by M. A. Church
"God, this is your room, isn't it? Oh, please don't—" Shaking, I pulled the sheet up to my chin. It wasn't much of a barrier, but it was all I had. "Please don't hurt me."
"I won't hurt you." Keyno froze by the bed, horror showing on his face. "Dale, never would I hurt you. You're safe with me, understand?"
I didn't answer, just stared at him, unsure what to say or what to do. He called this safe? What was his idea of safe, anyway? Bet it differed from mine. Maybe he needed to switch channels on that communication thingy.
"Okay." Keyno took a deep breath when I didn't answer. "Why don't we just... tell you what. Would you like something to eat or drink? You've been asleep for nearly twelve hours."
Was he kidding me? Eat? Anything I put in my stomach was going to make a reappearance. "Can I get dressed? I don't have... all my clothes are... Jesus." I wanted out of his bed, the sooner the better.
I huddled beneath the sheets, terrified of this creature that had overseen me being forcibly questioned and who had admitted to sticking stuff in my brain. I was suspicious and more than a little angry. Why was he acting so nice and concerned? I had no reason to believe he was nice. Was this a trap? Was he trying to trick me for some reason? That guard had told me that I'd been chosen, and I'd been harvested illegally. Then the human doctor had told me that this alien had called me 'my chosen'.
I had put two and two together and didn't like what I'd come up with. I had many questions I needed answers to, but I didn't know which one to start with and wasn't sure I could hold on to my temper. Then there was the little problem of stark raving fear. But one thing I knew for sure—I wanted to be dressed. Sitting here naked had me at a distinct disadvantage. Plus it made me nervous.
Keyno stared at me for a moment. "There are clothes in the right side of the closet. They are for you. Use the bathroom, dress yourself, and join me in the other room."
Once he'd gone, I scrambled out of bed, used the bathroom, and went straight to the closet. To the left were uniforms, and other things I could tell were made for someone bigger than me—probably him. On the other side were smaller clothes that looked like they'd fit me. That alone made my heart beat faster. There was no good reason for him to have clothes for me, in just my size, except for... no. I didn't want to think of the reason. I grabbed a pair of silky soft black pants that ended a couple of inches below my knees. They fit perfectly through my waist, hips, and thighs, but loosened up and belled out past my knees. Since I didn't see anything that looked remotely like what I normally wore, I slipped those on.
"You have to be kidding me." I scowled down at the pants. They hugged every curve.
I found a thin white shirt with long flowing sleeves that ended past my elbows. It had the same silky feel as the pants. On the floor were pairs of sandals. I buckled the first ones I saw around my ankles. As I stood up, the inside of one of the closet doors shimmered, and I jumped back, ready for... I had no idea what. The closet door did nothing threatening; it just turned into a mirror.
After I dressed, I made my way into the other room where... what was his name? Right, Keyno. The room had a small sitting area, like an eat-in kitchen, and opened up to a larger room like a den. In here was a table with two chairs. The chairs were funny-looking with a part cut out near the bottom. I glanced at Keyno's tail. That made sense.
He motioned me over to something that looked like a microwave, but without a door or buttons. "Are you hungry? Would you like to eat?
What was with the offer of food again? Did I look hungry? What I wanted was answers. The very last thing I wanted was food. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Whatever they'd used to put me to sleep had dried out my mouth. "All I really want is something to drink."
"I'd like for you to eat, but that can wait. Just step a little closer to this and say what you want, and be specific." Keyno motioned for me to stand next to him. "This is a duplicator. I want you to order your drink so the program will have your voice print. Then you can use it whenever you want."
I caught the implication, but let it pass. I didn't plan on being here long. "Just water."
I had barely finished speaking when there was a humming noise and a flash of light. Seconds later my drink appeared, and I looked at Keyno.
"Go ahead. It's safe." Keyno sat a small table. "Join me."
I removed my drink and sat down. It was time to clear this mess up. "There's been a mistake."
"Why do you think there's been a mistake?"
