by A. G. Wilde
She had no idea who the Tasqals were but the fact that she’d been taken away from her life on Earth on the mere basis that she was stupid but a good fuck made her lip curl in disgust.
“How did you know what I was anyway?”
Most of the aliens that came by her terrarium couldn’t figure out what species she was. From the little she could hear through the transparent shield, they’d made guesses, all incorrect.
“Never mind that,” Geblit replied.
How did she know he was going to reply with something like that?
Leaning back, she processed what he’d just said.
She’d been taken from Earth on the sole basis that she’d be a good sex pet.
Damn.
And the worst thing about it, Earth had no defenses against these crimes. It wasn’t like she could find her way back and then make the smugglers pay for what they did. Earth was still having problems even landing rockets on the dark side of the moon, much less across the galaxy.
Ha.
If someone had told her she’d become a victim of human trafficking, intergalactic human trafficking at that, she’d have brushed it away and continued in her cosy life as an investment banker.
High-risk portfolios she could deal with. High-risk alien adventures? That was completely different.
What was she going to do? Kill her enemies with high interest rates?
“I should have known that zookeeper would have ventured to best me,” Geblit murmured, pulling her away from her thoughts.
“He bested me, too, you know.”
Geblit looked at her as if confused and she opened her mouth to explain to him that being kept like property hadn’t exactly been her choice, but decided not to.
Slamming her mouth shut, she sighed.
“I believe now that you are illegal goods. The Tasqals must have smuggled you without a permit from the Interplanetary Union.”
Geblit groaned, his head balloon pulsing. “Troublesome, troublesome.” Then he brightened. “But Riv will fix it. He will take you.”
“And you’re sure about that?”
“Positive.”
“You still haven’t told me anything about this Riv. You keep going around it. Why?”
Geblit glanced at her, giving her the side-eye. “I do not have to explain myself. Riv owes me a favor.”
With that, Geblit focused ahead, his mouth closing into a line as thin as a thread.
Was that all she was going to get from him?
Great.
Head hanging over the hovercar once more, Lauren stared at the blur of the yellow-orange grass as the hovercar sped along.
She was a pet.
She was exactly like a dog.
The entire circumstances weren’t lost on her.
She was in a box. Bought. And she’d been bought only for her owner to discover that the “child” they’d bought her for didn’t want her. So now she was heading to the shelter, or sanctuary to be precise.
Life couldn’t continue like this.
A year in a zoo, treated like an animal, and now this.
Lauren settled back in the box, still taking in the blur of the grass beneath the vessel.
To her side, Geblit seemed to be in better spirits the farther they went across the plain. No doubt, he was happy about being able to unload her on his friend soon.
This wasn’t sustainable.
She couldn’t be continuously handed off to new owners every year.
If there was no way back to Earth, that meant she needed to find a new way to survive on her own.
She needed to find a new home.
And maybe, just maybe, despite Geblit’s reluctance to provide information, this could be the opening she was looking for.
Sighing, she straightened her tank top. It had several holes now, but she still adored it.
Lifting her eyes, she saw a speck in the distance.
It started small, almost undetectable, until it began growing.
It was a building. A house, maybe—she was still too far away to make it out properly. She could only see flat dark roofs and cream-colored walls.
Around the property, there was a barrier of some kind. The light bent off it like it was hitting plastic or glass. Behind the barrier she could see more of the fat hippo-like animals she’d seen earlier and, as they got closer, several more of the animals came into view. There were so many of them standing lazily and grazing in the tall grass that it was obvious what they were approaching.
It was a farm.
The closer they got, the more detailed the scene became.
It wasn’t one building she’d seen either. It was a network of buildings and between and around them stood tall trees, their flat, pink, lily pad-like leaves in bunches across their branches. The pink leaves were the same color as the sky and it made for a beautiful view.
Box-like metal droids were in one section cutting the tall grass and making hay bales and she could hear the sound of whirring as their razors hit the orange blades of grass.
The entire farm looked like a haven in the middle of nowhere.
“Is that…”
Was that Riv’s Sanctuary?
“Riv’s Sanctuary,” Geblit confirmed.
Just staring ahead, she could sense her anxiety slowly going away. How could someone who was not nice live in a place like this? She was pretty sure being mellow and good was a requirement to live in a place so…wholesome.
“So, it’s a farm?” she asked.
Geblit made a sound in his throat as if he was thinking. “Yes, and a place where animals go to live out the rest of their days.”
She guessed she fell in that category. “So, it’s a rescue, then.”
Geblit glanced at her, his four eyes blinking and she guessed he didn’t understand what she was trying to say.
Didn’t matter.
It this was a rescue for animals then it had to be a good place. If this person took care of animals, there was no way he was a dick.
