Hagen, Lynn and Glenn, Stormy - End of the Line [Lady Blue Crew 1] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove)

Lady Blue Crew 1

LYNN HAGEN AND STORMY GLENN

Copyright © 2011

Chapter 1

The End of the Line
…Giovanni Gallardo shook his head. When they said “end of the line,” they weren’t kidding, he thought as he watched out the porthole. The ship he rode on was docking at a spaceport of a backwater planet. He was at the end of the line for sure. He was practically at the end of the universe.

Spaceships didn’t even fly beyond this point, not unless the pilot was totally loco. Giovanni wasn’t a pilot, but he also wasn’t so sure he wasn’t loco either. He had to be out of his mind to come to the edge of the known universe in the hopes of starting a new life away from Earth.

And who in the hell named someplace The End of the Line? What kind of name was that for a city? Granted, it wasn’t a large city, and it was kind of creepy, but still. Who came up with this shit?

Of all of the places he could have picked to settle in he had to choose this one? Yep, he was definitely loco. But desperate times called for desperate measures. No one back on Earth would ever think to look for him here—he hoped.

Blending in with the local population was Giovanni’s best hope of not being discovered, but as he watched the inhabitants of the planet scurry around the spaceport, he was having his doubts. He’d never even seen some of the alien species walking around, much less heard them described.

Giovanni had hoped to travel as far from Earth and his former owner as he could possibly get. He had thought coming to this planet would do the trick. But he was seriously beginning to rethink that plan. There was no one here to help him, not that there was back on Earth either. But this place went so far beyond bizarre, even he seemed to stand out.

Men with blue skin and antennas drank foaming green liquid at what seemed to be an outdoor bar. Standing next to them was a person with a flat head. Giovanni blinked. The guy, at least he assumed it was a guy, literally had a flat head. He could have carried a drink on it and not spilled a drop.

Giovanni’s eyes were rounded with shock as he disembarked from the spaceship. He clutched his small bag tightly to his side as he stared with wide eyes at everything he passed. This was definitely not Earth.

Aliens were segregated back on Earth. They did not mix with the general population. They were only allowed inside the red zones. Giovanni had seen a few, mostly on the vid-screen and in magazines. He’d never really seen one in person. He was astonished at the variety.

“Hey, watch it!” someone snapped when Giovanni walked into him.

“Sorry.” Giovanni quickly backpedaled, fear spiking through him. He needed to watch where he was going. Giovanni wasn’t sure what the aliens’ customs were, never having known a single alien in his life. Could bumping into someone be considered a deadly offense?

He stiffened and clutched his bag tighter to his side when the thing snorted and blue smoke blew out his…snout? Giovanni was rethinking that whole
escape from Earth and you’ll be safe
plan he’d come up with. He just might have stepped out of the frying pan and taken a nose dive right into the roaring fire.

People were starting to turn and watch him. Giovanni felt like a bug under glass. He wanted to blend in. He felt like he stood out like a sore thumb. He tightened his grip on his bag and lowered his head as he made a hasty retreat and tried to find some dark hole to hide in.

As much as he had hoped he’d be able to hide on this planet, if too many people saw him, word would get back to Drake. Once that happened, even hiding at the edge of the known universe wouldn’t save him.

Giovanni found a small hiding place between two large crates against the back wall on the loading dock. He squeezed his small body in between them, for once thankful that Drake barely fed him. Hardly anyone would be able to get to him where he was hiding.

The space was tight, but it hid him from prying eyes. If he could just stay hidden for a while then he could work out the rest of his plan. Right now, he had none. His only thought had been escaping. Beyond that, he didn’t have a clue.

Giovanni knew he’d need a job or some way to support himself. Being a sex slave to the biggest boss in New Chicago wasn’t exactly something to put on a resume. Well, not unless he planned to peddle his ass on the streets, and Giovanni was really hoping to avoid that. He’d had enough of being used and abused and never being able to say no. He wanted to try something different—like free will.

Giovanni clutched his bag tightly to his chest and hunkered down between the two wooden crates. For now, this seemed like the safest place to be. Besides, he’d had a long trip. Being on a spaceship filled with other people didn’t exactly make him comfortable. Giovanni couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept, and he was exhausted. Maybe, for just a few minutes, he could get a little rest.

He’d decide what to do with the rest of his life once he got a little shut-eye. With that thought in mind, Giovanni closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the side of the crate. Maybe when he woke up things would look a little better because, so far, the End of the Line was looking almost as bad as Earth.

* * * *

Giovanni came awake with a jerk. His eyes widened as he peered around, unsure of where he was for a moment. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he remembered where he was. He just couldn’t figure out what had woken him.

Giovanni crawled to the edge of the crates and peeked around the edge. The loading dock seemed deserted. The outside bar that had previously been filled with patrons was closed. Large metal cage-like doors had been pulled down over the entrance, and not a single light shined from inside.

The dock was also absent of people…and other alien life-forms. The lights were dim, giving the entire dock an eerie feeling. It was also quiet. Giovanni usually liked quiet, but this was too quiet. There was a heaviness in the air, an almost expectant feeling like something was about to happen. Whatever was about to happen was so intense, Giovanni could feel it in his bones.

