Sold (Alien Space Pirates 2) (SciFi Romance)

by Mara Frost

  I glance around, looking for the source, and see two little Galcons – bottom feeders in the smuggling trade – chatting excitedly. They see me looking at them and they nod at me and point.

  “Have you heard, Truvian? Humans! What I would do to get my hands on one. The females are very…shapely. I hear they’re quite appetizing,” he says, with a wicked glint in his eye.

  “Appetizing for my cock, right!” the other man barks as he slaps me on my back.

  I hate when people touch me.

  Without thinking, my arm winds back and makes contact with the Galcon’s chin. The annoying man is thrown back and then lands on his friend.

  That was almost satisfying.

  “Hey! Whaddya’ do that for?” the other man yells, spittle flying out of his mouth.

  I only answer with a growl and then walk away. And I keep walking until I reach my shuttle. I unlock the shuttle door and walk in without sparing a glance back at the market. I’m finished with this place. I made my money. Time to move on.

  Chapter 3

  Dani

  Some say that space and time aren’t real things, just insignificant constructs that we humans created to better understand the universe around us. They even say that you can actually fold space and time like pieces of paper, manipulating the very fabric of reality.

  I say that’s a bunch of hooey because I’ve been stuck in a cage – which happens to be in very deep SPACE - for an incredibly long TIME and it feels very real. Screw Einstein and screw that relativity crap. I’m bored.

  I don’t know exactly how long I’ve been sitting in this cage, maybe five or six hours? Probably more. What I do know is that it was long enough for me to go through all the appropriate stages of grief for alien abduction; fear, anger, back to fear and finally boredom.

  I never thought that I’d ever get the chance to say it again, but there it is – I’m bored. After the blue asshole up and dumped me with the little oompa loompa man, I was immediately taken to a different part of the building and placed in a cage. Granted, it was a high tech cage, but a cage regardless. And unfortunately, I had to learn the hard way that even if you don’t actually see a barrier, it doesn’t necessarily mean that an electrifying, seizure-inducing barrier isn’t actually there.

  Yeah, the cage electrocuted me. It wasn’t super strong, but it was strong enough that I’m now sitting pretty far away from the electrocuting force field.

  Sitting in the cage, I sigh as I look around the cold stark room in futility. Thoughts of openly roaming through Maxaya while hearing her constant yet reassuring hum…and just feeling her general warmth…flash through my mind. Who would have thought that I’d ever actually miss being Big Blue’s prisoner? That definitely speaks to how bleak things are looking for me right now.

  I lean back against a wall and rest my head. Despite the boredom, I haven’t been able to sleep or quiet my brain. I really can’t tell what’s worse, not knowing what’s going to happen next or knowing what’s going to happen, but not being able to do a thing about it.

  Although, it doesn’t really matter because I have the fortune of not knowing what’s going to happen next and not being able to do anything about it. I smirk to myself and close my eyes, trying to rest my overactive brain.

  Only a few minutes go by before I hear a loud bang and some shuffling movement. My eyes immediately dart open and I shoot up to my feet, standing at ready. I feel my blood pumping angrily through me as my heart apparently tries to beat out of my chest.

  I look around the room, half expecting to see Chiran’x or his creepy henchmen, but instead I see a group of alien men and it looks like they’re hauling something into the room.

  Curious, I move around my cage, trying to get a better view. It doesn’t take long to see what it is they’re bringing in. My eyes widen and I cover my mouth as I watch the men guide the cage that’s holding the Elemental. The men push the floating cage across the floor as it hovers effortlessly over the ground.

  They settle her cage almost right next to mine and I watch silently as the alien men leave the room without so much as saying a word to each other. After they leave, I timidly glance over at the beautiful alien woman and I hold back a startled cry when I see her black alien eyes staring right at me.

  No longer floating in her cage, she cocks her head to the side, studying me. I’m frozen in fascination and just stare back.

  “You are a human female,” she says, her alien voice sounding almost as if she’s talking under water; the tail of each word has an eerie echo to it. I can easily understand her, but it wasn’t a sound that I was expecting.

  I blink several times, realizing that she was talking to me and clear my throat nervously.

  “Y-yes, I…am,” I reply.

  “I saw you in the market.”

  I nod my head once and my cheeks turn a little pink.

  “Yeah, I saw you too…at the market…” my voice trails as I remember the scene I made.

  “You were with a Truvian. Where is he?” she asks, cocking her head to the other side.

  Without thinking, I snort loudly.

  “Oh I suppose far far away from here. Who do you think it was that dumped me here? He’s the one that sold me to Chiran’x.” I motion grandly at the cage surrounding me. “And that’s how I have now found myself in this lovely place.”

  “The Truvian sold you?”

  I nod my head and bite down hard, swallowing down the unexpected raw emotion that the question makes me feel.

  “He did not,” the Elemental replies matter of factly, sounding more like a statement rather than a question.

  I chuckle and smile. “Well, I have a cage for you that would suggest otherwise.” I look around and then add bitterly, “A cage that is a complete asshole.”