I sipped my drink. "I'm not supposed to be here. I'm under the age limit. I'm only twenty-two. This must be a mistake."
"Maybe I should've given my title with my full name. I'm Captain Keyno Shou. I'm the captain of this starship," Keyno answered, although his words were no answer to my protest. "There's been no mistake, but there has been a huge lie told to your people. There is no anonymous harvesting program that ends in seven years. That was a story your government—actually, your entire world—made up so there wouldn't be mass panic. We didn't agree with the deception, but your government insisted. We came here to claim mates, and I chose you, Dale. You will be my mate."
"No," I whispered. As my fear grew, so did my anger. This was the mother of all conspiracy theories, and my own government had pulled it off, which only showed yet again how trusting and blind the American people could be. My own damn government had betrayed me, had just handed me over to this alien who was going to... oh, God, fuck me.
"Dale—"
"No, dammit! I don't want this. You can't do this to me. I want to go home! You can't just take someone. There's a system in place." I frantically wondered if this could be stopped. I was under the age limit, dammit. Didn't that matter? I didn't want to be mated to an alien, and God, what he said sounded permanent. As in not going home... ever.
"Who's to stop us? Your world has proven its willingness to give up a few thousand young men to protect the billions of your planet." Keyno shrugged as if that was nothing. "Every member of my crew was granted the right to take a mate, any mate we wanted. Some will pick from the ones that are collected next week, and some of us already knew whom we wanted. I wanted you."
Horrified, I stared at him, unable to believe the words coming out of his mouth. "But... but... but—that's just wrong. I won't do this!"
"Dale, I understand you're upset—"
"You understand nothing," I yelled. It was clear that I had no way out and that no one outside of my family cared what he did to me or with me. My own government didn't care what happened to me, obviously. I was a lamb led to the slaughter, while my government stood by and waved goodbye, wearing a big damn smile.
"I understand much better than you think. But the fact remains—who's going to stop us? We've honored our agreement for the past five years. Only a few of you were chosen and collected early. Dale, I won't harm you, but I need you to understand there is no way to stop this."
This was insane. "Tell me why! Why me? I've never seen you before. Why did you pick me of all people?" None of this made sense. Frantically, I tried to understand how I ended up here. What could I have possibly done to draw his attention to me?
"Last cycle—a cycle is an earth year—your best friend was collected, do you remember? Your father tackled you as he was being led away."
I recalled that nightmarish day clearly. Chad wasn't just my best friend; we'd been friends since childhood. The lottery drawing was to be held that day. Chad and I had spent the day together because Chad was nervous. I'd just walked home to eat dinner when the extraction van showed up and the yelling began—Chad's number had been picked and the extraction team had arrived to remove him. I saw them hauling him out of his house, and I just lost it.
I didn't remember running back to his home. All I knew was I had to stop them from taking my best friend. Next thing I knew my dad tackled me, pinning me down on our front lawn. I was hysterical, nearly out of my mind. The last image I had of Chad was of him fighting desperately, and losing.
"Yeah, I remember it." The memories
still haunted me.
"I monitored the collection, ah... I believe your people call it harvesting. I saw how you reacted. You had no hope of helping him, but you acted bravely. If your father had not stopped you, I do believe you would have attacked the extraction team bare-handed." Keyno sounded impressed by my actions.
Frankly, this pissed me off even more. So what if Keyno was impressed? This was my best friend that was taken from me. "So yeah, I would have, and probably would have gotten my ass handed to me for the effort."
Keyno snorted. "Possibly. But I admired the loyalty you showed to your friend and the courage it took for you to do something like that. It's what first drew me to you."
And I couldn't have cared less. But I did want to know what had happened to Chad, so I guessed I'd play nice. "I've missed Chad. Do you know what happened to him?"
"I do. He's mated to my First Officer." Keyno waited as I gaped at him. When I didn't reply, he spoke again. "He's here, on this very ship."
Now he had my attention. "He's here? Can I see him?" I stumbled over the questions, nearly running them together in my excitement. "Does he know that I'm here? What you did?"
