by Ivy McAdams
My guard dropped me off in my strange white box that can’t be more than ten by ten feet and removed my restraints. I don’t know where they took Zeus. Now that I’m alone, my stomach is churning and I’m not sure I can handle this like I thought I could.
Being completely alone, millions of miles away from my home, feels so vast that I want to curl into a ball and cry.
Just as my resolve is breaking and the ache in my chest is starting to feel like a heart attack, the door in front of me slides open. I jump back, stumbling over my stool and hitting the floor.
The alien that looks up at me barely blinks. She’s a smaller version of the guards in the landing wing. A small snout with a few exposed sharp teeth. Scaly skin with a tinge of blue. A tail that looks so much like a giant lizard’s that I do a double take. Her suit is white and fits tight to her strange reptilian curves.
The door closes again behind her and she works silently around me, opening cabinets I couldn’t see in the walls before and gathering things. In one hand, there’s a stack of turquoise cloth that looks like some sort of clothing. In another, she holds bottles and a sponge.
When she’s finished, she approaches me but doesn’t meet my eyes. She just starts stripping off my clothes. A button on my shirt pops free and I snatch the loose ends of the blouse back.
“Hey!”
The lizard lady glares up at me and pulls the garment back out of my hand. She speaks in a strange tongue, and her eyes are so round and unblinking that I lean away. She goes back to pulling my buttons free.
Her small clawed hands look like a rodent’s covered in scales. I want to push her away but the sharp look she gave me with those orbed eyes has left me feeling quite unsettled. My skin crawls where her hands touch.
Once my shirt is gone, she pokes me in the legs until I stand. I’m over a foot taller than her, but she doesn’t seem fazed in the least by my size. She continues her work, which is apparently to strip me naked. I’m appalled by the thought, but when she digs into the waistband of my skirt, I push her away and do it myself.
“I hope you’re not attempting to do anything fresh,” I grumble as I kick my skirt aside. “I’m not into lizards.”
The female stares at me, her head twitching left and right like a bird. Then she points at my bra.
I grimace. “Are you serious?”
Her bony blue finger hangs in the air until I roll my eyes and turn away from her. Isn’t it bad enough that I’m here, going on trial for some bogus claim that can’t be true? I’ve never stolen anything, except for that one time in grade school when I swiped a glittery pencil sharpener. But I got caught and had to return it. I may have stolen one of Ms. Rodriguez’s tampons in seventh grade, but I didn’t know what the hell to do. I never confessed to that one…
I doubt Ms. Rodriguez has called the Metagalactic Council on me though.
Maybe they’ll realize their mistake quickly so I can get out of here.
Even if I do have to strip down in front of Ms. Chameleon.
My bra hits the floor and I wrap an arm over my breasts as I turn back to look down at her. She holds up the turquoise clothes and points at my panties.
Of course.
I sneer as I snatch the clothes and turn away again. A few jerks and subtle slides later, I’m dressed in a thin, silk-like outfit, totally commando. A shiver wiggles up my back and I hug my arms around myself. Hopefully, the courtroom is warm because I’m already getting frosty.
My handler kicks my clothes to the side and lifts a clear tube of liquid toward me. It looks like a spray bottle with a fancy black metal top. Just as I’m convincing myself that it is surely something more sophisticated than that, she sprays my hands with the liquid.
I shriek and leap away. The strong cleaner smell that filled the room when I entered surrounds me. At the same time, that shit starts to burn my skin.
“What is this?” I yelp at the woman, but she only comes at me again.
I throw my arms up to shield myself, but she’s faster than me. She gives my hair and neck a spritz as well. The odor burns my nostrils just as much as the spray sizzles along my flesh. My skin is turning pink.
“Jesus, what’s your problem?” I bark before I can stop myself.
Thankfully, the female appears to be done with me because she gathers my clothes and marches toward the door. It opens and closes, but she never looks back.
Good riddance. Bitch.
