My Alien Assassin

1. AMBER TAKACH-1

AMBER TAKACH

Planet of Zucury, City of Atania 5

The Atania Twenty-Four Hour Diner was packed today. My right eye had been twitching since I woke up. There was a sinking feeling in my stomach that felt like led. Humans and aliens frequented the diner often, which was why I noticed that this group of aliens had not been here before. It didn’t help that I was working with the co-worker from hell, Lexi Foxwell. We always had a five-person crew, especially when we worked the late-night shift. Lexi was short, athletic build, and had straight blonde hair.

She brushed past me, knocking me into the table. “Sorry girl, we’re packed and your wide butt is in the way. You really should look into getting on an alien diet.”

I couldn’t afford to punch her in the face no matter how she begged to be assaulted. Zucury was not planet Earth and they didn’t play with assault and battery. Crime in general wasn’t allowed or tolerated. The punishment for assault ranged from death, deportation, to being left on a backwater planet filled with lawless aliens.

Narrowing my eyes, I smiled. “I can definitely look into your diet. Anorexia does have you looking like a malnourished roach but then my bones would protrude from my skin like yours.”

Walking to the table littered with dishes, I started gathering the dirty plates.

A scent of masculine musk filled my nostrils and I smiled. There was only one human male that managed to get musk cologne on Zucury, Nolan Avison.

“Don’t mind Lexi. She’s still mad that I turned her down the other night,” said Nolan.

My hand covered my mouth. “You’ve got to be kidding me. She wanted you to date her?”

He smiled and leaned over taking the dirty dishes and placing them in the bucket. “Date wouldn’t be the word I would use. She invited herself to my bed, and I let her know that I wouldn’t sleep with her even with someone else’s penis.”

I giggled and took out the cloth and started wiping the table. “On Earth, most guys would’ve taken her up on her offer. She’s blonde, petite, promiscuous and has large breasts.”

“That was her mistake. This isn’t Earth and I’m not a boy, I’m a man. Men like nice women with luscious curves and high s*x drives. Kindness is the sexiest trait a female can have,” said Nolan.

I gazed out the window. “I know you think so, but every male that comes in here falls all over her. Males like easy women and they don’t care if she’s a nice person or if she has the personality of a toaster oven.”

Nolan whistled. “Issac come here for a mintos.”

The scent of bleach and citrus burned my nostrils as I wiped the table. There were rolling dark clouds that blanketed the sky. A sheet of lightning lit in an ominous flash. It looked like it was going to rain. Turning away, I straightened as Issac strolled in our direction.

Issac Grippen and Nolan were best friends. They met when Nolan was robbed by some aliens. Issac had stepped in and fought them. It was funny to see because they were so different. Issac was tall, dark, and muscular, and Nolan was short, chubby and albino. The two have been inseparable ever since. I adored both. They were like the two older brothers I wished I had.

“What’s going on?” asked Issac.

“Do you agree that men like kind women with high s*x drives over a female like Lexi?” asked Nolan.

He leaned against the nearby booth. “You will always have men willing to sleep with a woman that doesn’t value herself and her body because the men know they won’t have to value her either. True love and intimacy can only exist when there’s respect between two partners.”

Evelyn came in the front door. “What did I miss?”

Evelyn Tameron was like the phone book. For some reason, she always knew what was going on with everyone. I suspected it was because she was such an easy-going person who listened. She was nice to a fault and if you were in trouble and needed someone to talk to, she’d be the person you’d call. Unfortunately, because she hated saying no, people always took her kindness for weakness and sought to take advantage of her.

I sighed. “Nolan says men like kind women over women like Lexi.”

Wrinkling my nose, I frowned and sniffed her clothes. “Oh no, you started back up with cigarettes.”

She waved her hand. “Don’t start in on me. I had to have a cigarette. Luther is getting on my last nerve. Men don’t care about personality; they care about what you’ve got between your legs and how you work it on them.”

I agree. Male friends are always the best to have.

Nolan’s lips thinned. “Why are you talking to Luther? I thought you changed your number.”

She rolled her eyes. “Stop looking like a kicked puppy. I promised I would change my number and I did. Luther came by my place last night. We were arguing so loud that the neighbors called security.”

He was at her side in a flash. “Did he touch you?”

Evelyn caressed his cheek. “No, and he won’t. I have a protection order against him. He can’t come to my apartment complex anymore.”

Usually, I was very observant but I had mistaken all the attention that Nolan paid Evelyn as friendly concern but it was evident that they were seeing each other. Why they kept it a secret I wasn’t sure. Evelyn was like family to me and it hurt me to see her in a physically abusive relationship. Evelyn and Nolan were both nice people and if anybody deserved to be happy it was them.

Rolling my eyes, I playfully pouted as I jabbed Nolan in the side. “This is supposed to be about me and how fat girls need love too.”

A glass crashed to the floor. I jumped. It came from the booth in the largest section in the back. The booth that seated the dark silver aliens. I know because I had been watching them from underneath the curtain of my thick eyelashes. There was something that shifted in the atmosphere when they came into the restaurant.

