by Jane Hinchey
If you'd told me alien abduction was real a week ago, I would have had you cuffed and sitting in a nice padded cell. Would that happen to me when I returned? When I explained where I'd been, what had happened to me—would I be exchanging this prison cell for a different one on Earth? Would I be ridiculed and medicated up to my eyeballs?
I was jolted out of my maudlin musing when a soldier carrying a tray piled with—were they muesli bars? —walked in. Behind him, another soldier kept his gun trained on us as if we were a flight risk. A muesli bar was tossed at each of us. Mine hit the wall and bounced to the floor. By the time I'd bent to pick it up, the soldiers had gone.
“What's his problem?” I ripped open the wrapper with my teeth and took a hungry bite, screwing up my face as the rancid taste filled my mouth. I spat the disgusting mouthful into my hand. “Oh my God, that is so gross! What is it?”
“It is a sustainability bar.”
“It tastes like ass and sweaty socks. This is putrid.”
I watched in horror as the other women ate their bars, not appearing to enjoy the taste, but not seeming to mind it either. A wave of nausea rolled through me at the thought of eating it. I left the bar and partially chewed up contents on the bench opposite my bed, stomach rumbling. The lights dimmed, indicating it was time for rest. Wrapping my arms around myself, I curled into a ball, doubting sleep was possible, but despite myself, I dozed.
What seemed like only minutes later, I was woken by a commotion. Blinking, I struggled into a sitting position, eyes adjusting to the light.
A soldier had dragged one of the yellow women, Myka, from her bed and had forced her to her knees, his hand gripping the nape of her neck.
“What's going on?”
“Her eyes. Her eyes,” The other yellow woman, Talia, cried. “She's changed. She's been infected.”
I caught a glimpse of the woman's frightened gaze. Talia was right. Her eyes were now an amazing fluorescent blue, so bright they practically emitted light. And then I realised what this meant—that Myka was going to be killed.
“Wait! You can't do this.” Launching myself from my bed, I flew at the soldier, but he was fast and strong, backhanding me across the face so hard I flew back into the wall, cracking my head.
Two more soldiers entered, weapons drawn. One of them aimed at me, the other at Myka. A weapon discharged with a silent flash and Myka slumped to the floor, blood pouring from the hole in her forehead.
Everyone froze, the cries stopped. Not even a breath was drawn.
“Oh my God! You murderer! You didn't have to do that! You DIDN'T HAVE TO DO THAT!” I could feel tears wetting my cheeks and scrubbed them away. How could they murder such a peaceful, beautiful woman in cold blood?
More noise outside the door had me looking up, up into the eyes of the man who'd dumped me in this cell yesterday. His gaze moved away from me, to the dead woman on the floor, to his soldiers. An eyebrow rose.
“Her eyes had transformed, Chief. She was contaminated, no doubt about it.”
“I see. Dispose of the body. Clean up the mess.” He turned to leave.
“Wait! That's it? Your men MURDERED her. An unarmed, defenceless woman. They shot her in cold blood. And that's all you have to say? ‘Clean up the mess’?”
He sighed. “This was explained to you yesterday. Any cross-contamination between Bellatania DNA and another species—in this case a Veluden—will result in neutralisation. It is why you are being held in this cell. For your own safety and ours.”
“So you decided shooting her in the head in front of us was the right thing to do?” Much to my distress, my voice quivered. The sheer brutality of what I'd just witnessed had impacted me in ways I hadn't anticipated.
The man they called 'Chief' looked at me, considering, then inclined his head.
“I see your point.” It appeared that was all he was willing to concede. He spun on his heel and left, leaving his soldiers to drag out Myka's body. The blood, they left.
The day dragged. Everyone's spirits were low. We were all wondering if anyone else had been infected, how much longer we had until we too were shot in the head. The copper scent of blood hung in the air, making it impossible to forget how the day had started.