As they drew closer, more and more sections of the sanctuary came into view. There were other animals all sectioned around the property. She could count at least five different types, all in enclosures eating and frolicking happily. She couldn’t make out what most of them looked like but, even from the distance, it was clear the animals weren’t stressed or anxious.
So, good person? Check.
Nice person? Hmm…maybe check?
Being good and nice were two distinct things but when it came to this Riv, she’d go with good over nice.
She didn’t need niceness. Goodness was more important.
From the look of the sanctuary as well, she’d probably enjoy living there.
She’d never done farm work before, but she could learn. If she was going to make the most of this, then she would learn.
The last thing she wanted was to get tossed around to different “owners” like she was some sort of unwanted property. Chances were that she would end up with someone horrible who used her for exactly what Geblit had told her most aliens thought humans were good for…sex.
And that was off the table.
She could only hope that her luck hadn’t run out and this third “owner” wasn’t the one who would try to have his way with her.
As the hovercar slowed and finally came to a stop in front of the barrier to the farm, Geblit cut the engine, his eyes darting around the animal enclosures on the other side.
“We’re here.” His eyes moved to hers for just a second and that uneasy feeling returned.
“Ok. So, now what?”
Geblit turned to her, his eyes blinking once.
“Now, you hide.”
5
There was little time to respond as Geblit unceremoniously reached over, pushed her head into the box, and closed the lid.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Hush! Be quiet. He cannot see you.”
“What?” Pushing against the lid of the box was doing nothing. It wouldn’t budge. W
hatever locking mechanism Geblit had engaged was doing its job. “Isn’t the whole point of this for me to stay at this farm? Don’t you think this Riv will be suspicious if you lock me away like you’re hiding something?”
She could hear Geblit shuffling as he exited the hovercar.
“Hey!”
Was he hiding something? It sure as hell seemed like it.
The thought made her back stiffen.
Spinning around in the box, there were two slits in the side where she could just about see the barrier to the farm.
“Geblit!” Her whisper was harsh and she didn’t even know why she was whispering but the prickling of the hairs standing on her arms and the general feel of the situation had her leaning on caution.
Something wasn’t right.
Well, that had been evident from before but now that she was right at the actual handoff, the feeling was rising all across her back like a shadow monster about to devour her.
“Geblit!”
“Hush and keep still. I cannot risk for Riv to see your hideous form and deny you entry. Raxu knows you might be the most hideous creature to be placed on his farm.”
This little…
Lauren narrowed her eyes so hard, her vision became two dark slits.
“This again…”
“Yes!” Now it was Geblit who was whispering harshly. “I cannot afford for him to say no. Cargga will be most displeased if I return with you.”
With that, she heard more shuffling before Geblit came into view outside the hovercar and by the farm’s barrier.
The barrier itself looked like charged particles; it wasn’t actually solid. She couldn’t describe it but she got the distinct impression it would hurt like a motherfucker if Geblit tried to walk through.
She almost wished he did.
If he could put like just a finger through, so he could feel some pain.
She didn’t like him right now.
There was a metal panel on a pole close by with what looked like buttons on it and Geblit walked right up to the panel, his balloon at the back of his head pulsing as he punched in a code.
All four of his eyes darted to the box as he waited and, kneeling now so she could peer through the little slits better, Lauren felt her pulse rising.
Geblit was nervous, which was making her nervous.
When, after a few moments nothing happened, it sounded as if Geblit muttered a curse underneath his breath and punched in the code again.
Apprehension crawling up her spine like a snake, Lauren bit her bottom lip as she waited.
Still nothing.
“Maybe he’s not home?” She spoke loud enough for Geblit to hear, and Geblit glanced her way again.
“I am positive he is at his residence. He never leaves.”
Punching in the code again, Geblit waited, his forelimbs shaking with impatience.
She was apprehensive of this, but what choice did she have? If they had to turn back, she’d probably end up in that market and all she could think of was those tall black aliens.
The creature will do what we want…willingly or not.
The words sent another shiver down her spine.
The market scenario presented an unknown. There were many possibilities that could occur if she ended up being sold again.
But this scenario…this scenario was better.
At least in this scenario, she knew something. She knew where she’d be, which looked like a lovely farm. She knew the owner was possibly a pleasant person. If he was like Geblit, she could deal with that. Geblit was half-nice, but she could have put up with living with him.
She imagined this Riv was another of Geblit’s kind but a little more…solitary? She could live with that.
That made this scenario her best scenario.
It was better having some semblance of an idea about her future than being thrust into a complete unknown.
For that reason, a part of her hoped the farm owner would answer.
For a fourth time, Geblit muttered a curse and punched in the code again, glancing her way as he did.
“Keep still and be quiet. It is your best chance at staying here,” he whispered just before there was a click in the panel.
