Chapter 22: No, it can get worse.When they landed on Kel's home planet, Murry was told to wait on the ship. Kel said he had to go with his siblings to be greeted by their people in a celebration. After that, his alien told Murry that all the royals met in the Report Room. He said they would go over any pertinent information on their travels. Pertinent information probably meant what to do with Murry. As the ship docked and pulled into an enormous parking hanger, Keltrix hugged him and told him everything would be fine. He said he would be back after the welcome home greeting and after the ruling body assembled. Although Murry wanted some explanation of what some of that meant, he only hugged Keltrix and said goodbye.As he waited for Kel on the ship, Murry chatted with Petey.Shortly after Kel, JP, and Rhylent had visited him, Murry started to hear the whispering from his Nebos. At first, Petey said only a few things in Murry's head, but he seemed to speak mainly in Kel's native tong

Chapter 24: Who is Petey?Kicking and struggling, Murry fought the tightening hold cutting off the air to his lungs. So much for this not being painful. If Murry knew meeting Octnavin would mean his death, he wouldn't have bothered to comb his hair.Rhylent held Murry's left arm. With his right, Murry tried to yank at the tentacle that was cutting off his air supply. Octnavin's skin was rock hard and unforgiving. JP walked a few steps away from his siblings like he couldn't watch. Keltrix fought his bonds. Murry was going to die. After all he'd been through, who would have figured this was the end? Death by an alien king.-Grip his right bottom tentacle.- Petey sounded frantic and he was practically yelling in Murry's mind. -Do it now.-Murry flailed his arm outward. A gut instinct of self-preservation shot through him, fueled partly by Petey. The whisper was insistent and authoritative. How could such a small piece of silk around his arm be that bossy? Murry snagged the right tentac

Chapter 26: True, that could've been handled better.Murry awoke wrapped in a soft bed of Nebos. He opened his eyes and glanced around the room. He was on Kel's bed on the ship. Everything was where it was supposed to be. He scrubbed a hand over his face. The alien baby had been a nightmare. Rolling over, Murry tossed his feet over the bed. As he stood, his stomach rumbled. He glanced down his body. He looked thin. His belly wasn't overly fat. Yes. It had all been a dream. Walking to the bathroom, Murry used the toilet and then showered. After he was done, he studied the furniture. The room hummed with discord. Something about all this didn't feel right. He ran a hand over his belly button and then lower. The skin was smooth. The Nebos had dried his body and then dressed him in blue pants and a matching robe shirt. After he dressed, Murry strolled around the bedroom. He headed to the coffee table. Everything looked like the ship, but the room didn't feel right. He couldn't put his f

Chapter 28: The end of... Sex and Space.Murry shot his target. Bullseye. His eyes flipped to Keltrix and Petey who stood with him in the shooting gallery."Perfect." Keltrix stood behind him. "Now you."Petey shot at the next moving target. Against one wall, the patterns flipped and switched to make the shots more difficult with every pass."That was a good one." Murry turned to the offspring he had carried in his body. Now the alien was taller than him and Murry had to look up at Petey when they spoke."I'm hungry." Petey bent his head and whispered in Murry's ear. As the young alien sidled up to the shooting mark on the floor, he aimed his weapon at the target. "But you know Keltrix is never going to let me take a break.""Let me see what I can do," Murry whispered back and then moved to the side.Murry shot at the next set of targets and got a perfect score. Kel grinned at him and then motioned for Petey to do the next course. After Murry checked to make sure his weapon was not loa

Chapter 30: Job number one.Sloan reached the little corner coffee shop and parked his bike. He took off his helmet and inhaled while he prepared for Elijah's irritation at him. As he walked into the building, the chime on the door made a slight ring. Elijah glanced up from filling a coffee craft and smiled."I covered for you." His chubby dark-haired roommate set the air pot aside and started to fill a second container. "I told the boss you had a dentist appointment.""Boss here?""Gone.""Cool." Sloan headed straight to the storage room where he could dump his stuff. He set his helmet aside and then stripped off his leather jacket. After he hung the garment, he then grabbed his apron. He was clocked in and brewing coffee in record time. "You told me that if you went with Reese again, I should punch you in the downstairs." Elijah grabbed the milk and began to steam the liquid. He kept his voice low, so the young couple congregating around the counter didn't hear him. As Elijah worked