by Abigail Myst
"You realize, it's only like noon." Why the bar was full at noon was also a mystery, but then, this was a university town.
"Drink! Drink! Drink!" The entire bar joined in the chant. Odette rolled her eyes and picked up the shot. She pounded it hard and then shook out the shock. Before she even finished, another shot was waiting, this one orange.
"You gotta do the rainbow, honey," the bartender said as he worked on the third, a yellow concoction. "It's your special day!"
All serious thought could wait until tomorrow. Right now, she had a rainbow to work through.
By the time she got to the purple shot, Odette was three sheets to the wind. After someone cranked up the music, the whole group moved toward the dance floor and the guys became pretty handsy. Megan was bumping and grinding with the best of them, thoroughly enjoying the whole affair. Odette, rather self conscious at the best of times, was too busy removing hands to have a good time.
Cleveland would have guarded her. He would have been gallant and noble while she played the sloppy drunk. He was always respectful, always telling her that she was beautiful, always keeping her safe and never taking advantage. The bastard. All an act.
The world spun around her and the heat finally became too much. She weaved her way through the hands and bodies, toward the door. She needed a breath of fresh air. The sun hit her like a wall. She stood there on the sidewalk, blinking for a good, long moment.
Brakes squealed to a halt. Odette opened her eyes just in time to see a man with a machine gun coming right for her.
“What—” He grabbed her arm, and through the alcoholic haze, she tried to pull it back as he put a screen up to her palm. It beeped and blinked green. A moment later, she was in the back of the van, staring at a guy that look familiar. He was one of the Center guards, the one Megan had given the twenty bucks to.
“Where are we going?” She should be more alarmed, but the rainbow had her seeing double. She actually had to focus to keep the guy in focus.
“There’s been a bit of a mix up,” the guard said.
“Pardon?”
“We’ll have everything sorted out in a jiffy.”
Her phone rang. It was her mother. Ha.
“Well, hello there,” Odette slurred.
“Thank God you’re still here. When I got the call, I got worried.”
“What? From your flunky? Don’t worry, I put him to good use.”
“Are you drunk?”
“It’s my birthday! Of course I’m drunk. What else would I be? I’ve been drinking a whole rainbow.”
Odette managed to get the guard in focus again. He was looking nervous, with just a little bit of shifty.
“Where are you? I’ll send someone to pick you up,” her mother said.
“I’m in the back of a van. Shoved in at gunpoint.” The guard reached for the phone. Odette pulled it away out of his reach. Unfortunately, the guard behind her grabbed it out of her hand.
“I am talking to my mother.”
“Ma’am,” the brave guy with the machine gun said into phone.
She could hear her mother screeching from the receiver from three feet away.
“No, Ma’am. It’s out of my hands. I’m just doing what I’ve been told, and that is to retrieve Odette Seaborne and return her to The Center.” More screeching. “I don’t know anything more than that.”
“You got anything to eat around here? I think I need to put something in my stomach.”
“We’re almost there.”
The guard hung up on her mother and pocketed her phone.
“Ooh, she’s not going to like that,” she said. “Good for you. Stick it to the woman. I’m not making much sense, am I?” Odette hiccuped and then suddenly she was being carried into The Center.
“I can walk.”
“Thought this would be faster,” he said. He put her down in a stark white room she had never seen before. She wobbled a bit as the world righted itself. The guard grabbed her by the arm.
“I’m good. Really,” Odette protested.
“Is she drunk?” Odette turned to face the voice. Too fast.
“Yes. Something about a rainbow,” the guard said.
“Oh, she went to the Leprechaun.”
“She wants to know what’s going on,” Odette said. She stared at the clerk who was making eyes at the guard.
“You’ve been matched,” the clerk replied. “This will hurt a bit, as loaded as you are.” She pressed a medgun against Odette’s arm and pulled the trigger.
“Ow.” It stung for a moment and then the pain was gone.
“That’s your translator. So you’ll be able to talk to your new husband.”
“But you said I wasn’t matched.”
“A late request came in. A Red Flag.”
“What’s that mean?”
“It means that you’re a very lucky woman. Go ahead and step up on that platform.”
“No, what’s a Red Flag?” Odette planted her feet. “I know very well that once you send me home, you can’t just bring me back.”
“Technically, that’s not true. You’re matched for a 24 hour period. We just generally don’t get such a good match after hours. 99.9%. Seriously rare, and a Red Flag at that.
“Again, what?”
“High priority. So high we have the right to approach her on non-lottery scheduled days. For very nice compensation, I might add. But you are still within your twenty-four hour window, so I can get congratulated for filling a Red Flag and keeping the bottom line down.” She smiled.
“That’s cheating! All the DNA match tests are supposed to be erased from the database after the test.”
“Oh, technically they are. We don’t use the Match Database, but there are no rules against using other DNA on file, which I believe you were required to submit when you got your job at the University along with your fingerprints and retinal scan?”
“Still cheating,” Odette grumbled. Still, she was actually getting what she had wanted, right? Just step on the platform and whoosh.