For a few seconds, there was no other sound.
“R-Riv?” Geblit blinked at the panel.
“What do you want?” The voice was deep, raspy, and caught her totally off guard.
Geblit’s voice was so different from the other male’s, she found herself blinking a little, only to feel stupid immediately.
Not all human males sound alike. Why did she think the male would sound anything like Geblit did?
Where Geblit sounded like a prepubescent boy, the speaker through the intercom sounded like a fully grown man.
“Riv!” Geblit laughed, one that sounded so awkward and forced she frowned at him. “Good friend. I trust you have been well.”
There was a pause on the line before, “What do you want, Geblit?”
Well, he was straight to the point. Gotta give him that.
Geblit glanced toward the box again. “I have an…animal here that has no home.”
The words made her swallow.
From investment banker to homeless animal. Quite a drop, Lauren. Quite a drop.
“And?” Low and raspy, the voice was clipped.
“Well,” Geblit laughed again, “I was hoping it could stay on your farm.”
It?
She was it.
God, being spoken about as if she was a cow or something was really making her feel great. Still, she knelt and tried to see as much as she could through the little slits in the box, her eyes scouring the farm and the buildings within it for any sign of this alien called Riv.
“No,” was the response Geblit received and she felt it in her soul as if she had just been rejected.
Well, technically, he had just rejected her and Geblit both.
He’d said no.
Didn’t Geblit say this dude took animals in?
When the speaker on the line said nothing else, Geblit’s forelimbs folded across his body.
“It needs a home, Riv. Will you at least come out and bring it in? I must get back to my Cargga.”
A pause. “There is no space here.”
It looked as if Geblit got angry for his thin mouth formed an even thinner line.
“When have you ever turned away an animal in need?”
“Since today.” And with that, there was another click. The line was dropped. Call ended.
That’s it?
All this traveling to be turned down so easily?
But Geblit wasn’t having it. Punching in the code into the panel once more, he waited.
Soon there was a click.
“What?!”
Okay. Maybe she’d been wrong in hoping this Riv was a likable person. First impressions just came in and, well, he didn’t seem nice at all.
“Riv—”
“Go away, Geblit.”
“You owe me a favor!” Geblit was glaring at the panel as if it was the embodiment of the actual person he was speaking to.
For a few seconds, there was no sound but she hadn’t heard a click so she assumed Riv was still on the other line.
The tension was killing her. Not knowing what was going to happen was killing her.
“Fine.” The one word finally came through the device followed by a click and she could see Geblit visibly relax. His four arms uncrossed over his frame to fall at his sides and, as if he forgot she was there, he did a little jump into the air.
“Thought you said he was nice,” she said, loud enough for Geblit to hear.
With that, Geblit sobered and turned to face the box. “I said no such thing.”
Right. He didn’t.
He’d been unhelpfully vague every time she’d asked about his friend.
“How much do you trust him? Will I have to be fighting for my life?” She eyed Geblit. If this Riv was anything like Geblit, she was sure she could take him. G
eblit was skinny and strong but she reckoned she could still tackle him with some momentum on her side. She could only hope this Riv had a similar stature.
Geblit moved closer to the box. “Riv would harm no creature. Of this, I am sure.”
“But I’m not a creature. I’m a being, an intelligent being, just like you are.”
The look on Geblit’s face said otherwise, as if he would argue the point.
“I am!”
“Well, I guess you aren’t as mindless as the rest of the animals in the sanctuary.” He shrugged. “Riv will adjust.”
Geblit suddenly smiled and she wanted to slap the smile right off his face.
He was in such light spirits now that he was ridding himself of trouble. The trouble being her.
“You know, you’re being a real dick right now.”
Geblit stopped grinning. “A dick? What’s a dick?”
She was about to explain when the surroundings suddenly grew quiet. It took her a few moments, brows furrowed, ears perked, before she realized what it was.
The barrier was no longer zinging—she hadn’t even realized that it had been.
It seemed Geblit realized this too because his four eyes lit up with glee as he turned back to face the farm.
“Here he comes,” he said, almost too enthusiastically.
Raising her gaze toward the biggest building on the premises, she saw the door open and a large figure step through.
Even from the distance, she could see that the being was male. Large, threatening, and undoubtedly male in his stance.
“Who the hell is that?” she whispered and Geblit cast a nervous glance her way.
“That is Riv,” he said. “Now, hush!”
Mouth agape as she watched the alien walk down the path toward the perimeter fence, Lauren’s eyes widened.
Riv was supposed to look like Geblit.
You know, skinny, nervous, and possibly easy to take down in a fight.
This male coming down the path looked nothing like Geblit.
This male looked like he could break her and Geblit in two.
6
The male was big and blue.
