by K. D. Jones
“Stop! Please for the love of all that is holy. Do not tell me anymore.”
“Too much, huh?”
“Way too much.”
Coco giggled as she pushed Maya to continue on their way. “Come on, we have a lot to do. Wardrobe, makeup, hair and then some personal appearances at the local hot spots around the new spaceport city.”
“Personal appearances?”
“We go with a few of the fighters to local broadcasting stations and give interviews. The fighters will go to the opening of new hospitals and orphanages. We’ll be at the events to pose for pictures and to hang off the arms of the male fighters to make them look sexier. It’s a bunch of publicity nonsense but it’s part of the job.”
“If it gets us off the ship for a while, it sounds like fun.”
“You say that now, but after twelve grueling hours, you’ll start to hate it like the rest of us.”
*****
It took only four grueling hours. Maya was so ready to go back to the GCFA ship. She hated having to smile constantly and pretend to laugh at ridiculous jokes and insulting comments. She enjoyed the openings the most though. She got to visit hospitals and participate in games that brought smiles to people’s faces. That was worth it.
Her group included her and Coco. A couple of the female fighters, Zara the Amazon, Sersan, and Gana who wouldn’t speak to Maya at all. Rachel came as part of the security detail, which meant that Rage was with her there. The other male fighters that came were Hammer and Zen. She couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that Taurus wasn’t there, too. But Zen said that he had attended the last personal appearances and that all the fighters had to take their turn.
Her favorite appearance event was at the orphanage. She loved seeing the children. The fighters came to these to show their support though many of them had unpleasant experiences. She couldn’t help but be suspicious herself. The directors of the orphanage assured them that there was nothing shady going on there. They were allowed to roam freely and speak with the children.
Since Rachel used to work for the IDJ, Maya had pulled her aside to question her about the situation with the orphanages. She was assured that not all orphanages fostered out the halfsies to the corporations and the IDJ placed heavy fines and restrictions on the orphanages.
Maya was still doubtful. So were the other halfsies. They took advantage of the open invitation and went to each room. She couldn’t see anything out of place. She followed the others on tours throughout the orphanage. She looked around and realized that Zara was missing. No one was paying attention to her so she backtracked to see if she could find the missing female.
She heard a child’s giggle and a female’s voice down the hall. She stopped just outside the door and peered inside. She wasn’t prepared for what she saw.
Zara the Amazon sat on the floor with three halfsie girls sitting beside her. She was handing each girl a wrapped present. The little girls tore into the wrapping squealing at the new dolls that were revealed.
“Thank you, Zara!” The little girls hugged her.
“You are welcome. Does the orphanage treat you well?”
“Oh, yes. Everyone here is so nice.” They reassured her.
Maya watched as one little girl held her doll tightly against her chest but didn’t answer Zara like the rest of the other girls. She smiled and nodded her head. Something inside Maya was telling her that things were not as perfect as the little girls were telling them.
“Can we show you our rooms?” one of the other little girls asked Zara.
“Sure.” She stood and towered over the little girls. But she gave them a gentle smile reassuring them that she would not hurt them. They led her down the hall.
Maya ducked back so no one saw her. She noticed the one shy little girl remained behind with her doll. This was her chance. She walked into the room making noises as she came so the little girl wasn’t startled.
“Hi,” Maya greeted the little girl with a big smile.
“Hi.” The little girl went back to playing with her doll.
Maya sat down beside her. “My name’s Maya.”
“I’m Lucy.”
“Nice to meet you, Lucy.”
The little girl just nodded her head but didn’t say anything.
“What are you going to name your doll?”
“Well, I would name her after my brother, Luke, but it’s a girl doll so I probably shouldn’t.”
“It’s nice that you think of your brother. Where is he?”
The little girl grew sad. “He was adopted last year.”
“Oh. Why didn’t they adopt you, too?”
“The family said that they had already adopted several girls. They wanted a boy.”
“Well, I’m sorry that you are missing your brother. Aren’t you glad that he is adopted into a big loving family.”
“The Sampsons aren’t very loving.”
Maya got that strange feeling again that said something wasn’t right. “The Sampsons are the ones that adopted your brother?”
“Yes. But Luke didn’t want to be adopted. He even fought with them as they took him out of the orphanage.”
“He was probably upset because he wanted to stay here with you.”
She nodded her head. “He promised he would take care of me. Now, he’s gone and I haven’t heard anything from him in a year.” She wiped away a few tears.
“I would assume that there would be an adjustment period to allow him to get acquainted with his new family,” Maya wasn’t sure what else to say.
“Luke and I were just brought here a few months before he was adopted. Some of the other kids that have been here a while say the Sampsons come almost every two years and adopt. The kids they pick are never given the choice to refuse the adoption and always have to go. Maybe when they come back next year to adopt, they will pick me. I wouldn’t fight them because I want to be wherever Luke is.”
“Maybe so. How about you name your doll, Luca?”
