—a signal of trust that I wasn’t entirely certain the giant understood. As a Chilchek warrior, Evik was highly sensitive to touch, his entire body covered with tiny hairs called setae that sensed the slightest change in air pressure. Having those setae engulfed in another creature’s grasp probably felt like being smothered.
But the Chilchek’s scent glands remained inactive, so he clearly accepted the kind gesture as it was meant.
Then Babin turned from us to Alder, wrapping his hand around his fae prince friend and lifting him up until he was eye-level with the giant, leaving the twins stranded on the floor of the cavern, looking discontented.
I shifted my attention to the two strangers who were now exiting the oversized spacecraft.
A male and female.
The male was a brute of an alien—small only in comparison to Babin, but at least as big as Morpheus, and possibly bigger. His skin was various shades of orange, like a sunset rendered on a humanoid.
But his companion—she was the one who really got my attention.
She was human, the first true human I had seen since I had arrived in this part of the galaxy.
And beautiful, too, almost my exact opposite in every way, with dark hair and green eyes. Her skin tone was similar to mine only in that it was pale. Otherwise, it was soft and creamy, somehow fitting her ample curves.
I felt like a stick figure next to her.
I shook off the mental comparison, noting the way she held the male's hand tightly.
Nothing else about her expression betrayed her anxiety, though. Stepping forward, I held out my hand to her first. “Hi,” I said in English. “I'm Lise Klein, captain of the Bluebird.”
She uncurled her grip from the male’s and held out her hand to shake mine. “Jazmin Reed.” She flashed a wry grin. “Human expat. You can call me Jazz.”
I realized that my translator wasn’t working—it didn’t have to, because she was speaking English.
Her voice was a beautiful contralto, and once again, I had to tamp down a flicker of envy. That flicker faded entirely when she gestured toward the male. “And this is my mate, Azi Valar.”
Her mate reached out to shake my hand in a distinctly human gesture, and I smiled at him.
But then the orange alien froze, his gaze hardening as he glanced over my shoulder.
“Lise, step away from him.” Morpheus’s tone from behind me was hard and unyielding.
I blinked, turning my head to see what was going on.
Morpheus stood with his blaster drawn, pointed directly at Azi.
What the fuck is going on here?
“Babin, put me down.” Alder’s voice echoed into the sudden, tense silence. As soon as the fae prince was on the ground, he too had his blaster drawn and aimed at the newcomers.
In the meantime, Evik had dropped to the floor, a position that allowed him to move quickly, like the insect he truly was. He held his pincer-horns at the ready, clicking together softly as he opened and closed them threateningly.
Jazz stared at Evik in horrified fascination, but Azi slid over a step to stand in front of Jazz, his stance managing to be both protective and totally relaxed, even as his gaze flickered warily among all three of my crewmen.
“Move away from him, Lisa,” Morpheus repeated. “That male is dangerous—a wanted felon and a murderer.”
2
MORPHEUS MADAGAR
Slowly, Azi held up both hands in the universal gesture to show that he was unarmed. A slow smile spread across his face. “Nice to see you, too, gentlemen.”
Lise stood frozen, still blocking our shots at him, even though I’d told her twice to move.
After this is over, we are going to have to have a discussion about following orders in the midst of a standoff.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded.
“I’m here to help you with your little problem,” Azi said, that damned cocky grin still on his face.
I glanced up at Babin, who gave me a quiet nod.
“I’m not a wanted felon any longer,” the orange male added.
“Well, not a felon anymore,” his mate agreed. “But I wouldn’t say he isn’t wanted.” She glanced around at all the blasters pointed at them. “Though perhaps our welcome here was overstated.”
“I guess you three are out of the loop these days,” Azi continued, his gaze shifting from me to Alder to Evik and back again. “We won the Galactic Gladiator Games this year, and I am now a free man.” He glanced down at the female. “And we have decided to use our freedom to help free others, as well. We are here to help you take down the slave trade.”
“Morpheus,” Babin’s voice, though I knew he worked hard to keep it from overpowering his companions, boomed as if amplified. “I would not have brought Azi Valar to this place if I had any doubt over his true intentions and core nature. He and his mate will be a vital cog in the machine to accomplish our goals.”
Until that moment, Lise had been warm and welcoming, but now she straightened almost imperceptibly, the mantle of her captaincy visibly settling around her.
She turned to face Alder first. “Prince Alder,” she asked, her tone turning formal, “are you willing to take Babin’s word for it? Can we trust these two?”
If Alder had hesitated for even a split second, I might have resisted taking them onto our crew. But he nodded instantly.
Lise got that faraway look on her face that suggested she was communicating subvocally with Blue.
My nostrils flared as I inhaled, and my jaw tightened. Still, when Lise raised a questioning eyebrow at me, I nodded sharply.
A strange, almost sickly-sweet scent wafted through the landing bay, the smell of Evik’s anxiety made manifest. The Chilchek warriors, an insectoid race from the far corner of the quadrant, used scent to communicate almost as much as they used language—in fact, they often used their scent glands to add nuance to their spoken language, according to Evik.
Recognizing the source of the smell as Evik’s concern for our small crew, Lise turned to him, her expression softening.
