“Who would take her? Why?”
“Lots of reasons. No family to notice her missing.”
“The university noticed.”
“And kicked out a failing student. Vanessa wouldn’t be the first student to drop out of college. But no family. That’s telling me she was targeted, but I have no evidence of Vanessa being anything other than a student who decided that college wasn’t for her.” The agent spread her hands in a helpless gesture, then nudged the tablet across the table. “I could have a list of all the ships that docked and left Earth in a two-week window when she vanished from school, but with no evidence that anything criminal happened, I cannot get a warrant to examine their manifests or logs, much less walk on board and take a look around.”
“Earth has too many rules,” Havik said. He scrolled through the list, surprised by the number of vessels for a two-week period. Earth had more interstellar travel than he expected.
“I’m an officer of the law, so I can’t agree with you on that. Some rules keep us safe. Some require creative thinking.” She tapped a name on the list. “Like this one. The name on the registry is not the name the captain gave at the port. Suspicious or just a new owner who hadn’t had a chance yet to update all the paperwork? I’d like to find out but I, a federal agent, have no good reason to contact the captain or request a list of all the ports the ship with two names docked at in the last year. They call that harassment, and my superior officer doesn’t need me making a fuss over nothing.”
Havik nodded. “I have no such restrictions.”
A slow smile spread across Agent Novak’s face. “That is so fortunate.”
“What do you suggest?”
She stood up, the chair squeaking across the floor. “Work for me. Do the things I can’t do and go the places I can’t. Follow up on the leads I give you and let’s find out who’s been stealing our girls.”
“Other females have been taken?” The thought of Earth being so careless as to allow their people—their females—to be stolen filled him with indignation.
“Yes. Not enough for a solid pattern. Not enough for the bureau to take me seriously,” she muttered. “No one wants to admit that people are being abducted, but women are vanishing. They’re all vulnerable and I know that’s not a coincidence. Who, how, and what they do with these women, I don’t know. Help me find them, Garu Havik.”
“You believe my mate was a victim?”
Again, she spread her hands. “I don’t know, but we can try to find some answers. The offer is open to both of you. It’s a contracted position. Decent pay. I don’t have the budget for a vehicle, but I will cover supplies. Yes? Tell me yes.”
Havik shared a look with Ren. The male gave a slight nod. “Yes. We accept your mission.”
Part 2
Chapter 4
Thalia
Present Day
Thalia didn’t want to go.
She woke, gasping for air, one thought pounding in her head like a drum.
No, that was a headache.
Bright overhead lights hurt her eyes, and she tried to raise a hand to shield them but found her arms strapped down. In fact, all of her was strapped to a padded table, which was worrisome.
Thalia turned her head, the motion causing a queasy disquiet in her stomach. As her eyes adjusted, a sterile white room emerged. A cart with silver medical equipment waited to one side of the bed. The IV line attached to her right arm pumped her full of who-knows-what.
A man with two horns curling back from his brow like a ram and a deep purple complexion loomed over her.
Oh God, the aliens had her. They were going to slice her up for experimentation or stuff her full of alien eggs. She kicked her legs, dislodging a blanket, and rocked her body side to side. Her head hurt. Her entire body hurt. The inside of her head felt like she was swimming underwater, but she had to get out of there.
“Stop that, female,” he ordered.
Thalia kicked harder. She screamed, a raw, ragged wail tearing from her throat.
“For crying out loud, back up. You’re frightening her,” a woman said.
The alien stepped aside, and a human woman leaned over the bed to raise it into an upright position.
“Hello, hi,” she said. “I’m Meridan. I’m a nurse, and you’re safe. I think these belong to you.” The nurses handed over her pair of glasses.
Grateful, Thalia fumbled them on. Her hands didn’t want to cooperate.
“Better? Good. Water?”
“Yes,” Thalia croaked, her throat dry and scratchy.
The nurse pressed an ice chip to her mouth. “Just let it melt. How’s your head?”
“Hurts.”
“Stomach?”
As if by magic, Thalia’s stomach rolled, and she needed to vomit. There was no maybe and no waiting. Everything had to come out now.
“I’m going to be sick,” she said, the taste of bile already in the back of her throat. The nurse shoved a pan under her chin and gently rubbed her back while her stomach emptied.
“I’m sorry,” she said, leaning back into the pillows on the bed. Her abdomen muscles ached.
“Here. Rinse your mouth and spit.” The nurse handed her a paper cup of water. Thalia did as she was told, suddenly tired. “I’m undoing the straps. Don’t move suddenly or try to stand. You’re too weak.”
Thalia nodded, her head throbbing.
“Do you know where you are?”
“Hospital. More water,” she said, accepting another cup. She gulped it down in one go.
“Careful. Your stomach has been empty for a long time. Give it a chance to adjust,” the nurse said. “Well, let’s cover the basics. You’re in the medical bay on the Mahdfel ship Judgment. We recovered you from the wreckage of a cargo ship and it looks like you were in a stasis chamber for three years.”
Three years…
“Wait. That doesn’t
