Page 78 of Uncovered By the Alien Commander

Now we’re moving closer to my biggest concern, an eagerness compels me to speak. “But Xandor has seen my... tits,” I struggle with the bold word, glaring at Hyanxa, hoping for some insight. “But he never even glanced at them!”

She frowns at me before taking another draw from her vaporstick. “Maybe he just doesn’t lust for you?” She says with a casualness that belies its cruel implications.

“He does want me, or at least he did!” I shoot back, her challenge pulling the answer from my lips, an answer that was buried.What was that weird stuff he said to me?I frown, trying to recall. “Something about how I breathe beneath his skin, and how he can’t let me go. I don’t know, it was all very strange.”

“He really said that?” Hyanxa asks before laughing. “Who would’ve thought the Klendathian would be so pretentious?” She shakes her head and blows out more purple smoke.

Is he?

My face heats and I notice I’m fiddling with my fingers. The next part still stings; I hate myself for not acting differently. “Then I...” I take a deep breath, unable to meet Hyanxa’s gaze. “I threatened to shoot him... After our fight on the bridge,” I finish in a rush, my eyes creeping upward to see Hyanxa studying me with a frown, like I might be insane.

Maybe she’s right.

“I see the problem,” Hyanxa begins, her voice laced with disbelief. “You’re a crazy bitch,” she laughs, and all I can do is frown, lacking any evidence to the contrary. “Void, what a mess!” she adds.

Shame and embarrassment wash over me, but there’s nothing left other than to continue confessing the awful truth. “Then he said I lacked convictions, like he wanted me to shoot him or something. It’s a bit of a blur now.”

“He’s so dramatic. I couldn’t stomach that crap,” Hyanxa declares with a tut. “But the thing about the Klendathians—they’re all so serious and earnest. It’s better to be honest and direct with them,” she states with a hand under her chin. “You’ve been flip-flopping, and darting around like a confused znat.”

Her words clarify my own jumbled thoughts, leaving me with an eager hope she knows a way to fix this. “What can I do, Hyanxa? He won’t accept my apology and I worry it’s too late,” I plead, my eyes fixated on the Jungarian.

“Tough one,” Hyanxa frowns, taking another draw from her device, as I wait with bated breath, her next words crucial. “Something to prove you’re serious. Something dramatic...” Her voice drifts off like her gaze.

I grimace, thinking of a dramatic, bold action, yet all that comes to mind are variations of Job’s ‘display my fleshy bits’ idea. Until my hand brushes against my horrible brand in absent thought. A shocking realization hits me like an ionized storm. “This voiding brand!” I exclaim, my eyes flickering to Hyanxa.

“Huh? What about it?” Hyanxa inquires, with narrowed eyes on my shirt.

“It’s ugly, and it makes me even uglier. I despise everything about it!” I seethe, my lip trembling with the fury that has simmered beneath the surface.

Hyanxa scowls, her golden eyes flicking from my chest to my face. “You’re not ugly, Tyrxie. Far from it.”

I almost don’t hear her words until the realization dawns. “But you always said I was ugly. An ugly alien cunt, remember?” I remind her, my voice eager but calm.

Hyanxa shifts her head, silence stretching so long I doubt she’ll reply. Then she releases a loud exhale. “I only said that because I was afraid you’d steal Kaanus,” she explains with a dry laugh. “Void seems so stupid now. I wish you had stolen him!”

Her gaze flicks to mine with intensity. “I see how the males look at you. You’re exotic and pretty. It’s not fair.” Hyanxa emits a short laugh before continuing. “I was jealous.”

I’m pretty?

A weight lifts from my shoulders, but a treacherous part of me still doubts her sincerity. “Jealous of me?” I blurt out in disbelief. “The only male interested in me, I threaten to shoot,” I say with a sardonic chuckle. “It’s obvious I don’t know what the void I’m doing!” I finish with a smile.

Hyanxa smiles back, and for a moment, a look of understanding seems to hang between us, an understanding I’d never believed possible just days ago. But I must press on, driven by a seething loathing. “I still want to get rid of this... thing,” I spit the last word out like the vilest, most disgusting filth, gesturing to the brand again.

“You want to remove it, now?” She adds, her face switching to sudden understanding.

“Yeah...”How the void am I going to do this?My heart pounds in my chest, always hating the brand with every ounce of mysoul. I pull down my shirt, exposing the terrible snarling beast that stares with malevolent defiance. “Let’s burn this voiding thing off.”

Hyanxa raises an eyebrow. “You really are voiding crazy, you know that?”

“Crazy got me into this mess and crazy is going to get me out,” I declare with fire in my heart and shaking hands, as I retrieve my heating lance and offer it to Hyanxa. “Here, I want you to help me.”

Hyanxa approaches, taking my narrow gray burning device. She presses the trigger, testing it, and recoils as a bright blue spark jolts to life. Her golden eyes meet mine with an expression of genuine concern, an expression I’ve never seen on her. “Void sake, let me add some of Mod’s ointment first, you mad bitch.” She applies copious amounts of the black liquid to the cloth before smearing generous amounts onto my brand.

The ointment tingles my skin. It’ll only be moments before it begins to soothe and numb. Yet that knowledge does little to calm my ever-increasing heartbeat. Hyanxa smirks. “You want me to burn Xandor’s name here instead?”

“No! Just get rid of the horrible thing.” I take a deep breath, yet I can’t control my haggard breathing. “I refuse to wear the mark of a slave a moment longer!” My hands tremble, fumbling for a cloth to bite down on, as I stare at the heating lance. But my resolve is unflinching, knowing I do this not for Xandor but for myself. The brand a hateful, mocking reminder of my pain, of my enslavement, but I’ll not let another claim me—never again!

I clench my fists and give Hyanxa a silent nod. She shakes her head, before activating the heating lance, the blue sparks bridge across the mental prongs that now seem to burn as bright as a giant star. “I might actually enjoy this,” Hyanxa titters, but it seems forced. There’s a slight tremble in her furred hand as shebrings the device closer, the heat of it already draws sweat—or maybe that’s my fear?