More food was delivered, the same disgusting bars as before. I couldn't eat, but now my shock had turned to anger, and I paced the cell, frustration rolling from me in waves. If I could get face to face with ‘Chief', I'd burn it off by punching him in the face. Repeatedly.
As if I'd conjured him, the door slid open and there he was.
He stepped inside, his eyes dropping for a nano-second to the dried blood on the floor before rising to scan the room. He pointed at me.
“You! Come with me. Now.” Without waiting to see if I obeyed, he spun on his heel and exited the room. I toyed with the idea of not following him, but my curiosity got the better of me. Plus, now I had the opportunity to give him a piece of my mind. Or a fist to the face. Whichever.
He waited for me in the corridor, grabbing my arm and pulling me along once I stepped out of the cell.
“Where are we going? What's happening?”
The grey corridors all looked the same, my bare feet skidding on the floor as he swung around the corner into another passageway. We stopped before a door, and with a swipe of his hand, it opened to reveal the medical bay. Echo, the same nurse who had treated me previously, stepped forward.
“What is this? What's going on?” I tugged at my arm and he released me, stepping back to block my exit.
“You've been injured.” He indicated my cheek. My hand flew to my bruised face. To be honest, I'd forgotten about the blow I'd received from the soldier. The bang to the head had given me a bit of a headache, but nothing too bad.
“I'm fine.” I tried to shoo the nurse away. “Hey! How did you know I was injured? Are you spying on us?”
“Your quarters are monitored for your own safety.”
“Bloody perv, hidden cameras watching a room full of trapped women. You're disgusting.”
The nurse was trying to hold something to my face, but I kept pushing her away.
“Please stay still. This will only take a minute and then you are free to go.” She spoke softly, her voice almost timid despite the steel in her eyes.
“Fine.” With a huff and a slight pout, I allowed her to raise a palm-sized device to my cheek. A warm tingling ensued and a second later it was over. I assumed whatever bruise had marred my skin was now gone.
“Let me run one more test. I believe you hit your head? I will make sure there is no damage.”
“Tricking me again. You said you would heal my cheek and then it was all done.”
“Incorrect. You assumed that. I said this will only take a minute. I did not say healing your cheek would only take a minute.”
“Smart arse.” I swore under my breath. I thought I heard the Chief chuckle behind me, but when I glanced his way, his face was devoid of any emotion. The nurse ran her hands over my scalp, smiling in satisfaction when she hit a sore spot. I winced, pulling away, catching my tangled hair in her fingers.
“Ow.”
“I told you you were injured.”
“Doesn't help that you pull my hair.”
“You should cut if off. Long hair is not practical.”
I gasped, pulling my tangle of red curls over one shoulder and clasping them with both hands.
“Cut my hair? Never! You people are so barbaric.”
“You humans are so vain.”
“And your race clearly isn't. It’s inhumane of you to lock us up. We can't shower, we're forced to wear blood-stained clothes, the food you give us is so disgusting I wouldn't feed it to my dog, and you have the nerve to call me vain for not wanting to cut my hair? You are the animals here.”
“You know, she does have a point, Alrik.” The nurse was talking to the Chief now. “She is emitting a strong odour, and her clothes can't be comfortable with all that dried blood. Allowing the women to use a cleansing u
nit and providing them with fresh clothing could help ensure their cooperation.”
At the nurse’s mention of my smell, I raised my arm and took a sniff. Oh, yeah. I definitely had a stench going on. Great.
“Very well. Echo, I shall leave it to you to arrange. Once she is clean and dressed, bring her to the deck please.”
The shower I'd been looking forward to turned out to be an ultrasonic wave cleaner, meaning no water was involved. I stood in a tube as waves of energy bounced around me, removing the dirt and bacteria from my skin. It was a strange sensation, but I stepped out with glowing skin and shiny, tangle-free hair.