Keyno frowned at my choice of words. "Yes, he knows you're here. You may consider seeing him your reward if you abide by the rules. There are things you need to learn about my culture. But make no mistake." Keyno crossed his arms over his chest. "There is no way off my ship. Plus... well, I'll show you."
Keyno pushed a button and a screen slid up, showing Earth below us. I'd seen pictures of our planet, but seeing it from space was something completely different. Jesus, I was in outer space. As hauntingly beautiful as Earth was in the stillness of space, I wanted Keyno to close the portal. It was an image that would probably be burned in my mind forever. I knew then that I was never getting off this damn ship.
"Try to accept this." Keyno quietly stared at my pale face. "You have no choice."
Maybe I was in shock, but I didn't answer. What was there to say?
"Now, I want you to wear this." He picked up a strange device I hadn't noticed before.
"Whoa, there. What's that?" I threw out my hand to stop him.
"It won't hurt you, but it will give you information—teach you things you need to adapt. It's called a Datajector." Keyno placed it on my head. It reminded me of a headset. "You need to wear it an hour each day."
It curved around my head and extended out along the side of my face. It had little screens that went in front of my eyes. As tempted as I was to tear it off my head and throw it across the room, I didn't fight him about wearing it and sat quietly as he programmed it. He explained that it sent messages into my brain. It would teach me about their society, political structure, etiquette, language—the list went on and on.
"I want you to start with this now, and in an hour it will shut off." Keyno waited for me to reply, and when I didn't, he continued. "I have a few duties to attend to. Later, I'll return and show you around my ship. Please don't attempt to leave my quarters. You can't get out."
Wasn't that lovely? I was locked in his damn room. He turned on the device and left. The program started up, showing me unbelievable things. At the end of the hour, I knew one thing for sure. They were indeed a dying race, and it was their own damn fault.
Chapter Three
Later Keyno returned and led me into what looked like a conference room. As we approached, I saw another large Tah'Narian waiting in the corridor. "Dale, this is my First Officer, Gibor Kwen. He's mated to Chad."
I stared at the Tah'Narian that was Chad's mate. His long hair was the color of onyx and he had lime green eyes. He was just a little shorter than Keyno, but with the same muscular build.
"You've done such a good job with your studies I'm going to allow you to see Chad now. Alone." Keyno smiled at my look of shock as the door to the conference room opened. "Have a seat, he'll be here shortly. Please listen to what he has to tell you."
I walked into the room. Thank goodness there was no one else here except us three. The door opened and Chad walked into the room. He and Gibor hugged, and then the aliens left. Stunned, I watched him approach me. The slight difference in his appearance surprised me. The hair on one side of his face now had a wide black streak which was startling against his blond hair. But other than that, he looked like I remembered. I was so relieved to see a familiar face, I lost the tenuous hold I had on my emotions. I vaguely heard the door slide shut as Chad hugged me close.
"Chad, I never thought I'd see you again."
Chad wrapped his arms around me, holding me close while I cried on his shoulder. My emotions ripped me to shreds as the past several hours finally overwhelmed me.
"Damn, I couldn't believe it when Gibor told me you were finally here." Chad patted me on the back while I fell apart. "I know, Dale. I know how awful it is in the beginning—the lies, the betrayal. The first few hours are the hardest."
"My family... God, Chad, I'll never see them again, will I? The last I saw of Mom, she was on her knees, crying in the kitchen." I choked as I tried to draw enough air to speak. "My sister, Susan, was on the floor, her arms wrapped around Mom. They had Dad pinned against a fucking wall, Chad." Chad held me as this sickening mess of emotions poured out of me. "I didn't even get to say goodbye to any of them. Their last memory will be of me being dragged out of the house." I wept bitterly. Fucking aliens. Fucking human military. "And now I find out that I will never see them again. I want to go home, dammit!"
