As soon as the light swept over the truck, the engine died. Her teeth started to chatter, and she froze with her hands on the steering wheel. A flying vehicle landed on the road in front of her and she watched in terror as a door opened and an alien stepped out, his horns and massive frame illuminated by the light from the sky. He took one step toward her and the motion released her muscles. She scrambled for the door, determined to make a run for it, but as soon as she moved, the alien pointed a tube in her direction and the world went black.
Rachel woke with an aching head and a churning stomach in a small white cell. An alien warrior stood over her, face expressionless.
“How old are you?”
For a fleeting moment she thought of declaring herself a minor but without knowing the consequences, she decided to stick to the truth. “I’m nineteen.”
“Are you mated?”
“Mate? You mean a boyfriend?” Despite her aching head, she had to bite back a bitter laugh. “No time for that.”
“Why did you break the curfew?”
“My brother is sick. He needs medicine.” Her eyes filled with tears. “Please. I have to get it to him.”
The alien’s expression didn’t change, but he raised his wrist device to his mouth and had a brief conversation in the growling Yehrin language.
“The medicine will be delivered.”
Relief swept through her. “Thank you so much. Does that mean I can go now?”
“No. You broke the curfew and will be punished. Because you were not attempting a criminal act, you will simply be confined.”
“Confined? For how long?”
“At least until the end of the Forbidden Cycle.” For the first time, a hint of emotion crossed his face as his eyes swept over her body. Unfortunately, the emotion looked a lot like lust, and she drew back against the wall. “You may do well as a result. Especially if you can be… accommodating.”
“Accommodating?” Oh, hell no. She opened her mouth to tell him so, in no uncertain terms, when he drew a tube from his belt and the world went dark again. When she awoke the second time, she was in her current quarters on the spaceship. Some of the women had been there for several months, others only a little longer than her. They had all broken curfew, but their excuses had been considered adequate to avoid additional punishment. As if confinement on a spaceship wasn’t punishment enough.
Rachel quickly realized that all the women were young and single and none of them had children. With the memory of the first alien’s words fresh in her mind, she set out to make herself as unattractive and unaccommodating as possible. Despite her fears, so far none of the guards had approached the women, although there was a sense of expectancy about them. Even on duty, they assessed the prisoners in a way that made her distinctly uneasy, and she was quite sure that they had conversations about them. At least the only conversations they were likely to have about her would be about the fact that she was unpleasant and aromatic.
None of that changed the fact that she had been here for three weeks and she had no plan of escape. Which meant that her brother was dependent on her mother to take care of him. Benji. A tear rolled down her face at the thought of her baby brother, but she dashed it away impatiently. Her misery was interrupted by the sound of a female yelling.
“Just leave me the fuck alone, all of you.”
Rachel peeked out her bunk to see a strange woman storming into the bunk room, fists clenched. No one came after her and Rachel suspected that Sarah was keeping them away. Based on her own experience, everyone immediately gathered around any newcomer, desperate for any news of home. She took another look at the woman and realized that despite the mature figure and heavy Goth makeup, the stranger was very young. Her anger was rapidly dissolving into fear and her lower lip started to tremble.
“They can be kind of overwhelming, can’t they?” Rachel said casually. “That bunk is open if you want to claim it.”
“Who are you?” the girl asked belligerently. “God, you’re filthy.”
“Yep. I like it like that.”
The girl sniffed and turned away, throwing herself on the bunk Rachel had indicated. The silence stretched between them until the girl finally burst out, “It’s not fair.”
Yes, very young, Rachel thought, feeling old. But then, she’d never had much of a childhood.
“What’s not fair, honey?”
“This whole curfew bullshit.”
“Why were you out?”
“I have a boyfriend.” She colored beneath the heavy makeup and looked away. “Well, I think he wants to be my boyfriend. And he was having this party, so I took my dad’s keys and snuck out. I didn’t even get a mile from the fucking house.”
“I’m Rachel. What’s your name?”
The girl hesitated but finally conceded. “Lizabet.”
“That’s very pretty. How old are you Lizabet?”
“I’m eighteen,” she said defiantly.
“Really?” Rachel raised an eyebrow.
Lizabet looked away again. “Yeah. You wanna see my fucking ID?”
Rachel let it drop but she was determined to make one of the aliens take another look. She would be surprised if the girl was a day over sixteen.
“There are some clothes in the compartment at the back of the bunk if you want to change. Bathroom is down there.”
Lizabet curled her lip. “You mean those white pjs? No fucking way.”
“They’re probably more comfortable than what you have on.” Lizabet’s outfit consisted of ripped tights, combat boots, a very short pleated skirt, and a ripped tee shirt tied up under her breasts.
“You’re not wearing them,” the girl pointed out triumphantly.
“No, but I’m already in my pjs,” Rachel said with a somewhat rueful glance at her increasingly disgusting outfit.
“They came in your house?” The other girl’s eyes went wide.