I wave my hands and fan at my neck, trying to cool down every bit of me that the liquid touched. I have no idea what’s going on with my poor hair. Everything smells horrid. Tears burn my eyes but I hold them back, mostly out of fear of what might happen if I accidentally rubbed them.
Less than a minute passes before the door opens again. The guard who escorted me before is standing just outside. He steps in and holds out my empty restraints.
This is what my life has come to. Willingly obeying strangers’ every request and walking into captivity like a beaten dog. I swallow hard and lift my head, as if they haven’t just seared my skin off and are now leading me off to my dark fate.
But where am I going to go otherwise?
I take a deep breath and step forward, offering my wrists without complaint, and the serpenty guard snaps the ribbons on. Then he leads me down a long hallway to a large sliding door under a decorated archway. There’s writing above it that I can’t read, but the setup looks official.
It’s difficult to keep my eyes open and not let the faint feeling overcome me as I wait for the door to open. This must be the courtroom that’s been waiting on me.
I’ve never seen so many disgusting monsters in my life.
The courtroom is designed similarly to the ones we have on Earth, with the council’s desk-like bench at the front of the room, a spot for the accused in the center facing them, and a crowd of spectators in the back. Only those watching don’t just huddle in the rear of the room. There are balconies and seating all along the tall walls above and around us. Multiple layers of seating caves a hundred feet in the air.
I get dizzy instantly as I look around. The crowd jeer and shout, all sorts of sounds and languages. It’s so loud that I want to slap my hands over my ears, but I can’t separate my wrists. The smell around me is strange and not pleasant.
As my guard leads me down the walkway, I shy away from the crowd on either side of the path. There are more lizard people, big squid-looking things with tentacles and fangs, beings that look hardly more than blobs of paint with beady eyes, huge hairy humanoids with big ears and curious gazes. Things with horns, things with tails. Four arms or six legs. I spot a few that look like Dax and my heart lurches. None with the familiar green eyes and gold-lined horns though.
Something with a long prehensile tail grabs my wrist and I shriek. My escort slaps it away with an angry gurgle of words. A wave of squawks and haws that I assume is laughter follows.
By the time I get to the large black disc in front of the stand, I’m numb to the creepy and freaky. The council members look almost normal now, even though they must be close to nine feet tall with a lanky body and limbs. Their arms and neck are long and slim. Their faces soft and streamlined. There’s five of them and their huge black eyes move in unison to follow me.
The center council member stands, looking like a pale-skinned stick bug, and speaks over the room.
His voice is soft but commands attention. I can’t make out what the squeaky clicks are supposed to mean, but everyone around me quiets. The mob-like roar across the room settles to nothing, and the councilman nods. Then he looks to another lizard guard on the floor who makes some wild gestures and speaks out. People move left and right. I’m so confused.
Until the doors behind me open and Zeus is led in.
My heart leaps. He’s not exactly the hero I need right now, but he’s a familiar face and my friend. I want to call his name, but I’m too afraid to speak.
When he spots me, his tail wags and I melt a little on the inside.
At least I’m not alone.
The councilman speaks again and I look up. I realize there’s a small stand just below them when someone steps up on it. It’s one of the creepy blobs of color like I saw in the crowd. This one’s crimson and rolls up onto the stand, ugly little eyes piercing into me.
I don’t know what it is but I shudder just looking at it.
Zeus growls and barks, his hackles raised and quivering.
The blob shakes and a strange croaking shout wobbles out of it.
Everything falls silent, and I’ve never felt so confused and horrified in my life.
The head councilman consults one of his companions. His murmuring is quiet, but since it’s the only words I’ve understood since I arrived, I catch them.
“Earth human. English?”
His neighbor, who is slimmer and looks a bit more feminine, confirms and the two nod at one another before the head councilman stands to address the room again.
“Case against Earth human. Theft to Mar’kanzo Fr’a. In order.”
His English is choppy but I’m beyond thankful to have it. Only, what the hell is he talking about?