  The Elemental parrots my smile, showcasing a nice collection of tiny sharp teeth. It’s not the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen, but it’s definitely up there on the freaky scale. My eyes widen and my smile slowly disappears.

  “Ahem…well, maybe we’re having a slight translation issue,” I offer with a smile.

  The Elemental doesn’t reply, she just continues to study me. I would say that it’s a little uncomfortable, but I’m sort of doing the same thing so I don’t really have any room to talk. Now that she’s only a few feet away from me, I can really see just how exotic she really is. It’s almost mesmerizing.

  “You are far from your world.”

  Hearing her speak breaks me from the weird spell she has over me and forces me to stop staring at her like a weirdo.

  “Yeah, Earth…and I think it’s pretty far away from here,” I say, hearing the defeat in my own voice.

  The Elemental nods her head. “It is. The Truvian had to travel a great distance to find you.”

  I snort loudly. She almost makes it sound romantic when she says it that way, when in fact it couldn’t possibly be further from the truth.

  “Lucky me,” I say bitterly. “I think I would have preferred that he saved himself the trip. He didn’t have to bother.” I pause for a moment and then add, “Y-you know about my world, Earth? You’ve heard of it before?”

  The Elemental nods her head, her wavy white hair moving fluidly through the air as if in water. “Yes, you are a planet in the uncharted territories. It’s a beautiful world, full of water. Very young.” She smiles and adds, “Very full of life, like it’s people.”

  I’m struck into silence by her words. She’s familiar with Earth? My heart surges with hope. I don’t know why, but the fact that I’m talking to someone who knows Earth gives me hope for…something. Hope for what? I have absolutely no idea.

  “H-have you…been there?” I ask timidly, almost afraid to ask…even more afraid to hear the answer.

  “Yes.”

  “You have?! When? How?”

  A fury of thoughts go through my mind. She’s been to Earth! That means that she would know the way back! Maybe she could help me? Maybe she could somehow take me home? Maybe…<
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  My thoughts are quickly silenced when I see the sad smile on her face. Heh, maybe she could have helped me if we weren’t locked in a cage and set to be auctioned off like meat? I sigh loudly and shake my head, realizing how foolish I sound and look.

  “Heh, never mind, it doesn’t matter.”

  “You are very lucky to call Earth home. It’s a jewel among the stars. So young, so full of promise – much like humans.”

  I smile weakly and try to keep back the knot that’s forming in my throat. “You think humans have promise?” I ask quietly.

  The Elemental nods eagerly. “I do and I hope the potential for humans and Earth will be fully realized one day, little human.”

  “I hope so too,” I reply. Although, to be honest, right now my wishes aren’t nearly as lofty. Right now, I would really like to just get out of this cage and find a way out of this mess. I would settle for that.

  Feeling the overwhelming need to change the subject, I clear my throat and say tentatively, “By the way, my name is Dani, what is yours? Er, do you have a…name?”

  Like a puzzled animal, she cocks her head to the side again and replies, “My kind do not have easily pronounceable names, but you can call me,” the pretty alien pauses for a moment, as if deep in thought and then smiles and continues, ”Yara.”

  “Yara,” I repeat, trying the name out on my tongue. “That’s a really pretty name.”

  The Elemental bows her head and smiles. “As is Dani.”

  “So…if you don’t mind me asking…how did you end up here? H-how were you captured?” I manage to stutter out awkwardly. When Big Blue said that she was a ‘Water Elemental’ I was instantly fascinated by her. I knew there was something…special about her.

  A flash of sadness sweeps across the Elemental’s generally emotionless face. I immediately wanted to tell her that she didn’t have to tell me anything if it was too hard, but it was too late…plus I have to admit I was curious.

  “I am what many call a Water Elemental. Water, and the stuff that makes water, is my very essence. In my most natural state, I would not even be visible to you. I am able to take on a physical form, but it’s not always my preferred state of being as we are much weaker, that is until…” her voice trails as a slow smile forms on her lips. “Until I met someone very special.”

  I return her smile, instantly realizing that she was in love. I nod my head reassuringly, silently telling her to continue.

  “We aren’t able to see each other often, but when I do see him, I must be in my physical form…and this most recent time, someone…” her voice trails. “I must have…been followed.”

  Her alien voice breaks and she covers her face with her hands, her thick floating hair sweeping across her face. My throat tightens with sadness. She was captured because she was meeting the man she loves – that just makes it so much more tragic.

  “I’m so sorry, you don’t have to keep going!”

  She shakes her head and smiles. “No, no, it’s fine. It was during one of our meetings, that we were attacked. He tried to fight them, but there were just too many. I normally would have transitioned to my natural state, but I couldn’t bear for him to fight them alone, so I remained in this form longer than I normally would have…and that’s how they captured me.”

  She points the thin metallic collar around her neck. “They put this on me and I’m now locked in this form. But that’s not the worst part, the worst part is that I don’t know where he is or what happened to him.”

  “Is there a chance that he got away? I mean, after they captured you since it was you who they wanted?”

  “This is what I hope for more than anything else. I hope he was able to get away at least.”

  Not knowing what else to say, I nod sadly. Well, that was definitely a downer. Although, to be fair, I’m not sure if there’s an abduction story that could ever be ‘upbeat and fun’. I probably should just change the subject as soon as possible and not bring down the mood any more.

