The man above her leaned down to grab her hands as soon as she was within reach. Her body kept going though the hatch until she banged lightly into the ladder with her left side. She stared up into the face of a black-haired male with glowing green eyes who wasn't Argernon either. He was another stranger. A horrible thought hit her. Were they with Argernon or had the ship been boarded by other Zorn? Maybe they were a rescue team.

She met the stranger's eyes as he pulled her through the hatch opening, gripping her by one arm. He had her clothing fisted at her waist when she was clear. He wore boots like the redhead below. She met his eyes.

"Argernon? Is he all right?"

The man blinked in confusion, clearly showing that he didn't understand her. She looked down, gripped her shirt, and loudly sniffed it, as she stared at the man.

"Argernon?"

She knew the material smelled like Argernon since it was his discarded one from the day before and she knew they had a good sense of smell. The man seemed to understand. She saw something in his eyes that made tears well in hers when he tensed up. Pity.

"Oh God. He's dead, isn't he?" She grabbed the man by the front of his shirt. "Is he dead?" Her voice rose, knowing she was about to start sobbing.

The man suddenly cupped her face, leaning in and looked like he was going to kiss her.

In alarm Casey jerked her head back. He looked amused as he chuckled, walking again, keeping his hands on her as they went down a corridor. She turned her head to look at the hatch but the redhead hadn't followed them up. As a matter of fact, she didn't even see light from the lower floor anymore through the open hatch.

The man paused at a door to force it open by cranking a handle. She gripped his shoulder to not impede him by being in his way. She stared in shock at the large room he walked into, which looked like a cargo area. She saw the lights through high windows of a small ship but couldn't see anything inside moving.

He walked for the ship, lurching up a wide ramp in his awkward boots. Once they were inside she saw it was a well-lit, small room with another door. The man grabbed her, pulling her tightly against his body, while reaching over to push a large button. The ramp started to lift up to loudly shut. He gripped her with both hands, met her eyes, and then she heard a beeping sound.

If the man hadn't been gripping her in his arms she would have slammed hard into the floor as gravity returned fast. The body against hers tensed hard, taking her weight, and then eased her onto her feet. She stumbled away from him when he released her.

Her body felt heavy after being weightless for so long. She felt dizzy watching the man bend over to do something to the boots before stepping out of them. Barefooted he straightened up to his full height of about six foot three. He pointed to the door behind her. She turned around as he walked close, hitting another button, as those doors slid open.

The interior of the ship wasn't that large. She was stunned to see they weren't alone. A thin brunette human woman was sitting on a bench seat looking scared. Shock hit Casey as their gaze met. The woman stood up instantly.

"You're human," the woman gasped.

"Yes," Casey said as she tore her attention away from the brunette. She glared up at the man who'd brought her to the shuttle. "What is going on? Where is Argernon?"

"Calm down. I'm Rachael Dean," she spoke softly. "Don't yell at him. They don't understand us. I don't think the computers in here have the program the Zorn run to talk to us and they obviously don't have the implants in their ears."

Casey's gaze shot to the woman. "Do you know what's going on?"

"No. I was locked in my room until one of them showed up." Fear made the woman's eyes widen. "I don't think they are Zorn. Look at his face closely and you'll see differences like these guys have pointed ears."

Fear hit Casey as she studied the tall man standing close to her who had brought her to the shuttle. As she really looked at him she saw differences as well. The guy's eyes were slanted slightly, he did have pointed ears, and she noticed he had marks like spots on the backs of his hands. Argernon didn't have any of that. She was pretty sure that these men weren't Zorn.

"Shit." Casey took a step back away from the guy realizing she had nowhere to flee to except the back of the ship where two men were standing, blocking the door that she hadn't noticed before. She stared up at the man staring down at her. "What do you want? Can you understand me?"

The tall man inched forward to invade Casey's personal space. A growl rumbled from his throat as he gave her a cold look as she took a step back. She glared back up at him trying to not feel terror. He moved closer, almost touching Casey now, to snarl something at her. He was showing sharp teeth. His tone wasn't friendly. Behind her Rachael softly cursed.

"Don't look down, but that guy is turned-on big-time."

Casey's gaze jerked down to the front of the guy's pants. Fear hit her hard at the sight of the guy's obvious state of arousal. He was turned-on big-time all right. She backed up more, right into Rachael, who gently gripped her. Turning her head, Casey eyed the other two men in the shuttle, both of the large males were staring intently at Casey and Rachael.

"We are in deep shit," Rachael whispered.

"Just stay calm." It was good advice to give but Casey was having a hard time following it. Where was Argernon and who were these men? Had they attacked the ship? It seemed really damn likely. "I think they might be space pirates."

"Great. Just fucking great," Rachael almost sobbed. "First I got drunk in a bar, ended up in bed with this big son of a bitch who could fuck like a machine, and then I woke up on a spaceship with said machine telling me I was the equivalent of his wife. Now this shit. Do you think they are going to kill us?"

"I don't know. I hope not."

Rachael sniffed. "I just want to go home. The guy who grabbed me is really nice and he's hell on wheels in bed, but I didn't sign up for this shit. I just wanted to have a good time and he looked like a great lay when I left the bar. Were you picked up outside a bar too?"