The female councillor stands and speaks in a high-pitched guttural rendition of the leader. “Human Esme Phillips charged with theft of Mar’kanzo Fr’a’s property.” Her empty black eyes land on me. “How say you?”
My throat feels parched but I force my mouth open anyway. “I say that’s bullshit.”
A murmur runs around the crowd. I’m not sure if it’s because they actually understand me or just that I’ve spoken at all.
“You deny the claim?” the councilwoman asks.
“Of course I do. I’ve not stolen anything from anyone.”
“Report claims human Esme Phillips stole one odima from Mar’kanzo Fr’a.”
“Who the hell is that?”
The councilwoman’s big eyes narrow slightly and cut over to the blobby alien on the stand.
She must be joking.
“That thing?” I gasp. “I can assure you that I’ve never seen that thing in my life.”
The blob makes its strange croaking sound again.
Zeus growls. Something about the sound is unnerving. I feel like I’m missing something huge here.
“Mar’kanzo Fr’a does claim often meeting Esme. Most disappointed by her actions.”
My brain spins until it feels like it’s burning hot. What the actual fuck is going on?
I gape at the blob thing as it croaks and chirps again. Then it begins to wiggle. Shaking and contracting. It gets taller and rotates in on itself. My mouth hangs open as I stare, horrified by what’s happening. It forms an ugly red mold of what looks like a human figure. In the blink of an eye, skin and hair cover the body, and suddenly I’m staring at a human man. Thankfully, there’s a podium on that platform because it’s an old, naked human man.
He coughs and leans over the podium to glare at me. “Don’t you deny anything, Miss Phillips. You knew that odima was mine.”
My body is trembling so badly now that I feel as if I might go straight into convulsions.
“M-mister Smith?”
Did that blob thing just turn into the guy who lives next door to my stinky target house back on Earth?
Chapter 16
“Of course it’s me,” Mr. Smith scoffs. “You’ve seen me a dozen times while you tore up the house next door. You’re just lucky my children are heavy sleepers or my wife would have come over and eaten your head.”
My vision blurs and the room spins. His words barely make it through my brain before bouncing back out again. I grasp for any small piece of logic I can snap up.
Children? Mr. and Mrs. Smith are old. They never leave their house. Mr. Smith has shaken a fist at me from his porch on more than one occasion for letting the landscaping people get too close to their lawn. Food trucks deliver food there. They’re practically hermits.
The handful of times I’ve caught Mr. Smith checking his mail, I’ve flagged him down to say hello. Any tidbits on my target house I could get would be helpful, but Mr. Smith never gave any useful information. I absolutely never heard about any children. Or feared Mrs. Smith wanted to eat me.
I frown, my mouth moving in a desperate attempt to ask questions—so many questions—but my voice is gone. Mr. Smith seems happy to fill in the gaps.
“That’s right. Three hundred and thirty-two children down there below all that racket and it’s a wonder they didn’t go on a rampage.”
Prickles of sweat break out over my temples, despite how cold it is in the room.
“Y-you have children down—?”
“In the den below the house, yes. And you nearly collapsed that damn place on top of them tearing it all apart.”
Den? I stare at him with a dry mouth. There were over three hundred blobby babies underneath that house? No wonder the damn thing smelled so bad.
“Determined relationship between accuser and arrested,” the councilwoman says. “Crime you declare?”
Mr. Smith’s brow furrows further. “The theft of my odima.”
I open my mouth to retort, but the councilwoman looks past me and eyes Zeus. “This is odima you lost?”
“That’s him,” Mr. Smith growls. “Number six fourteen. She stole him right off my territory.”
Zeus snarls, lunging against his restraint. His escort hauls back on the leash-like strap clipped to him.
I round on Mr. Smith in disbelief. “He’s your—? You hauled me out to a fucking space trial over a dog?”
The human blob holds tight to the metal podium in front of him until it cracks under his grip. “Stupid woman. He’s no more a dog than I am a human being.”