“No. I had to go get medicine for my brother and it didn’t seem worth changing.” She didn’t mention that the first thing she did after twelve hours at the diner was to remove the horrendous uniform, shower, and put on something comfortable. Knowing that sometimes the fastest way to get her brother to do something was just to ignore him, she decided to apply the same strategy to Lizabet and simply laid back down.
After the fourth time the young girl sighed and glanced down the hallway, Rachel sat back up.
“Why don’t I just show you how everything works?”
“I guess.” The grudging tone didn’t match the eagerness with which Lizabet jumped up. She recoiled as Rachel came closer.
“Man, you stink.”
“I know.”
“How come?”
Rachel debated her answer. As far as she could tell, she was currently the youngest in the group so she was fairly certain that the aliens would remove the young girl once they found out her true age. If not for that, she would have urged Lizabet to ignore the shower as well. But under the circumstances, why give her something else to worry about? Despite her defiant demeanor, she could tell the girl was terrified.
“I’m not being accommodating,” she said finally.
“What the fuck?”
“Never mind.” Keeping back a few feet, she showed Lizabet how the shower and drying chamber worked and where to drop her clothes to be cleaned.
“Will I get them back?”
“Everyone else has. You might have seen what Bambi is wearing. Not exactly regulation.”
“You mean the old slut?”
Rachel suppressed a laugh. She didn’t think Bambi was much older than twenty-five, but she could picture her reaction to Lizabet’s words. “That’s the one.”
“No one is going to come in, are they?” The young girl cast a nervous glance around the open space.
“Nope. I’ll stay outside and make sure.”
“Thanks.” Attitude forgotten for the moment, Lizabet gave her a sweet, shy smile.
Shaking her head, Rachel left the bathroom and found Sarah
waiting for her.
“How is she?”
“Scared and trying to act brave. She says she’s eighteen, but I don’t believe it for a moment.”
Sarah frowned. “I was afraid of that. Why do you think they brought her here?”
“Her ID says she’s eighteen.” Rachel rolled her eyes.
“Fake ID?”
“That’s my guess. I doubt the Yehrin have a lot of experience in checking IDs.”
“You’re going to have to tell that new commander.”
“Me? Why me?” Rachel’s stomach clenched and she wasn’t entirely certain it was with fear.
“Because I doubt anyone other than you or me actually cares—and he likes you.” The other woman’s eyes twinkled.
“He does not.” Does he?
“Well, if nothing else, he’ll probably listen to you just so you’ll go away.” Sarah waved a hand in front of her nose.
“Fine,” she huffed. “I’ll see if I can talk to him when he comes back.”
Chapter Three
T’chok stood outside Breeder Pod Eleven, fighting for control. Ever since he had left the pod yesterday, his instincts had been urging him back. Urging him to see the little human with the enormous dark eyes. He hadn’t even had a good look at her but as soon as their eyes met, he’d felt the connection between them and knew he was going to claim her. Unfortunately, there were six more months before the Forbidden Cycle came to a close. An honorable warrior could not violate that timeframe. His commander’s mate, M’lee, had put him in this position by asking him to assume command of the females being held on the ship. He couldn’t blame her since the previous commander had been a truly evil male who saw the human females only as potential breeders, but it was going to be a very difficult six months.
As soon as the door opened, he scanned the room searching for her, but she was not in the main room. He remembered that she had been standing just inside one of the sleeping spaces the previous day, but she wasn’t hiding in that opening, either.
“Ask the females to gather for inspection,” he ordered the guard who was waiting inside the room. The male nodded and moved away.
“Hi, I’m Bambi.” The female who had been teasing the guard yesterday approached. “I just can’t tell you how much I appreciate you saving me from that awful monster yesterday.”
She gave a shiver that caused her oversized breasts to bounce. He had read enough human mating literature to know that she was trying to entice him, but he had no interest and little patience for her.
“You should not have approached him.”
Her mouth dropped open, a most unpleasant expression. “I didn’t do anything wrong. You ask Commander T’ngorzul. I’m always very cooperative.”
“Commander T’ngorzul is dead.”
Before she could respond, he turned away. A rapid count of the room showed only forty females. The pod was almost full. With his female and the one brought in yesterday, there should have been forty-two. He frowned at the guard.
“Where are the other two?”
“Sleeping Room Four. The smelly one won’t come out, and the new one is following her lead. More trouble than she is worth, that one.”
“All females are to be spoken of with respect,” he growled. His anger at how disparagingly the male spoke about his female must have been obvious because the warrior paled and stepped back.
“I’ll get them,” one of the females volunteered. She had a pleasant face and something about him reminded her of M’lee. He nodded. She disappeared and returned moments later with his female and another young female trailing behind her. Now that he had the opportunity to study his female, he was appalled. Her long dark hair hung limply around her extremely dirty face. Equally grubby, her baggy clothes hung off her thin frame.
“Why is she in that condition?” he demanded.
