Page 105 of Stripped By the Alien

“How certain are you of the planet’s location? Could it be a trap?”

“It could,” Krix’vorr admits. “So we’ll go there and see for ourselves. Carefully.”

“That would seem prudent. I’ll expect to be told when the suspected Gzet homeworld is close.” Brax’tok walks back out with great dignity.

The command chamber is very quiet for a moment.

Then Krix’vorr stirs. “Anything else?”

Lucius rises an inch. “That was it, Chief Harrower. We have the location of the Gzet planet, and we have the time of the auction where Sophia will be sold.”

“When can we be there?” I ask.

Lucius drops down to my eye level. “In a few hours at most, I think, going through the Soft Dark. If I may, Chief Harrower…” The drone adjusts one of the ‘eyes’ and zooms in on a distant pinpoint of light. “That should be their sun.”

I stare at the small pinpoint of light. That’s where Sophia is being kept captive, with no idea that I’m coming for her. “Let’s get there fast,” I say between clenched teeth.

Without a word, Krix’vorr turns his back to me and gets busy with the controls. I nearly lose my balance as the Beast speeds up.

“I’m glad we agree,” I mutter. Then I mentally prepare for the weirdness of going into the Soft Dark.

By Lucius’s clock it’s nearly seven hours before we approach the Gzet sun. When the Inquisitor comes in, we can see planets and even their moons.

Krix’vorr wants to approach from above, so the Beast soars high above the star and the planets in orbit around it.

“That’s a lot of traffic,” Lucius says, looking out the Beast’s biggest lens. “Spaceships everywhere, busy trade routes, several big space stations. This is an advanced system.”

“A slave trader hub,” Krix’vorr growls. “I will go as close as we can without risking that they see us.”

“That’s already a risk, sir,” Lucius says. “I spot several military ships that must be guarding this solar system.”

“Oh, the Beast can be nearly invisible when she chooses to,” Krix’vorr says and reaches out to gently punch the wall of the command chamber. “There are many advantages to having living spaceships.”

The star continues to brighten while the planets slowly expand beneath us. At first I only notice the closest world, a blue-green sphere wrapped in clouds. Then another becomes visible farther out. Then another. And another.

I stare for several seconds before speaking. "There are four."

Krix'vorr doesn't answer immediately. His eyes remain fixed on the organic display.

"There are indeed four inhabited planets," Lucius confirms. "Possibly more. I'm still analyzing what I’m seeing."

The command chamber falls silent. Every briefing I've ever received about other civilizations trained me to think in terms of single worlds. One homeworld. One capital. One center of government.

The Gzet apparently never received that memo. The nearest planet is covered in cities. Even from this distance I can see clusters of lights spreading across entire continents. Thousands of ships move between orbital facilities and the surface. The second world appears more industrial, wrapped in atmospheric haze and ringed with enormous stations. The third is greener than the first two, covered in oceans and vast stretches of vegetation. The fourth lies farther out but still supports visible settlements and heavy traffic.

It's an entire civilization. And a rich one.

Sris scuttles across the ceiling and hangs upside down to get a better view. "By the Queen's cushions," she whispers. "Look at it."

Krix'vorr slowly steps closer to the eye. The expression on his face reminds me of how I must have looked when Lucius first showed me evidence that Sophia was alive. There is wonder there, but also calculation.

"Four worlds," he murmurs. "Four Harvests."

The word sends a chill through me. To me, those planets are places where Sophia might be suffering. Places where millions of people live their lives without any idea that a swarm of giant locust aliens has discovered them.

To Krix'vorr, they are something else entirely. I watch him studying the planets and understand that he's seeing opportunities everywhere. Resources to strip from the planet.

"That cannot be correct," the Inquisitor says faintly. “They were believed to live on small asteroids only.”