  “So, do you know what’s going to happen to us?” I ask.

  There you go! Yeah, let’s talk about our ultimate violent demise. That’s a great subject change! That should cheer us right up.

  I’m an idiot.

  Naturally, this doesn’t faze Yara at all and she answers without skipping a beat.

  “Soon we will be put up for general auction and depending on who purchases us, our fates will then be determined.”

  I hold my breath and say nothing, waiting for her to continue, although a part of me doesn’t want her to. A part of me already knows what she’s going to say.

  “Because we are considered ‘exotic’, the buyers of such items tend to work within two trades; the pleasure trade and the food trade.”

  Yep, I definitely didn’t want to hear all that, but it pretty much confirmed everything that I already suspected. Unfortunately, Yara doesn’t seem to be able to gauge social cues – or the pale look on my face – so she continues on.

  “There is a very specific desire for my kind as many find my flesh a delicacy and enjoy its hallucinogenic effects, but there is a good chance that some might be fascinated by you and find you to be more of a novelty.”

  I stare at her evenly. I’m not exactly sure what novelty means, but if that means ‘not food’, I’ll gladly take it.

  “How do you mean?” I manage to stutter out.

  “There is a possibility that some might want to keep you as a…pet. They might find you to be too unique or rare to consume…in the obvious ways,” she says with one of her creepy pointy teeth smiles.

  “Great,” I grumble.

  A pet? So I’m going to be a golden retriever.

  “Well, I suppose it could be w-“

  I’m interrupted by a loud banging noise at the door as light pours into the room from the hallway. We both turn our heads immediately and watch as a silly little bobbing figure waddles into the room. We both instantly know who it is.

  I look at Chiran’x’s wide grin and hold my breath, waiting for what’s about to come next.

  “Hello, my lovelies! How are my two treasures? I hope you are as excited as I am! It’s show time, beauties,” he says happily, clasping his hands together, barely able to keep in his excitement.

  I exhale slowly, trying to steady my breathing. The moment that I’ve been dreading - and preparing for - is finally here. And yet, I’m surprisingly still not ready. Go figure?

  “Alright, here we go,” I mumble to myself. “I sure hope I’m going to be a golden retriever.”

  ***

  Dani

  “You’re next, human.”

  I swallow deeply and glance up at the alien man who has been taking all the “products” from the holding area to the main bidding platform outside. I’ve been waiting in my cage for quite a while, but with each passing sale I’ve been moving further and further up the line.

  Even though Yara’s cage is next to mine, we haven’t spoken a word to each other. I don’t think either of us are really in the talking mood. The only thing she said was that we were last in line because we were basically the stars of the show and they wanted to save the best for last. It’s too bad I had to travel millions of light years away from Earth to be appreciated.

  That said, I could seriously do without this sort of attention. Seriously.

  After what felt like only a few minutes, I hear the loud horn that announces that a bidder has won a bid and the crowd cheers loudly. A cold sweat covers my body as I realize that I’m only a few minutes away from being sent out. I ball up my clammy hands into fists, trying to build up the strength to get through whatever it is that’s about to happen.

  “You!” The alien man points at me. “Bring her forward,” he yells to the other men working the holding area. I swallow down a scream that’s threatening to tear through my throat and continue keep my hands in a tight fist, digging my nails into my palms.

  I glance over at Yara and I see her staring at me. Her face is expressionless; there’s
no sadness or anger. She just nods her head once and I nod my head back, silently acknowledging each other and trying to give each other strength.

  The men walk to my enclosure and guide it out of the holding area and towards the bidding platform outside. I stay standing up so that I can face everyone and see everything. Plus, if I allow myself to sit down, I know I’ll just curl up into the fetal position in a corner. That’s what I really want to do right now.

  “Come on golden retriever. Be a golden retriever,” I repeat under my breath as the men guide my cage through the corridor. I realize that beggars can’t be choosers, but being some rich alien’s pet seems much more preferable to anything else right now.

  I continue to repeat this mantra as they guide me out. I repeat it right up to the point that I’m on the platform and am able to cast my first gaze at the waiting crowd.

  “Holy fuck…”

  My knees automatically start knocking as I try to control the shaking that’s sweeping through my body. I try to lock my knees to stop myself from falling over, but I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to hold out.

  The crowd is bigger than anything that I could have imagined. It’s just a sea of alien faces; aliens of all shapes, sizes and colors. I hold my breath as my eyes sweep across the massive crowd. I’m not sure, but there has to be several thousand people out there, maybe even several hundred thousand. I can’t tell.

  I swallow hard and deep.

  “And here we have one of the main attractions! One of the treasures that you’ve all been waiting for!” a loud voice yells out to the crowd.

  I tear my eyes away from the crowd and look at the head auctioneer standing to the side. He is standing behind a podium with an eager grin and a hungry greed in his eyes. I immediately decide that I hate him.

  The crowd cheers loud at the auctioneer and my eyes dart back to the sea of aliens, as if as long as I keep my eyes on them nothing bad will happen to me.