The guard started to shrug, then reconsidered at the look on T’chok’s face. “She refuses to bathe and does not join the others for meals. Commander T’ngorzul said if that was what she wanted, to leave her to it.”
“Have you performed the inspections before?”
“No. Commander T’ngorzul and Sub Commander T’judin did them themselves once a week.”
“What did they do during the inspections?”
“They made the females stand in front of them so they could check their physical condition.” The warrior looked increasingly uncomfortable.
T’chok closed his eyes. “Did it occur to anyone to verify the inspection procedure?”
“No, sir.” Despite his obvious discomfort, the guard didn’t hesitate to answer.
“Officer T’berdai, the correct procedure is simply to speak to each female to verify their health and well-being. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Begin the inspections. I will deal with the… rebellious one.”
“Yes, sir.”
T’chok watched as the guard approached the first female. As soon as he was assured that the inspection would be performed properly, he strode over to his female. His eyes watered as he got close to her.
“Come.” He gestured toward her bunk room, but she refused to move.
“R’chel, I said come. I wish to talk to you in private.”
“You know my name?”
“Of course.” A flash of disappointment crossed her face as he continued. “I know the names of all the females.”
“Why do you want to talk to me in private?”
The pleasant one poked R’chel. “Remember what we discussed?”
His female sighed and gave him a suspicious glare. “Are you going to hurt me?”
“Never,” he said, appalled that she would even suspect as much.
“Fine.” She turned and stomped through the doorway. He followed her and closed the door behind them.
“I didn’t think we could close the door during the day.” Her chin was up but her eyes were wide and frightened as she glanced at the closed door.
“You can not. I can. Now, we need—”
“You’ve made a mistake.”
“What?” he frowned. Surely she wasn't going to start protesting her innocence.
“The new girl, Lizabet, I’m sure she’s not eighteen.”
“We verified her age.”
“She has a fake ID. That means she had someone make her a document that makes it seem like she is older than she really is. I don’t know what you have in mind for us, but I know that everyone else here is of legal age.”
“She is a child?” he asked, appalled. Could they have selected a child as a potential breeder?
“Yes, I’m sure she is. Don’t you have some way of checking?”
“Yes, we do. Bring her in here, R’chel.”
While she went to get the other female, he spoke into his wrist com, ordering an immediate investigation. When the two returned, his hearts sank. He had seen the female on arrival but had not looked past the heavy makeup and provocative outfit. Now that her face was scrubbed clean and she was attired in the traditional mutashi, he could see for himself how young she looked.
“How old are you, L’zabet?”
“I’m eighteen.” She glared at him, but he could see the uncertainty in her eyes.
“Lizabet, it’s important. Please tell him how old you really are,” R’chel urged.
The young girl looked defiant for a minute but then her lip trembled. “I’m fifteen.”
Ancestors, how could they have made such a mistake? He would have to ensure that the officers performing the curfew checks were aware of this fake ID concept.
“We are going to transfer you to another location,” he said gently.
“No. No, I don’t want to leave Rachel.” She reached out and grabbed his female’s hand.
“It would not be appropriate for you to stay here.”
“Why not?” R’chel asked.
“Yeah, why not?” L’zabet echoed.
This was not the moment he would have chosen for the disclosure,
but it would have to be revealed eventually. “At the end of the Forbidden Cycle, the females in the breeder pods are offered the opportunity to mate with a warrior.”
“I don’t want to mate with anyone,” L’zabet cried.
“Offered?” R’chel asked skeptically at the same time. “I knew you aliens were up to something. Mate with a warrior? What the hell does that mean?”
He ignored her questions for the moment and concentrated on the girl. “You see why you can not stay?”
Tears trembled on her lashes. “Where are you going to take me?”
He rubbed his chin, considering. Very few underage humans broke the curfew and if they did, they were most often with their parents. They had locations set up for families but there would be no one to watch out for her there. “I will investigate the alternatives if you wish to stay with R’chel for a short time longer.”
“Yeah, I want to stay with her.”
“Very well.” He hesitated. “It would be best if you did not discuss the information I have shared with you.”
“I’m no fucking snitch.”
“Good. Now return to the main room.”
Lizabet gave him a suspicious look. “What are you going to do? Are you going to hurt her?”
“A true warrior would never cause harm to a female.”
“Yeah, right,” she sniffed, but after getting a nod from R’chel, she departed.
Alone at last with his female, he studied her. Under the dirt, her skin stretched too tightly across delicate bones. Her eyes were fierce and determined but sunken into her head in a way that indicated too little food and too little rest. Most of her body was concealed by the oversized clothes but her arms still retained some indication of muscle tone beneath the dirt.
“What now?” She crossed her arms and glared at him.
“You will cleanse yourself and you will eat with the rest of the females.”
“Oh, no I won’t.”
“Why not?” He frowned, uncertain why his female would not take proper care of herself.
“The asshole who arrested me already told me that I needed to be ‘accommodating.’ Now I know why. Well, I don’t want to be part of any alien breeding program.”
Alien Prisoner Page 2
