Alien Captured

by Marie Dry

  Joseph slapped her. An open handed slap with his full weight behind it. Susannah staggered back and almost lost her balance. “No, he won’t have it that easy. We put him to sleep. We’ll interrogate him when he wakes. We’re gonna have some fun before we hand him over to the resistance.”

  Susannah fell to her knees onto the wooden church floor. Terror gripped her in a hold so tight she couldn’t breathe. She knew about their interrogation. They’d hurt Azagor terrible and if he was lucky he’d be dead when they hand him over to the resistance. This was her fault, she’d led him into this trap. If they lived through this he’d never forgive her.

  “Why are you doing this? What possible reason could you have for taking my son from me? Trapping Azagor and keeping me here when I clearly don’t belong on the farms.”

  “Silence.”

  “What did you shoot him with? Do you have any idea what the other Zyrgin warriors will do to you for this?” That was their only hope, that the warriors would come to help them.

  He leaned down and slapped her again, her head jerked to the side, and she saw stars. She blinked to clear her sight, pain arcing down her cheek and neck. “Tell us how to break him.”

  “No.” She used the altar to struggle upright and tried to run to Azagor.

  She’d only taken a few steps when Joseph caught her braid in a vicious grip. He head jerked back, and she heard something wrench. “Tell us.”

  She clutched her aching neck. “I don’t know what will break him.”

  He shook her until her teeth rattled. “You consorted with him, whore, don’t lie to me. Tell me or Noah will answer for your sins.”

  She very much feared that Noah had been made to answer for her sins from the day he was born. “How do I know Noah is even alive.”

  “I thought you might ask that.” He took a piece of paper from his pocket.

  She took it with trembling hands and opened it to find two tiny feet imprinted on the paper. “How do I know this is Noah’s footprints?”

  “What kind of mother are you, that you don’t recognize your own child’s footprint?” he sneered.

  It hit her like a punch to her heart. She wouldn’t recognize Noah. If his eyes changed, became less like hers, she’d never be able to tell if he was hers. She tried to put all the loathing she’d ever felt in the way she looked at Joseph. He’d always done this, turned every little thing she did or said into a sin. No matter what happened, she couldn’t take the chance that Noah was still alive.

  Noah was just a helpless child, and his birth would ensure that they made his life hell. She’d been a child who looked different, barely tolerated on one of their farms, and she shuddered to think what they’d do to a child born out of wedlock.

  Azagor was strong, surely he’d be able to survive their torture. “You can burn him.” The women had told her about the warriors healing their wounds by burning. Surely it wouldn’t harm him and, then, if he pretended, it hurt, maybe it would buy them enough time to find a way out of this.

  “I’ll send a message that Noah is to be drowned.” He smirked at his own sick humor. He motioned to one of the men.

  “No, wait.”

  They stopped, turned back to her.

  “Rats, he’s afraid of rats.”

  Surely they wouldn’t be able to get a hold of too many rats. Her soul shivered with the horrific knowledge that she’d just betrayed the best person she’d ever known. She gripped her cheeks when five brothers dragged Azagor all the way out of the hole. Five more stood ready to assist them. Presumably to assist in subduing him should he wake. Azagor rumbled, and she sobbed at the incoherent sounds coming out of the pit. He remained unconscious, and she screamed his name when they dragged him outside, away from her. She tried to follow, but Joseph held her back, his grasp on her upper arm so tight, she knew she’d have ugly bruises there. She didn’t care. If only Noah and Azagor were safe, the brothers could bruise her whole body.

  Joseph smiled, and it was the ugliest thing she’d ever seen on anyone’s face. “Where’s my son, Joseph?” A sick feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. If she threw up, she’d make sure she did it all over him.

  “What son?” His smirk pulled his fleshy face into an ugly leer.

  “What do you mean?” she said, barely above a whisper.

  “Your son died shortly after he arrived on the other farm. If you were a decent mother, you would’ve known in your heart that he was dead.”