“Okay, I’m ready. Beam me up to my Spaceman!”
The guard dropped her suitcase next to her and the clerk slammed a button. The next moment, the whole world was a tingly, swirly mess and then she was puking on the floor. The rainbow wasn’t near as pretty coming up as it was going down.
Chapter Five
Kave
“Uh, Sir. There’s a female here.” Goru’s voice came over the com. Kave quickly muted it and put it into his earpiece. He stepped out of HQ and away from any possible chance that Athen could overhear the rest of the conversation. The transport station was a few hundred miles to the east. That prevented anyone from hijacking the stream and beaming an army into the center of camp. They’d all be dead before they knew it. This way, they’d have warning before the enemy could traverse the distance without a vehicle. Goru and Leif were still on patrol and had probably received a message to come pick up an official cargo port.
“Didn’t think it would be quite this soon,” Kave said then glanced around, checking for possible listening ears.
“Sir, I don’t mean to be…”
“Athen is going to kill you,” Leif announced, less tolerant of politics. “If he doesn’t, order me one too. I have a serious ache in my loins.”
“He’ll be too distracted to kill me. I hope. The female’s not for me. It’s for him.”
“Oh.”
“That’s sneaky,” Leif said.
“Super sneaky,” Goru agreed. At least the two of them were getting along.
“Bring her back, but keep her out of sight.”
“Yes, sir.”
He hoped she was pretty. Genetic matches didn’t guarantee that the female would be easy on the eyes. The warlord could always fuck her with his eyes closed.
An ache in his loins indeed. Half the warriors in camp had complained to him about the same thing. Despite the traditional ways of dealing with the issue by oneself, there was nothing like actually sinking your coc
k deep into a female’s hot wet center as you came.
Hell, he was going to deal with his own needs in a minute. What a guy will do to get laid.
Odette
“She’s not dead, is she?”
“She’s breathing. Can’t you tell?”
“I don’t know, I’ve never actually seen a Terran before. What’s wrong with her?”
“Smell her.”
“I ain’t going there. No way.”
Puking up the rainbow was probably for the best, but Odette didn’t blame the voice for not wanting to get any near to her. She’d basically just thrown up and then wandered off the platform to a nice shady spot to sleep off her drunk.
She opened her eyes to look at the two aliens staring at her intensely.
“You’re green,” Odette said. And practically naked, she realized. The only clothing they wore was a strange pair of black shorts topped with a tool and gun belt and a similar band on their forearm.
“And you’re pink, or is that peach?” The first warrior tilted his head slightly.
“Cream?” The other supplied.
“It’s an odd color.”
“Well, they don’t make Terrans in green either.”
“How about brown?” The second one stood and suddenly his entire body turned into a piece of bark.
“Stop showing off.” The other warrior wacked his leg and his coloring went back to its previous green.
“That’s actually pretty cool.” Odette stood up and dusted herself off. Now that her drunk had worn off, Odette could get an eyeful of her surroundings. Clearly not a spaceship or a space station, she could barely make out the blue sky for all the tall trees, and by the humidity and warmth that made her sweater cling to her, she’d been teleported into the the middle of a jungle.
“I like your hair. Totally useless, though, too bright.” The chunkier warrior reached to touch her hair. The other alien kicked him and flashed a look of death. Both of these warriors were completely lacking in hair. Instead, they had black Mahdfel tattoos swirling their way all over their heads and chests. She’d heard that they glowed when they…
“So which one of you is the lucky guy?” She stared from one to the other, not finding anything particularly wrong with either, but nothing completely compelling either. After all the stories that the women of Earth had been fed about cosmic soulmates, this was so far turning out to be a load of crap. But Odette was willing to roll with that.
“Us? No. That would be Athen. Our warlord. You are to be his mate.” That explained the hands off punches.
“Okay, take me to your leader. Let me get my suitcase.”
She turned and nearly fell on her ass. The ground around the platform had been cleared, but only in a very basic manner. It was still an uneven mass of overgrown plant mulch. Strappy sandals with little kitten heels did not make for great jungle wear. Neither did most of the stuff in her suitcase for that matter. Without another word, one of the warriors caught her and threw her over his shoulder. The other went back into the transport shelter and grabbed her suitcase. He lifted it like it was nothing.
“Hey, I can walk,” she protested.
“To let your thin Terran skin be damaged would bring shame upon us.”
“Yes. To let our warlord’s mate be injured? I would have to slit my own throat.”
The trip was thankfully a short one. They had parked a small ship in a clearing about a hundred feet down the trail. It was obviously cleared for just that size of craft and nothing larger. She’d always pictured space ships as much larger. This was hardly larger than a van.
He put her down inside the spaceship and guided her to one of two chairs. He pushed a button and a jumpseat came down from the wall.
“Uh, I can take that seat. I mean, I don’t want to put you out of—”
“My honor, Terran.”
“Odette. Name’s Odette.”
“I am Goru and that is Leif.”