They stood out just like the four arms that were attached to their bodies. Instead of two eyes, they had six eyes that sat deep inside their sockets which emphasized their high cheek bones. Their mouth and nose were large which gave them a forced expression of agitation and frustration. Unlike other aliens that lived here, their skin was covered with course short hair that swayed gently from the ventilation above them. It was impossible to get an emotional read on them, but they gave off bad vibes. A part of me had hoped they would get up and leave since they were no longer eating. As usual, no such luck as the star of Khralt wasn’t facing east today.

I sighed. “Guys, do you know those dark silver aliens over there? I just have a bad feeling about them.”

Natalya came from the kitchen. Her face was red and she looked ready to demolish the world. Her temper was quick and it had earned her the nickname “red.” Natalya Sabine was a human female like Evelyn and me, but she hadn’t come to Zucury willingly. She had been stolen from planet Earth before humans knew aliens existed. She had killed her alien abductor and lived in captivity in a prison with aliens where she was forced to fight or die. Instead of walking over to us, she marched over to the silver aliens and slid the hollow screen over for them to pay. Stepping over the crushed glass, she headed our way.

Evelyn smiled. “I just love her. I want to be a bad chick when I grow up.”

I smiled. “Me too. Her fearlessness is amazing.”

Sobering, I rubbed my neck. “Natalya, do you know those guys you just kicked out?”

She snorted. “Nope, but I know their kind. They are Xangaets. They are known to be good at thieving, killing, abducting, and selling. You can guess who they are hired to kidnap and sale.”

A shiver ran down my spine. “I don’t understand why they aren’t banned from the planet if they are so evil.”

“They are. I’m surprised they would be so bold to come here and stay this long. It makes me curious to know why they would risk death. Whoever they’re after must be important or worth a lot of credits,” said Natalya.

Nolan slipped his arm around Evelyn’s shoulders.

It was times like this that I hated being single ready to mingle. This alien planet was like home, but danger was multiplied ten-fold on unimaginable levels. I wanted a man’s strong arms around my shoulders giving the illusion of security, but I’m a realist and life had taught me that some aliens were like human men after all. All males could be selfish, manipulative and no good.

The chime of the door made some of the tension in my shoulders ease because they were paying their bill. I had my poker face on but their presence unsettled me.

Isaac moved between her and I. “Don’t worry ladies. I’ll protect you.”

Natalya rolled her eyes. “That’s sweet but I’m not a damsel in distress. I can save myself.”

Lexi came strolling from the back. Her eyes shot over to the alien table before she turned on her heels and disappeared in the back again. Frowning, I watched the aliens as they all stood up. Each of them was well over seven feet tall.

I gulped and forced myself to leave my friends and head to their table to start cleaning up the broken glass. It was already late and I didn’t want to be at the diner any longer than necessary. The ache in my feet throbbed like a thousand shards of glass were embedded in them. Brushing past the tallest silver alien, I felt a sharp pin prick in my lower back.

Turning around, I glared at him. His expression didn’t change but I swiftly moved away from them and watched as they exited the diner. When the door closed behind them, I strolled around the counter and retrieved the broom.

Natalya ran her hands through her red hair. “I’m glad they’re gone. I told Lexi to call security and report them. The skank probably didn’t call.”

Evelyn snorted. “Security would’ve been here by now.”

Lexi was a jerk but was she insane? She was in the diner too and they could do anything to her as well. That may be why she hid in the back.

Bending, I swept up the glass. “I wish you would have called them yourself.”

I walked over and dumped the glass in the trash. They were gone yet their stench lingered in the air like a skunk. Shaking my head, I tried to clear my thoughts. My hands weren’t broken and I could’ve reported them even if I didn’t know they were bad. I could’ve said I felt unsafe.

On Zucury, humans could report anything suspicious as well as feelings of being in danger. There were commercials and skits that came on the holo screen all the time reminding humans that we had just as much voice as anyone else.I hadn’t lived on any other alien planets but in my opinion Zucury was the best. President Jado Carddon was the alien president, and it didn’t hurt that he was crushing on my new best friend Phoebe. My lips curve despite the beads of sweat racing down my lower back. Only Phoebe Faulken would relocate and fall for the freaking president of the alien planet. It was a true fairytale romance unfolding in a delicious slow burn fashion. Sort of like those old Earth television romantic suspense dramas where the heroine is running from the jerk in her life straight into the arms of her alpha prince charming, whose job was to save her life as he held her heart in the palm of his hands.

I sighed, nibbling my lower lip.

Evelyn patted Nolan on the cheek before walking over to me. “Are you alright? You don’t look good.”

Ignoring the stiffness in my back, I forced myself to clean off the nearby counter. “Yeah, I’m only tired. Have you ever felt like you don’t know what’s happening anymore in your life? You were content with the way things were but now you’re not?”

She blushed. “That’s how I feel about leaving Luther and not acting on my feelings for Nolan.”

Natalya had her coat on. She strolled over to us. “Don’t leave the diner by yourself tonight. It might be nothing, but those aliens were in here for something. There is a chance they were casing this place. Make sure you have a male pick you up, several if you can.”