  She heard screaming, terrible screaming, and all she could think was that she betrayed Azagor, and she’d never see her baby, never hold him in her arms. The screaming stopped, and now her eyes wouldn’t work, everything around her blurred. He knees wouldn’t support her weight.

  She came to in a barn, chained and hanging from the beam. Grief nearly destroyed her soul. Her baby was dead, and she’d never had the chance to tell him how much she loved him.

  “Ah, you’re awake at last,” Joseph said.

  Susannah didn’t care what he did to her. “Caine would never have forgiven you for this. How could you?” No matter what they did to her for betraying Azagor, she hoped Zacar and the others came and killed them all. The world would be a better place without the brothers in it.

  Joseph pulled her hair again and smirked down at her. “Let me tell you about your dear Caine.”

  “I won’t believe your slander.”

  He could make anything ugly, and she refused to allow him to destroy her memories of Caine.

  “He had a woman on each farm. Simpering fools who fell for his pretty face.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “He chose lonely pathetic women. He used to say they were so grateful for his attention, they’d do anything for him.”

  “I don’t believe you. Caine loved me.” She had to believe that, had to believe that her baby was conceived with love.

  “Love you, he merely wanted a good fuck while he was on our farm.”

  Her knees buckled, the man she thought had loved her only used her, and now she’d betrayed the one person who could’ve gotten them out of this mess.

  “I don’t believe you. Tell me what you’re going to do with Azagor.”

  “We’re going to put him in a deep dark hole.”

  Azagor could see in the dark, that wouldn’t terrify him. She should’ve thought of something else. Why did she tell them about Azagor’s fear of the rats? He would never forgive her this betrayal.

  Joseph smiled at her, and her stomach turned. “Have you ever seen rats eat a person?”

  The others laughed.

  Chapter 18

  When he’d heard Joseph threaten her, outside the church of the farm they’d first gone to, Azagor knew Susannah would protect Noah. He didn’t blame her, but he’d hoped she’d tell him the truth. Trust him to keep Noah and her safe. He’d informed Zacar of what was happening, but that he didn’t need backup. The darts they shot him with proved him wrong. He’d taken on a raider camp on his own, but these farmers had somehow gotten their hands on Parnell’s lost weapons and incapacitated him, leaving Susannah vulnerable.

  The dart didn’t render him unconscious, but Azagor couldn’t move. Whatever they shot him with was capable of immobilizing a Zyrgin warrior. He’d have to find each and every dart. The humans probably didn’t have the knowledge to reverse engineer it, but he couldn’t take the chance.

  Susannah’s scream cut through his nerves and straight to his heart. He wanted to go to her, help her, but although he managed to move his left foot, he was still paralyzed, he couldn’t fight and couldn’t speak, not even to mumble. He’d been sure he could keep Susannah safe, but now he wished he’d requested the others to come. These woumbers had proved many times that they wouldn’t hesitate to hurt a woman.

  He managed to use the one foot he could move to kick one of the fat little men who tried to carry him in the groin. The man screamed and fell, letting go of Azagor’s leg. “He kicked me,” he screamed.

  “He’s out. He just slipped
, that dart will take down anyone, even this big bastard,” another fat human man said.

  “Don’t just stand there, help us carry him.” He was breathing hard trying to carry Azagor’s weight. Obviously, all of them lived useless lives on the farms while the women did all the work.

  “What the hell are this freak’s bones made of?” another man asked between sickly sounding breaths.

  The man gave him a vicious kick, swore, and hopped around. Azagor suppressed a grin with lots of teeth. The man had just learned about Zyrgin uniforms. When the drug wore off, he’d teach them about Zyrgin warriors.

  “Stop hopping around and grab his leg,” one of the humans said. “This bastard’s heavy.”

  “Take him to the basement,” Joseph shouted at them.

  Azagor managed to lift one eyelid. “Get here, they’ve got Susannah,” he mumbled, knowing his communicator would transmit to Zacar.

  “Acknowledged,” Zacar said, so soft that the humans with their inferior ears wouldn’t hear him.