Goru was the thick one, more stocky than his tall thin friend, but still without an ounce of fat.
“Nice to meet you. So how long will it take to get to the ship?”
“Ship?” Leif said as he closed the hatch and powered up the little craft.
“Yeah. Spaceship? Or is it a station?” If her match was a warlord, surely he had a ship, or maybe was in charge of a station. That could be interesting, hosting dignitaries and the like.
“We have no ship, nor a station,” Leif replied.
“So what do you have?”
“A planet.”
“Ah.” The ground dropped below them and they were soaring above the treeline. There were a hell of a lot of trees. Besides a lake and a river, it seemed the only thing in sight.
“How many people live on this planet?” she asked.
“Twenty-seven. Now twenty-eight,” Goru replied.
“People?”
“Yes.”
Okay, there was no lying. That was going to take an adjustment. And since the guy had said that he’d never seen a Terran before, Odette could assume that she was the only Earthling there. Shit. She was the only human on the entire planet.
“So how many warriors are here?”
“Twenty-seven,” Goru said.
“And girls?”
“You are the first.”
She had wanted an adventure. Looks like she had found one.
Suck on that, Cleveland.
Chapter Six
Odette
They were only in the air for an hour, but it was an hour filled with “Athen” this and “Athen” that. What a lucky female she was to be matched to such a prize! He had strangled a whole platoon of Suhlik lizards with just his bare hands. He could climb trees in a single bound. And he was a prime specimen of Etlonian Mahdfel, and had drawn the eyes of not one, but three Aftarian princesses. But none of them had been a proper match.
They set the craft down in another clearing. This one was much larger and there were at least signs of life here. There was another one of the small crafts and several bikes that looked like they’d been pulled from one of those old Star Wars vids that they showed every Christmas.
A third warrior met them as the hatch opened. He poked his head inside and eyed her from head to toe. She stood and exited. He actually gave her a good whiff and then wrinkled his brow. Apparently, he wasn’t too impressed.
“I’m not the freshest daisy right now, I know, but—”
“Come, woman, we must be quick.”
“Her footwear is... “ Leif shrugged and the two warriors looked at her feet. Odette found herself once again slung over a warrior’s shoulder.
“Really. I can walk.”
“Faster. And speed and stealth are of the essence.”
“Why?”
“No questions.” He carried her into the compound.There were warriors everywhere, but they all seemed to be on the lookout for something. They nodded as she was carried past. The whole situation was ridiculous.
“Athen—” Odette started to say.
“Where?” The third warrior paused and whipped around. Nausea returned with the sudden motion. Too much sun and daylight for the rainbow hangover.
“You.”
He actually laughed at that.
“No. I am Kavendish. Kave. Second in command to the warlord.” He continued his trek. They reached a large building and he entered, dropping her just inside.
“So where is this guy?”
“In here.”
“There?”
Kave nodded furiously and waved her forward with an anxious smile. Odette looked at the round container. It looked a bit like a giant blue hatbox with swirls stenciled all over the side.
“I don’t think he’s in there. Nope. Empty.”
“No. You. In there.” He waived his hands at her, trying to usher her in.
“Why?”
“You get in there, and we wheel you in to the commander and then you pop out! Surprise.”
She looked at the box again. This was apparently
the alien version of a stripper cake.
“I am not jumping out of a cake.”
The alien looked confused. “There are no confections involved.”
“No, it’s a tradition where I come from. For girls to jump out of a fake cake on a guy’s birthday.”
“We do not celebrate the day of birth, but I believe this is a similar idea.”
“Except that girl is generally a stripper.”
He stared at her blankly. Obviously that idea didn’t translate well.
“A prostitute? A woman of loose morals?”
“What does the selling sex have to do with morals?” Kave asked.
“Never mind. Just jumping out of cake is not my cup of tea.”
“But I have fabricated it just for the occasion.” Kave folded his arms over his chest, in a stance that Odette felt meant the same in any language. “Woman, get in the box.”
Odette glared at him, and crossed her own arms over her chest as she stared up at him. His skin turned a darker green and she was sure he was about to try and figure another way to get her into the box.
“Fine. But I don’t imagine this will end well,” she said.
Athen
Now that several of his warriors were acting strangely, Athen was sure it could all be laid at the feet of Kave and his upcoming surprise.
Goru and Leif had returned from their patrol early, and rather than being admonished, Kave had immediately sent two other warriors off to complete the run. They’d made an excuse about a faulty capacitor, but with the ship magically repaired and sent off again, Athen couldn’t check the logs to see exactly what, if anything, was wrong. Searching his own HQ logs, he found a ping for a delivery to the port. The thing was, they weren’t expecting any supplies.
Whatever Kave had ordered was something that couldn’t be manufactured by any of the replicators they had on hand. Athen pondered the possibilities but came up empty. Perhaps, it was time for a patrol and inspection. He caught Kave just as he was coming out of a storage module. Kave leaned casually against the door, blocking Athen’s view. Too casually.