“Luca?”
“Yes. After your brother but with a feminine twist to it.”
“Luca…I love it! Can I go tell my friends my doll’s new name?”
“Go on, honey.” Maya waved her off.
“You’re good with kids,” Zara said from the other side of the room.
Maya pulled herself up to her feet. “I have always loved kids. I used to pretend to be a mama to all my dolls when I was growing up. I always knew I would want a lot of kids of my own one day. I noticed that you’re good with them, too. I like the dolls you brought them. That was sweet of you.”
Zara laughed. “I have never been called sweet before. They’re actually action figures, of me. I had some extras hanging around so I thought I’d dump them here.”
Maya smiled. “Of course.”
Zara walked over to the window to watch the kids playing outside. “I hate the personal appearances, but I always come when it’s an orphanage involved.”
Maya nodded her head knowing Zara wouldn’t see her. “Zen told me a little about the atrocities with the orphanages and the illegal fostering.”
“That’s only part of the reason that I come to check things out. The other part is…I can’t stop looking for her.”
“Her?”
“My daughter.”
* * *
Chapter Thirteen
“You have a daughter?” Maya was stunned.
“Did you think those breeding facilities existed for years without producing children?”
Fuck. Maya really was naïve. “I’m sorry. This is the first time I heard about all this. When did you have your baby?”
“I got pregnant five times but miscarried each of those before I was finally able to carry a baby to term. I had Angel when I was sixteen. She was so tiny and beautiful. I loved her immediately.”
“Did they let you keep her with you?”
“For the first two years. So many of the children born in captivity died in the first year or two. They thought if th
ey allowed them to stay with their mothers for the first few years, it would ensure their survival.”
“What happened to her?”
“As soon as Angel turned two, they moved her in a different part of the facility where the other children were kept. When the first wave of IDJ agents swept through freeing us, they would not let me go back inside for Angel. They had to restrain me with a tranquilizer because they thought that I was suffering some kind of hostage syndrome.”
“Did the IDJ agents not find her?”
“When I finally came out of the sedation they had me under, it had been two days past when they made the raid. The IDJ agents told me that all the children had been taken to orphanages throughout the galaxy. None of them remembered seeing Angel specifically.”
“Didn’t they record her name?”
“No. The children were so many that their names were not recorded, just ID numbers were used.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Zara shrugged and looked back out the window. “I can’t help but visit every orphanage I can. It’s been eight years but a part of me still holds a sliver of hope that I’ll find my Angel.”
Maya wanted to desperately reach out to Zara, but she doubted the proud female would welcome her touch. “Let me know if there is anything I can do to help you search.”
“I need some time alone. Could you go check to see if the others are ready to leave?”
“Sure, no problem.” Maya headed out of the room.
It wasn’t until she was several hallways away before she realized that she didn’t know where she was going. Damn it! She was horrible with directions. She thought she heard a male’s voice a couple of rooms down. She headed that way. She paused outside of the room the voice grew louder.
“I told you, they should not have come so soon. It will raise red flags with the IDJ. I don’t care about that. If the IDJ finds out about the set-up, we will never see the light of day again. They will have to make due with the kids we have sent them. The new circuit will start soon, let’s get the ones he has trained. Look, I have to go. We have the GCFA people here and they are looking the place over with a fine-tooth comb. Yes, sir, I’ll see you soon.”
Maya quickly backtracked to another room. She entered it and closed the door partially, leaving a crack. She held her breath as she waited for the male that was on the telephone to walk by. From her position behind the door and the small crack she opened, she could only see a pair of dark shiny shoes and a man’s hand with a silver ring. The ring had an odd design on it. She missed the rest of him and tried to open the door more to peer out for a better look. Unfortunately, by the time she peered out, the male had already rounded the corner and disappeared down the hallway.
Her heart rate was going so fast, it felt like it was going to burst through her chest. She didn’t know what to do. Everything in her screamed the male was up to no good and the children here at the orphanage were in danger. Maybe the authorities would need to be notified. But she had no evidence. They probably wouldn’t believe her. It might bring unnecessary publicity to the GCFA. She had to find the others and discuss it with them first.
She slowly entered the hallway and started down it. She turned in the opposite direction the male had gone hoping to avoid him. It was a few minutes and a few more turns later when she felt the nagging feeling that she was being followed. Her fear skyrocketed. She began to walk faster. She heard it then, the steps behind her growing closer. She didn’t have time to look behind her. Her only thought was to get away. She started running full out.
The footsteps behind her started running, too. Oh man, she wished she had been more of an athletic person. If by some miracle she made it out of this situation, she swore she would start hitting the training facility full force.
She was so desperate to get away, she took the next turn without slowing down. She lost her footing and skidded right into the wall, then bouncing off it, landing on her knees. She was breathing hard and trying to get the dizziness to fade.
“What the hell?” Zara’s strong voice rang out somewhere nearby.