  The effects of the drug wore off, but too slowly. While he waited to get the use of his limbs back, Susannah was in Joseph’s vicious claws. Azagor could now move his ankle as well as his left foot.

  Help was on the way, but most of the warriors had been called to an emergency on the other side of the country. They were on their way back as fast as they could, but it would still leave ample time for these woumbers to hurt Susannah.

  They went into a barn, pulled open a trap door, and threw him down into the darkness. They laughed and joked about what they’d do with him.

  They stood talking, obviously waiting for someone to join them. He hoped it was Joseph they waited for. Azagor hoped that, if they tortured him, at least they left Susannah alone until he could rescue her.

  “Joseph, it’s about time. You’ll have enough time to break her in later.”

  They all laughed--ugly laughter that infuriated Azagor. His right foot moved. He almost managed to clench his right hand, but his claws wouldn’t come out.

  “I strung her up in the barn,” Joseph said. His face appeared in the opening.

  Azagor’s lashes itched, and he lifted both eyelids a fraction. It took a surprising amount of concentration to do only that. Joseph stood over him with sweating double chins and jowls and greasy hair plastered to his skull.

  This was Joseph, the man who’d dared torture his breeder. Azagor could see a viciousness in his eyes he’d noted in some of the raiders. Azagor subtly flexed his left leg. Soon, very soon, he’d have the use of his body back and hurt all of them. He wanted to kill them, but they wouldn’t be that lucky. He’d wound them and keep them alive for a long time.

  “I’ve heard you aliens think you’re tough. Too tough to be broken by a mere human.” Joseph’s laugh sounded truly evil. “You didn’t think Susannah really cared for you, did you? She was working for us all the time.”

  Azagor almost snorted out loud. Apart from the fact that he’d heard Joseph threaten Susannah, Azagor knew her. He opened his eyes fully. Such obvious tactics wouldn’t work with Joseph.

  “Good, you’re awake. She said to put you in a deep dark room with a few hundred rats, and you’d be meek as a lamb by the time we sell you to the resistance.”

  His ears wouldn’t work properly. He saw the human’s mouth move but couldn’t hear anything above the roaring assaulting his ears. His body reacted to the thought of rats eating at it again, but his mind recoiled at the betrayal from Susannah. He knew they’d probably threatened to harm Noah if she didn’t tell them his weakness. Logically, he understood her choice, but he hated that she chose Noah over him.

  “Hey, I found some more in the bottom of the box they gave us,” someone shouted.

  Something penetrated the skin on his neck. More of the drug entered his system. Shortly after they came to Earth, raiders had shot him with a harpoon. He’d been shocked that they were able to wound him. They shouldn’t be able to pierce his skin with any of their primitive equipment. Not even darts from weapons of their golden age. Maybe the Zyrgins had become too complacent in their belief that the humans couldn’t harm them.

  “The resistance gave us these.”

  Obviously, the human had the mistaken belief that he could tell Azagor anything now because he wouldn’t escape. They would find out their mistake soon.

  The voice continued. “They used to use those to put elephants to sleep. When there was still elephants around. Just to be sure--”

  He pulled the trigger again and again, until Azagor’s neck was riddled with darts. How did they know to aim for his neck and not his uniform? Susannah had no idea of the strength of their uniforms and couldn’t betray them.

  He didn’t lose consciousness, but he lost any ability he’d gained to move. He had to get to Susannah. This vicious little man would kill her. But first, he’d hurt her. Azagor had seen the footage of what he was capable of. Heard the enjoyment in the farmer’s voice at the thought of hurting Susannah.

  “His eyes are still open. We need to shoot some more darts into him.”

  “I don’t have any left.”

  “He’s not moving, probably paralyzed.”

  Unlike the others, Joseph leaned into the hole. He laughed a high gleeful laugh. “Bring it over here boys, pour it into the hole.”

  Azagor had a bad feeling, the same bad feeling he’d had before they ever went to the planet where he spent days covered in rats.

  Something gray and wriggling poured down through the opening, and if his body wasn’t paralyzed, he’d have frozen in fear. Rats fell around him and swarmed over him, burrowing into his clothes, their teeth biting his flesh.