I examined the clothing Echo had left for me. Black boy-leg underwear and a matching tank, black combat pants and a matching jacket, plus boots. Though the fabric looked rough and coarse, it was actually soft and super comfortable. Everything fit perfectly.
“You're going to do the same for the others, aren't you?”
“Of course. We do not usually transport this many people, so we're not equipped, but I shall have the women brought through one at a time to be cleansed, and we will provide them with a change of clothing. I apologize for not having provided you with this sooner.”
“Well, I, for one, appreciate it, Echo. Can I call you Echo? Is that okay? My name is Sierra.”
Echo smiled and nodded. “Of course. Now, if you will follow me, Sierra, the Chief awaits.”
“You call him the Chief, but I heard you call him Alrik earlier.”
“His name is Alrik. His title is Chief of Rescues, so at times we call him Chief. The names are interchangeable.”
The walk with Echo was slower, so I didn't have to jog to keep up. I took advantage of the change in pace to have a look around. The corridors were dimly lit and grey, the floor a mesh-type material in the centre with flat panels on either side. The temperature was warm and even.
“So when you're not rescuing abducted humans, what is it that you do?”
“We serve the Acarnania Confederation; we go where we are needed at any given time. Our ship, the Vespira, is equipped for battle. We are often requested to assist other planets with security issues.”
“Assist other planets how? Like bodyguards?”
“Sort of. Recently, we were stationed on a mining planet to stop the riots that had broken out between two races staking a claim on the planet’s resources.”
“And you got involved in this rescue operation because one of your own race was abducted?”
“Correct. Our objective was to retrieve Nyota, and if we were able to liberate any other abductees, we were instructed to do so.”
“And if you hadn't been instructed to do so, what would have happened?”
“You would have been lost with the Bellatania ship.”
“You would have killed us all. Just like that!”
“We would be following orders. Surely you understand that. In whatever work you do on your home planet, if you are tasked with a job, it is your duty to complete it, is it not?”
Thinking of my job as a police woman, I could see where Echo was coming from. Sometimes you had to follow orders whether you agreed with them or not.
“Let us not argue, Sierra, for our orders were to help you, which we have done. Before long, you will be returned to your planet.”
We reached the end of yet another corridor. Double doors slid open onto a room that appeared to be made of glass. The domed ceiling was completely see-through, like a massive bubble. The floor was a soft, spongy type of surface. Five work stations were placed around the room, one in the centre and two either side.
The view outside was breathtaking. Nothing but the blackness of space, broken up by the shimmering stars. You could have been standing in the void itself.
Alrik, who had been sitting at one of the side consoles, rose when we entered. Distracted by the view, I hadn’t noticed Echo’s departure.
“This. Is. Amazing.” I moved forward until I was touching the glass. I supposed it couldn't be glass, for it would have broken under the pressure, but still, it did the same job.
Alrik spoke behind me. “I guess I'm so used to it that I forget what it is like for someone who has never space travelled before.”
“I can't help but notice it's pretty quiet in here ... does the ship mostly fly itself?”
“We mostly have her on auto-pilot, yes. On long trips like these, personnel are not needed on the deck. We are only fully staffed when landing, taking off, or engaging in battle.”
“Right.” I turned to look at him, tipping my head back. He was so damn tall. And muscular. And intimidating. And hot, to be honest. My hand itched to reach up and touch his cheek, but I remembered what had happened this morning, how his men had killed Myka. I had to remind myself he wasn't a hero; he was a murderer. I moved away from him, putting distance between us.
“You are still upset.” Not so much an observation, simply stating a fact.
“Of course I'm upset. You killed a defenceless woman. She hadn't hurt you, she posed no threat. What you did is unforgivable.” I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks with anger.
“Why do we keep having this same conversation? Is there a problem with your brain?” He leaned toward me, frowning.
What the hell? A problem with my brain? What a dick!
“You're the problem, going around all buff and built and then bullying innocent women, terrorising us.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Terrorising you?”