My eyes widen as my breath stops. My heartbeat hammers in my ear. I peer over at Zeus, half expecting him to morph into some horrifying alien. He stares back at me with the same deep brown eyes I’ve always seen on him. But he does whine and drop an ear in a pitiful display.
One that makes my stomach sour.
Is he apologizing to me?
My teeth chatter as I turn back to Mr. Smith.
“That’s right. He’s an odima and he belonged to me. Best damn digger I had on my team. Don’t find an odima that takes care of your den and your offspring quite like his family. Good blood. And you stole him.”
Images of Zeus’s matted fur and bony body rush back to me. The poor thing was in horrible condition. Exhausted, starved, beaten. I thought I was rescuing an abused dog. I guess I was rescuing an abused slave.
I choke on the very thought.
Is Zeus an alien?
I barely have a moment to contemplate—and nearly pass out over—the notion before the councilwoman raps her knuckles on the desk in front of her.
“Arrested is accused of stealing odima of Mar’kanzo Fr’a. How say you now?”
“I didn’t steal him,” I cough. “I just picked up what I thought was a stray dog. I rescued him. He was going to die.”
“Condition of odima irrelevant.”
“If I’d known he was some alien’s slave, I wouldn’t have taken him.” Though that’s probably not the truth. I couldn’t just leave Zeus out there like that. And strangely, even though I’ve just found out my dog is an alien, I still feel a fierce connection with him.
“Ignorance irrelevant.”
I gape at her as the crowd’s murmur increases. Things aren’t sounding good.
My gaze crosses over to Zeus, but he only sits there with his ears down, head lowered. I look beyond him, searching the crowd, but the ugly faces don’t bring much comfort. The one I really want to see is nowhere to be found.
What I wouldn’t give for Dax’s warm body on me now. Holding and comforting me. Even just those beautiful green eyes to ground me. I need something to keep me from breaking down.
When I don’t see him, I look back to the councilwoman. She and the head councilman are whispering. After a moment, she turns back to Mr. Smith.
“How Mar’kanzo Fr’a wishes for punishment?”
/> The ugly blobby man glares at me. “Death.”
All the air crushes from my lungs and I grab at my neck with unsteady fingers. Death for a mistake? One that can’t even be written off as rational. How was I supposed to know Mr. Smith or Zeus were anything different? I didn’t know aliens were even a thing.
I jerk around, spinning in my spot and searching the faces again. I don’t even realize I’m moving until my gaze touches the back corner near the exit. Until the glowing green eyes find me. I slam to a stop, clutching at my stomach as now I feel like I might puke in relief. Just seeing Dax’s silhouette among the crowd and his eyes in the dark beneath a balcony has me crumbling.
He holds my gaze as the councilwoman speaks again. “Human female not go to death. Kavasiron takes her.”
Mr. Smith scoffs. “Prison? But she deserves death.”
My eyes widen, and Dax gives a subtle nod. There’s so much power in his gaze that it fills me with the stone-cold strength I need to survive.
“Council rules,” the councilwoman says. “All intermediately charged females to Kavasiron.”
Mr. Smith rolls his eyes and slams a fist into his podium. The councilwoman ignores his outburst.
“How Mar’kanzo Fr’a wishes for odima punishment?”
The dirty chameleon’s eyes narrow and he glares at Zeus. “Death.”
Her nod is elegant on her long neck. “Odima property of Mar’kanzo Fr’a. Desire granted.”
I choke on a sob and step toward Zeus, but a lizard guard stands in my path. My eyes go back to Dax in desperation. With more nearly invisible movements, he shakes his head. This isn’t something I can win right now. With an aching heart, I blow out a long breath of anger and keep my mouth closed.
“Kavasiron takes odima. Feeds the guards.”
Zeus barks wildly and I want to cry, but I hold my composure in tight and put on a brave face.
The female on the bench takes her seat and the councilman leader clasps his long, bony fingers together in front of him.