  “Tell us how to get through the shield covering your nest, and we’ll come get the rats.”

  The brothers didn’t have the manpower to try to infiltrate their headquarters. They were more concerned with being left alone to do their criminal abuse of the women on their farms. The resistance probably demanded this information. They either threatened the brothers or promised them credits to get the information from Azagor. He could see enough in the dark hole they’d thrown him in to know that he was surrounded by his biggest nightmare.

  Everywhere he looked he saw red beady eyes. All of them intent on him. He could smell them, smell the blood where they tried to gnaw through skin not covered by his uniform. He knew from experience that, in a few hours, they would manage to eat through his uniform as well.

  Where was Susannah? Did Joseph hurt her? Was she still alive? Ignoring his fear and the rats swarming over him, he moved his feet. They ate at his flesh, tried to burrow into his clothes, and he wanted to scream like a weak human, but he was a Zyrgin warrior. And his vocal cords were paralyzed. He tried all his limbs, and only his feet jerked, the fingers of his left hand barely twitched.

  In the next hour, while the rats swarmed over him, and he had to keep his mouth closed to stop them getting in that way, he grimly concentrated on getting the use of his limbs back. He managed to move his forefinger, and, a few minutes later, he extended his claws. His legs tingled, and he tried to get up and away from the rats, but he fell over, squashing some of them and the rest swarmed over him again. Stomach roiling, he wanted to throw up the way some of the weak humans did in the camps when they had to fight Zyrgin warriors. The musty, dirty, animal smell of the rats tumbled him back to the time he was trapped on that planet for days with rats swarming over him. Their squeaky sounds assaulted his ears, sounded shrill and loud in the small pit.

  His right hand tingled, and he extended his claws and retracted them. Balled his hand into a fist. He didn’t have enough motion yet to reach his laser. He blindly grabbed a rat and impaled it with his claws. He threw it against the wall, and it landed with a wet thud. Some of the rats swarmed toward the fresh blood. He used his right hand to kill as many of them as he could reach, and, when he got movement back in his legs, used his boots to kill the swarming, squirming pests. No matter how many he killed, there always seemed to be more rats to take their
place.

  Even knowing Susannah was a female and not as strong, his sense of betrayal was crippling. She chose her son over him. Knowing of his fear, she betrayed it to his enemy.

  After one hour and thirteen minutes of hell, enduring rats swarming over him and not being able to kill them fast enough, he regained life in all his limbs. He jumped up, drew his laser, and killed the rats in a few efficient swipes through the room. He stomped on anything that moved, enjoying the spray of blood. No more of his blood would be spilled this day. It was a good thing that the humans didn’t know about the Zyrgins’ micro technology and had assumed because they couldn’t see it, that the Zyrgins had no weapons on them.

  The smell, the dead rats, and the few remaining live ones still trying to get at him, with shrill squeaks coming from their mouths, turned his stomach. It was time to punch his way out of this place.

  “We are nearing your location,” Zacar said into his communicator.

  “Acknowledged.” Never had he been this glad to hear a fellow warrior’s voice. In the time it took to get control of his body back, they could’ve hurt Susannah.

  He was about to jump up and punch his way out when he felt the rat scurry up the inside of his trousers. Swearing, he tore open his pant leg and killed the rat. He’d have to report the fact that the rats had found a way to burrow under the uniform. He’d never hear the end of this from the other warriors.

  Without the rats swarming all over him, his head cleared. He hoped with all his heart that Susannah had betrayed him, because if she hadn’t, it meant they’d tortured her for the information. She was braver than she realized, and she wouldn’t talk easily.

  “The paralyzing effect of the darts they shot me with has worn off,” he reported through his communicator and picked up the darts he’d pulled out of his neck. They’d have to examine them and find out how the humans managed to find them. They might be physically weak, but they never stopped trying to find ways to fight back.

  He heard some activity on top of him, and, with a savage grip, he jumped and punched through the trapdoor. He could’ve shot his way out, but he needed to punch something, to kill.