“None of us will want to open our eyes in the morning in case they've changed colour and you shoot us in the head!”
“Again, it is Acarnania law that any cross-contaminated DNA be destroyed. I am doing my best to understand your point of view, that you are from a different galaxy, a different culture. My people see your people as primitive and barbaric and backward. From the look on your face, I imagine you could say the same for mine.”
“But isn't the Acarnania law overstepping its bounds when it comes to different species? You killed a Veluden because you believed her DNA had been combined with Bellatania DNA. Correct?” When he nodded, I continued. “So how is that any of Acarnania's business? Surely that decision should be left to the Veluden, not you?”
He paused, his face thoughtful, his eyes watching me.
“And what would happen if one of your ‘guests'—and I use that term loosely—what if they told you they remember something being done, that a procedure had been carried out, but so far, no symptoms had presented. What would you do?” It was a stupid question. Why couldn't I control my runaway mouth? I was ninety-nine percent sure they'd done something to me, but he didn't need to know that.
“Who?” he asked, straightening, his relaxed stance gone.
“No one. It's a hypothetical, a what-if. What would you do in that situation?”
He watched me suspiciously for a moment, unsure if I was telling the truth or not.
“I would have them sent to the medical bay for further investigation.”
“What would that investigation entail?”
“What does it matter? This is just a hypothetical, is it not?”
“Because I have a suspicion you would do some unpleasant tests in that type of situation, and I want to know if I'm right!”
“You really think we are barbarians, don't you?”
“You've proven that already.”
“Is there something you need to tell me, human?” He closed the distance between us, his brown eyes boring into mine. I swallowed, heart racing in my chest, his nearness overwhelming, the attraction I was beginning to feel for him frustrating because I didn't want this desire for a cold-hearted killer.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“Do you have training facilities on this ship?”
“What?”
“You know. Training. Exercise? On my planet, I work in law enforcement and I train every day, run, do weights. I can't just sit in a room all day; I need to move. Is there somewhere on this ship I can do that? Some of the other
women might like to do it, too.”
He blew out a breath, chuckling quietly. “You are full of surprises. You have gotten much out of me already today with the cleansing units and clothing. Now you want free rein of the ship?”
“I don't see why we should be treated like prisoners. We were kidnapped, taken against our will. You rescue us, yet lock us away as if we have done something wrong. Your Acarnania laws are archaic.”
“I shall discuss your request with the Commander of Ships and the Chief Marshal. I do not make these decisions alone.”
“So you're not in charge of this ship? I thought you were Chief?”
“I am Chief of Rescues. My men and I lead the rescue expeditions. Bax is Chief Marshal; he and his men are the soldiers on this ship. Draven is the Commander of Ships, so he is in charge of the entire ship and crew.”
“So ... was it your rescue men who killed Myka?”
“It was not. My rescuers are Cauder, Dask and Takeel. This morning you met Hayne and Marat, two of Bax's warriors.”
“So I've been ranting at you all this time and it wasn't your decision to kill Myka?”
“It was not a set order. By anyone. The warriors were following Acarnania Law. We keep dancing around this topic, human. I grow weary of it. Time for you to return to your accommodation.”
I went with him quietly. He held my arm as he guided me out of the flight deck, but once clear of the doors, he dropped his hand and I walked silently by his side. This time he slowed his stride so I could keep up.
“Thank you. For the clothes and letting me get cleaned up.” We'd reached the cell. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but decided against it. He nodded at me, waved the door open, ushering me through. Closed it again without a word.
The girls were all over me when I walked in, wanting to know where I'd been taken, what had happened, why I was wearing an Akarnania soldier’s clothes. I'd just finished explaining when the door opened again and Echo stood there with a soldier behind her.
“You two.” She pointed at the two scaly-skinned women, Toshiko and Rayna. “Come with me.” As the four of them left the room, Echo winked at me over her shoulder.
