The grenade lands on the ground like a pebble. It was thrown by Mr. Garcia, its motions stopped between the group of fortune hunters (you are not sure how many) who ambushed you, the shrapnel let loose right away, as it was held back a few seconds prior.
As for why your attackers didn't start the show with a grenade: you are not sure. Perhaps they were tasked to preserve the statue. Perhaps they only wanted to kill Mr. Garcia, so you would end up among the spoils of conquest. Nor do you care too much about it to be honest. What matters is that the grenade, your grenade, worked, and most of the guys who attacked you were taken out as a consequence. And now, as Mr. Garcia started shooting, and the few guys who remained alive also started shooting, you began to sprint towards them, the bullet proof skin of an adenian your main advantage.
The first guy you find is at the cave's entrance, just behind the four bodies of those who were daring enough to enter. The man shoots, but he misses, you hitting him two feet forward, the velocity enough to knock him out cold, his body spun and landed on the sand like a rag doll.
You see two other fortune hunters in your peripheral vision, one of them, with a regular gun, shoots you on the thigh, and you yell (even though your skin is bulletproof, it still hurts), the other with a plasma gun also shoots, but he misses, then he gets mowed down from the cave by Mr. Garcia. Another shot lands, as you just got going, this time on your stomach, but now you choose to endure the pain, spun up from the ground legs first, both of your feet colliding into the man's neck, who is dead by the time he reaches the ground.
"You okay?" you hear Mr. Garcia. With that you realize that the fight is over. And you won!
You look over your body, two swollen points from the impacts on your thigh and stomach. But there is nothing your body couldn't fix. So you decide to nod as an answer.
One of the men, the one you presumably knocked out, starts to crawl on the ground. Mr. Garcia jumps up to him like a lion, he rips his gun from his hand, then he puts the plasma against his temple.
"How many on your ship?" he demands. The final word gets you as a surprise. You are not sure if they have their own vessel. But Mr. Garcia is, and he was the one who asked the question.
"One. The pilot. James," the man mutters with tears in his eyes. "The ship is at the end of the canyon, the next point of the star on the right. Ramp code: 0-0-0-0. Launch code: A-T-X-4-9-9-9," he adds in quick succession, in the hope that he could prove to be useful enough to be kept among the living. He is not.
"What's your name?" he asks.
"Mike," he answers. "Mike Straus."
"Thanks, Mike," he says, and he shoots Mike in the head.
You shudder to you lay witness to Mr. Garcia's brutality. You recognize that with you, he was actually gentle. But this is something that also turns you on to an extent. Why am I like this? You follow him with your eyes as he dresses down and puts on Mike's clothes. They fit him perfectly. He also puts on a helmet from another soldier and he covers half of his face with a rug that got bloodied in the shootout.
This could work, you think to yourself. You also realize that once it works, you can actually get your chance to turn the tables. This makes you pretty eager when he says "We are going," and he starts to escort you forward.
You don't think he intends to speak a word to this James, the pilot Mike mentioned earlier. Why would he? And your suspicion becomes true, once you find the ship in the canyon, and he walks up the docking ramp, the hatch opened by the code that Mike gave you.
"What happened, Mike?" the guy you identify as James asks as he comes down, wearing a shirt and boxers. And for the record: you almost feel sorry for him.
"It's just business," Mr. Garcia says, then James freezes, looking at Mr. Garcia with wide eyes as he lifts up the plasma gun and shoots a hole through his head.
He could have at least waited if the codes are good, you think to yourself. But again: you are not running the show here. As you recognize the heat from the plasma gun's barrel against your back, you also find yourself surprised for once.
"Come on, we both know you are planning to take advantage of the situation," Mr. Garcia says. "Now let's see what they have for you in the cargo hold!"
The plasma gun pointed to your back, it is actually you in the lead, as you find and search for the said cabin. But once you arrive you realize it is game over.
The first thing you see is a slave cage, rectangular, barely able to keep a person. On top of it there is a ruanite straitjacket, in the color of gold, laid out on the surface of the cage with a ballgag and a pair of slave ballet boots. At first glance, the material looks just like latex. But it is made with nanobots, designed to be inescapable for the wearer. Even for an adenian.
You also realize that the setup is deliberate. The crew was expecting to bring an adenian to their vessel, a female adenian. These items are perfect to keep her subdued, but due to the color it is also sexy, meaning that the crew was planning to spend some quality time with her. And that is when it finally clicks: you are in the Zeta Sector. Where your kind is sold at slave auctions like royalties, purchased by the richest of the richest to toy with you as they please.