Chad pushed me over to a chair as I cried. My grief overflowed at the unfairness of it all. I had always been close to both my parents, and I missed them terribly. My being gay had never been an issue for them. As long as I was happy, they were happy. What would it do to them when they found out I was never coming back? That all this was just a huge lie, promoted by our government? My sister, Susan, was seven months pregnant—her husband had been at work. They were having a girl, and I'd never even get to see my niece. The fear of what was happening to me, and the pain of losing my family, came crashing through. God, I just wanted it all to go away.
"I'm here to help in any way I can," Chad promised. "I can't replace what's been taken away from you, but I can help you adjust."
"Adjust?" I reared back and my tears dried up. What the hell was he talking about? "Fuck adjusting. Is no one hearing what I'm saying? I don't want to be here. I shouldn't be here. I don't want to adjust, I want to go home! What's happened to you, Chad? I thought you'd be on my side."
"Listen to me. I'm not excusing what they do, or how they go about doing it. It's wrong, and privately many of them agree that it's wrong. But their race is dying," Chad explained. "It took me a long time to accept that. And, believe it or not, I do love Gibor."
"Love him? What is wrong with you?" I jerked away from Chad. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. How dare he try and plead their case? He was supposed to be on my side, not trying to persuade me to go over to theirs. And he loved that alien? "What the hell, Chad?" I felt hollow inside. My best friend was truly gone and I was utterly alone. "Are you nuts? Of course it's fucking wrong. This whole thing is wrong."
"Have you started your studies, and seen the effect being unable to reproduce has had on their world?" Chad demanded. "Dale, please, you don't understand."
"I don't care, dammit! I've seen enough to know they brought it on themselves. Let them all die. I certainly don't give a shit. And to think I was happy you were here, that you'd understand. That alien doesn't care for me. And I don't understand? I understand I don't know you anymore."
"Doesn't care?" Chad pushed his chair back angrily. "Okay, let's talk about 'that alien' not caring for you. Try this on for size, buddy—you had leukemia."
"I... I... I... what?" I stared at Chad, stunned. If he'd hit me in the head with a hammer I couldn't have been more stunned. My stomach dropped as his words sank in. "What the hell do you mean?"
"Well, shit, I wasn't supposed to tell you." Chad slapped his hand to his forehead. "Dammit, Gibor isn't going to
be happy with me. I haven't seen you in a year, and you still can push my buttons faster than anyone else I know."
"I have leukemia? Oh, fuck, leukemia? Am I going to die?" The shock of finding out I had a disease numbed my already overwhelmed mind. My stomach crawled up into my throat. It was a good thing I hadn't eaten, or I would've thrown up everything at that moment. My head spun and the room blurred for a second. That might have been from the tears flooding my eyes. "I don't want to die here, alone. Chad, please, help me!"
"You're not listening, Dale. I said you had leukemia. You're fine now. When Keyno took you, he had you injected with Tah'Narian DNA to combat the disease. They do that anyway, but he had you double-dosed, a first for them. They don't double-dose mates. That's why you slept so long." Chad flopped back into his seat.
"Dear God, why would he do that?" I clutched the table, my knuckles white from the strain. The ramifications of being injected with alien DNA wasn't fully registering.
"Really, Dale? Why do you think? He's been watching you ever since I was collected. He told you that, right? He admires you, and came to care for you. Why else would he choose you for his mate? Because of your smartass humor?" Chad snorted lightly and touched my shoulder. "Which I've missed, by the way. Just give him a chance, get to know him."
"I need—I need some time to think. Can I go back to my room, I mean, his room?" I was shaking. Get to know him? I didn't want to know him. I wanted to go home. "Please, Chad, I can't do this right now."
"I'm sorry, really sorry. I shouldn't have told you that, and Keyno isn't going to be happy I let this slip. He wanted to be the one to tell you." Chad led me to the door and entered a code to open it. "Come on, I'll walk you to your room."
We walked in silence down the endless corridor until we arrived at Keyno's room. I felt drained. All I wanted to do was fall into bed and not think for a while.
"Keyno will be back shortly, after he gets done with his shift." Chad entered the code to open the door. "Are you going to be okay?"
