Two large black wings popped out from its back.
It rushed for the door, crashing against it. Alexa stepped back. The glass panel held, and continued to hold as the beast pounded away. When it realized there was no escape, it lifted its head and roared.
Alexa flinched before setting the perimeters on the enclosure to muffle the sound.
Silence filled the space when the primate’s roar was cut off.
The alien creature coiled into a ball and rolled, hitting all the sides. It gained speed upon its second roll. The glass wobbled but miraculously held.
“What the ever-living fuck is that thing?” Raul asked.
“An Atrexian locust,” Hysterian answered, the only one of them completely unfazed. He moved to the enclosure’s computer, and Alexa shuffled to the side. He typed something in and a mist poured out from the top, shrouding everything inside and hiding the primate from view for a moment.
“That’s not a fucking locust. I’ve seen locusts at the zoo,” Daniels said.
Hysterian stepped back. “On Atrexia, it’s known as a locust.”
She and the rest of the crew circled the enclosure and stared at the creature raging within. Claws came out to swipe at the glass. Its wings hit the sides.
“They swarm areas destroying everything in their path, consumed with a breeding rage when entering adulthood. Their strength is beyond any animal borne of Earth, their rage indomitable. The males, like this one, will go from one female and to the next, forced to copulate as much as possible. They’re the only beasts we know of that are continuously in heat after they mature. Everything we know about them is in your requisition files.”
“Great,” Raul muttered, glancing at Alexa. “Guess we’ll have our hands full?”
She shrugged.
Hysterian glanced down at her. “It’s your job to keep them alive and contained.”
Hysterian’s abysmally dark eyes twitched again, and her brow furrowed. When he looked away soon after, she stared after him, confused.
Was it just me, or did his pupils bulge? His words came back to her, warning her of getting close. He’s right beside me. She stopped herself from taking an extra step away.
Her eyes narrowed. Is he testing me? Again?
She fisted her hands at her sides.
“And why is it here, on Earth, and in our possession?” Horace asked. “I thought we were picking up and delivering resources, taking the odd jobs the EPED is known for?”
Raul hmphed. “We’re delivering this, obviously. Why else would the Questor have a menagerie and enclosures like these”—he waved his hand at the space around him—“if it wasn’t for animals like that?”
“That wasn’t mentioned in the job description.”
“Maybe because it has nothing to do with the bridge crew.”
“I want to know if there’s dangerous creatures confined in the same space as me,” Horace quipped.
Raul laughed. “What did you think odd jobs stood for?”
“Enough,” Hysterian barked. Raul and Horace glowered at each other. “We have several more to onboard before we can take off. We can talk after we’re in the sky.”
“Yes, Captain,” Raul muttered.
“There’s more?” Daniels asked, sliding his tranq gun into the waist of his pants instead of setting it down.
Daniels wasn’t nearly as handsome as Raul, but was built all the same. With a closely shaved head and stocky features, the bridge officer looked more like infantry than someone who sat all day in front of a computer.
The doors to the lab zipped open behind them, revealing another, smaller crate and several tarmac servicemen.
“There’s always more. This is the job. If you don’t like it, there’s still time to leave.” Hysterian said, heading for the incoming crate, shooting Horace a look.
She watched him walk away, giving orders to the servicemen. He was the only one who wore a black suit, unlike the rest of them, who wore gray. Hysterian’s suit was devoid of metals, straps, or even buttons, and only had his name tag pinned to his right breast and a belt that had a gun attached at his hip.
His suit was strange, tight, leaving nothing to the imagination, unlike what she pictured he would wear. She’d never seen material like the one Hysterian seemed so comfortable in. Because when it came to revealing everything…it did; the bulge of his crotch, his physique, the play of his powerful muscles as he moved. She tried not to check him out each time she saw him, but it was hard not to.
Was vanity his weakness?
He’d been the object of her vengeance for so long; she still couldn’t believe how near he finally was. Before this, she’d only glimpsed him from afar on several occasions, and had her one picture of him.
One truth Alexa realized this day was that Hysterian was fucking intimidating up close, even to other men. She knew killing him was going to be hard, but this just made it all the more difficult.
“Fucking hell,” someone said behind her. “Poor Alexa.”
“Don’t call me—” Alexa faced the enclosure and came face to face with the primate. She jumped, taking a step back.
Daniels and Raul laughed.
“Was wondering when you’d stop eyeing the captain. Looks like the primate likes you, Dear,” Raul teased.
“Seems the monkey knows who the females are in the room,” Daniels added.
Alexa gritted her teeth. The primate stared at her, drool pouring out of the sides of its mouth. Her skin prickled under her uniform. Awareness shot through her. When she finally tore her eyes away from the animal, she discovered her crewmates watching her.
Her spine straightened. “Seems to know who the real boss is,” she said, feigning indifference, trying not to look back at the salivating ape.
“More like it knows who it wants to mate with,” Daniels said.
Alexa pursed her lips. “It and the rest of the males in this room will soon realize they’ll be dead if they tried.”
Raul laughed again and clapped his hand on her shoulder. “We’re just teasing you. Don’t need to get yourself worked up. We’re family now. Don’t you know that?”
“Are you going to do your jobs, or do I need to fire you all?” Hysterian said, shooting them all a withering look. “Keep your hands to yourself, Raul.”
Raul dropped his hand from her shoulder. “Yes, Captain.”
Her crewmates went to help Hysterian with the new crate. She moved to join them when Pigeon, the ship’s manager who’d also lagged behind, stopped her.
“Ms. Dear, if you ever feel uncomfortable, please don’t hesitate to come to me,” he said as if to make her feel better. As if she didn’t know what she was getting herself into. “I’ve been on many ships, traveled through space most of my life, and I know how hard it is to be a female in this field, alone with men for long periods of time.”
Pigeon was the oldest among them. Nearly wizened with gray whiskers and white hair, he had the appearance of exactly what he said he was: a lifelong crew worker. His face was thin with shallow wrinkles, and his nimble hands barely hid age spots and their decreasing elasticity, Pigeon looked like he’d spent years working hard, yet hardly in sunlight.
“You come to me if anything happens, even if you’re unsettled. It’ll come to an end, I promise. I may be old, but I’ve championed many women in my time.” He smiled. “And our Captain made it a point to look out for you, knowing your unique situation.”