Iain felt himself tense, both with fear and with excitement. But, just as Cygnus was about to touch him, a loud voice booming from down the corridor interrupted them.

“Hey, stop that!” the intensity, the loudness of the roar made him step back. Iain looked around worriedly for its source. “She’s only allowed to touch my man-parts!”

Iain looked over to see a very large, and also very clearly, intimidatingly greyish male figure coming down the corridor towards them in a loping stride. How much did that alien guy weigh? The deck reverberated under his massive feet. He glanced at Cygnus with alarm. The expression on her face wasn’t that of fear, though. It had turned into what could best be interpreted as a look of disgust as she to turned to look where he was looking. She had by then retracted her reaching hand.

“Orwon,” she stated with dripping disdain. “Are you responsible for this?”

The figure slowed his approach slightly as he got within ten or so meters. He spread out long muscular arms.

“Come on vlada,” he told her. “I did this for us.”

Iain turned back to Cygnus, starting to get that sinking feeling again. It wasn’t the first time, exactly, he’d found himself in this kind of situation once or twice before. You get that when you attend a few dozen wedding receptions a year. Although, to be fair, if you added standing naked on a starship facing off against a very big alien, it would be a sort of a first.

“Is he your-?” he started. Cygnus cut him off, her lips curled.

“Ex,” she said, shooting him an annoyed glance. Then she turned back to the easily eight foot tall looking grey-skinned hulk. “Last time I hook up with bio-mechanicals, though. They just so obsessed over their hydraulic pumps. All frigging night.”

He turned back to the hulking Orwon.

“So you kidnap me, after I tell you we are through? That’s your solution to a break up?!”

The big guy was maybe five meters away now. But his expression, posture had turned to confused from angy..

“It was a test, wasn’t it?” Orwon bellowed in disbelief. That was replaced quickly by insistence. “And now this is another, right. You wanted me to give up everything for you too. And I have.”

From her look, maybe he’d overreached. Iain could see her mouth was wide open as if she was experiencing a profound WTF moment..

“How did he wake up?” he wondered, as the huge muscular being lumbered ever closer each footstep causing the deck to vibrate on impact. With perhaps not the most chivalrous move, he took a step back. “Shouldn’t he still be frozen?”

Cygnus replied with a noise of disgust.

“Oh, he probably tied in to programming for our chambers when he snuck on board this ship. Just like him to do that,” she suggested. “That was one of his exit plans, I seem to remember. I didn’t think he’d actually go through with it, but I guess there was a revolution brewing.”

Then she turned back to the hulking alien.

“So you have me put under for thousands of years? I didn’t ask you to make me give up everything! We are through Orwon. Completely done!!”

The big grey being started shaking with fury.

“Not if I can get you alone again,” the giant said, and began to run towards Iain.

“You’d better run,” Cygnus told him. “Now! Run!”

Iain didn’t need to be told twice, considering the big guy was charging at him. He made a swipe at his pants on the way, but missed. He ran as hard as he could, but seriously wondered how he was going to get away from an eight-foot tall hulk who could clearly outpace him.

He didn’t have to.

He’d barely taken three strides when he heard and felt a resounding thump that reverberated through the chamber. Iain turned around and saw the big guy had his face planted into the floor. Cygnus had jumped up on his and was twisting an arm while the giant moaned and writhed in agony on the floor.

“Get over here and help me!!” the alien woman shrieked at him. “I can’t hold him down for long!”

Iain thought for a moment, then jogged back. He again tried another swipe at his pants. Missed.

“There isn’t time for modesty!” Cygnus yelled at him as the giant grunted, tried to overturn her. “Take hold of his other arm.”

“Really?” he asked as he gingerly approached the struggling figure under her knee. “How strong to you think I am?”

“You’d better be strong enough! Now, grab and pull!” she ordered.

It took Iain a couple tries, but he managed to grab the giant’s other arm near the elbow. Orwon’s huge hand grabbed his arm as he did and squeezed painfully.

“Shit he’s got me!” he yelled back.

“Good, you have leverage now” Cygnus forced out. “Now pull, hard. Come on do it. He's bio-mechanical. His parts come off. But if he get’s loose again he will kill you. You want that to happen?”

Not exactly, he decided.

So, Iain pulled, hard. Without warning, he heard a loud pop and fell back, still clutching the now limp arm. Orwon bellowed in rage.

“There we go,” he heard Cygnus gasp, and then hear more scrambling.

When he looked up, Orwon was moaning on the deck, but he wasn’t bleeding, even though both his arms had been ripped off. Huh.

“Oh, come on vladaka,” the giant complained, staring in fear at Cygnus who had moved down his body. “I really do love you. I need you!”

“Help me with his legs.” Cygnus had already grabbed one by the knee. “Come on! Let's make a wish.”

He was sure that wasn't exactly what she meant.