She felt herself being lifted up into large muscular arms. She panicked until she recognized Hammer’s voice.
“Easy, little one. I only mean to help you.”
She was shaking. The shock and fear was finally catching up to her. She nodded her head and then did the most embarrassing thing she could imagine. She passed out.
*****
“Enough!” the trainer yelled from outside of the cage.
Talon let go of Taurus and helped him up off the mat. “What is going on with you? This is not your best, Taurus.”
Taurus shrugged. He was preoccupied. Zen wouldn’t let him see Maya and then the personal appearance crew set out hours ago. He had not been able to say anything to her before she left. It pissed him off that Zen was going with her. His words played over and over in his head.
“You need to figure out what you want from her before you approach her again. She deserves better.”
Damn, if the male wasn’t right. Maya did deserve to have a male who had his act together. Being forced to be away from her today was showing him that he was developing feelings for her quickly. It was actually almost painful not to be near her. He growled when Esan made a rude comment at breakfast about how there were too many humans on the circuit. Taurus either took his aggression out on Talon in the cage or he was so distracted that he got pummeled.
“Go to the healers. That cut is pretty deep,” Talon told him as he opened the door to the cage.
“Sorry, Talon. My head is just not in it today.”
“I understand. Can I give you some advice from a male that almost lost everything?”
“Sure.” He wasn’t going to ignore Talon.
“When you find someone that gets under your skin, don’t let anything get between you. No matter how scared you might be over allowing someone to get close to you, nothing is scarier than almost losing them forever.”
Taurus nodded but didn’t say anything. After that, all he wanted to do was to search out Maya. She was becoming very important to him. But first, he needed to get to the healers so they could patch him up. It wouldn’t do any good to scare the female if she saw him the way he was right then. Bruised and bloody, he made his way to the healing facility.
*****
Maya woke up in the same big warm arms that she had ungraciously passed out in. “Oh, man, did I pass out?”
“Yes, you did. Like one of those old-fashioned human southern ladies who needed the vapors. I was highly impressed,” Hammer told her with a twinkle in his kind eyes.
Maya blushed. “Sorry, I don’t know what happened.” It was true. Things were a little fuzzy right then. She had been at the orphanage. Then something bad happened. She was being chased. She had hit a wall, then she had passed out.
“You can put me down now,” Maya told him.
“Not yet, little one. You hit that wall pretty hard. I want you checked out first.”
She did feel pretty beat up. But she just wanted to go back to her suite and sort stuff out. “I don’t really need the healers. It’s just a few bruises. I get them all the time.”
“You heard the lady. Put her the fuck down!” Taurus said angrily, storming in their direction.
Oh shit! Taurus was pissed.
* * *
Chapter Fourteen
Maya wiggled in Hammer’s arms. Things were coming back to her. But she was a little confused over her surroundings and slightly scared over Taurus looking as if he wanted to kill someone. What had she done this time?
“Please put me down now, Hammer,” she told the huge guy.
“No, little one. Not until you have been checked over by the healers.” See her looking fearful at Taurus, he reassured her, “Don’t worry, I’ll handle Taurus. All you should worry about is feeling better.”
“Thanks.”
“Zara, keep Taurus out here while I take Maya in with the healers.”
Zara ga
ve an almost evil gleam. “Can I use any force necessary?”
Maya gasped but Hammer chuckled. “No, not unless he makes the first move.”
Zara blocked off the entry to the healing facility.
“Move out of the way, Zara,” Taurus growled.
She shook her head. “Not until you get yourself under control.”
“I am under control!” Taurus yelled.
There was a pointed silence as Zara stared the larger male down. “She is mostly human and does not understand that this aggression you are displaying is not directed toward her. Give her some space and calm down.”
“Since when are you so concerned with humans?”
“Contrary to what everyone thinks, I don’t hate all humans. But I do hate most. Maya is—alright.”
Seeing that Zara wasn’t going to budge. He took a couple of steps back and worked on breathing in and out, calming himself. He felt bad because he did sense Maya’s fear of him. That’s not what he wanted her to feel. He wanted to punch something when Zen strolled past Zara and into the healing facility.
A few minutes later Hammer came out. “You can come in now. The healers are finishing up. Maya asked me to call Rachel to come down immediately as soon as she and Rage arrive on the second shuttle.”
Rachel. She was head of security. What did Maya need Rachel for? Taurus grunted as he walked past Zara who stood aside for him. The moment he looked at the huge bruise on Maya’s forehead, he was boiling mad.
“What the hell happened?” he demanded, not softening his tone at all.
Maya gulped. She had hoped to avoid speaking with Taurus, but now there was no way to avoid it. She looked away from him. It didn’t help matters that Zen had taken a seat right next to her and was holding her hand. This had to look bad, but she didn’t care. Taurus was the one that said they were nothing.
“I’d rather wait until Rachel comes.” She pulled her hand out of Zen’s because it was just too strange.