His gut instinct was to run far and run fast. He just didn’t know which direction to run. He eyed the large doors at the far side of the loading dock and wondered if he could get to them before being spotted. Because he knew he’d be spotted. He didn’t have the kind of luck that would let him get away unseen. He just didn’t know who would be looking.

It wasn’t like the loading dock was being patrolled. From what he understood, there was no law on this planet. It was one of the main points in why he had come here. He couldn’t be arrested for anything, not even escaping Drake. Back on Earth, he was Drake’s property. Anyone that caught him would return him right back to the man. Here, no one knew Drake. Giovanni grimaced. He hoped no one knew Drake.

Giovanni had just about decided to make a run for the doors at the other side of the loading dock when he heard footsteps. He quickly scooted back between the two crates and hoped he wouldn’t be seen.

Fear spiked through his body when four extremely large men walked into view. Giovanni wasn’t sure he had ever seen men so big. And he was assuming they were men. They looked like men, at least. Being where he was, Giovanni wasn’t going to assume a damn thing.

Their facial features were that of humans, but there was something about them that just told Giovanni he might be mistaken. Their manner of dress was the first thing he noticed that was different. Not many people back on Earth wore all black. Earthlings tended to wear brighter colors if they wanted to be seen. These men obviously wanted to blend into their background.

Giovanni instantly knew why when two of the men paired off and went to hide behind some other crates, their guns drawn. A moment later, three men walked forward from the other side of the loading dock. These men looked a little more like Earth people. Well, at least one of them did. And he dressed just like Drake—all fancy like.

Giovanni hated him on sight.

He didn’t know what was going on between the members of the small group, but he wanted no part of it. Giovanni started scanning his immediate area for an escape route. There was a small sliver of a passageway on the far side of one of the crates. He was small, but he wasn’t even sure he would fit through the tiny opening.

When he heard shouting start, Giovanni knew he had to at least try. Whatever was going on had just hit the fan. He quickly peeked around the corner again just in time to see a small black box one of the men was holding fly through the air, hit the floor, and skid across the floor to land just inches from his position.

That was when the fun really began. The two men that were in hiding stepped from their positions and started shooting. Everyone else dove for cover as phaser shots filled the air. Giovanni wasn’t stupid. It was time to go.

One of Giovanni’s biggest downfalls was his incurable curiosity. It had gotten him in trouble more than once. It didn’t help him out a bit when his eyes fell on the small black box sitting on the floor just inches from his hiding spot. He couldn’t stand not knowing what was inside the shiny little black box. His fingers were itching to grab it and peek inside.

Giovanni quickly checked to make sure no one was watching. When he was assured that they were all too caught up in shooting each other, he inched forward and grabbed the box before scurrying back between the two large crates.

He shoved the box into his bag for later then headed for the small opening between the crate and the wall. Giovanni had to hold his bag away from his body and hold his breath as he shimmied between the crates, but with a little maneuvering and a lot of wishful thinking, he finally slipped through.

Giovanni found himself in no better position than he had been before. He was still hiding behind a large crate. Only this time there was no other crate to shield him on the other side. It was just an open loading dock with nothing low to the ground that he could hide behind.

And an open ramp leading up to a ship.

Giovanni blinked at the open ramp then peered around the side of the crate. He looked at the open ramp again then around the side of the crate. The retractable ramp obviously led to a ship. Even Giovanni knew that. It probably wasn’t his best option.

Getting his ass shot up didn’t seem like the way to go either, and the fighting was drawing closer. Giovanni gasped when a stray phaser blast landed just inches from his head. That decided it for him. He grabbed his bag tight to his chest and ran to the open retractable ramp, diving inside.

He rolled to a stop as he hit a metal bulkhead. Giovanni quickly climbed to his feet and ran down the long corridor and up some stairs. He had no idea where he was going, but it was away from the shooting. That seemed like a huge plus in his book.

Now he just needed to find a place to hide until the fighting stopped and he could escape. Giovanni frantically scanned each room he came to for a hiding place. Anything would do at this point.

When he heard footsteps coming toward him, Giovanni ran into the first room he came to. It looked like someone’s personal quarters, sort of, maybe, kinda. Oh, who the hell cared? There weren’t any flying phaser blasts in here, so he just went with it. There wasn’t a bed that he could see, but there were clothes strewn about the floor and a chair. It looked like a bedroom minus the bed.

When the footsteps drew closer, Giovanni ran for the nearest cupboard. It wasn’t big, but neither was he. He opened the last door on the row of cupboards and heaved himself up and inside the small opening, quickly closing the door behind him. There was just enough room for Giovanni to curl up and lay down.

Giovanni held his breath when the footsteps paused right outside the room he was in. He breathed a sigh of relief when they started walking again, this time heading away from him. He clutched his bag to his chest and laid his head down on his arm, wondering how in the hell he was going to get himself out of the mess he was in this time.

He also wondered how he kept getting into these messes. It was like he had trouble tattooed on his forehead, burned on his ass, and injected into his bloodstream. It seemed to follow him wherever he went—first with Drake and now in some damn spaceport. He couldn’t escape it.