by R. E. Butler
Kate harrumphed. “I’d rather walk.”
“That’s how I used to feel about flying back on Earth. I would rather have driven ten hours to get somewhere than take a two-hour flight. I think it’s about being in control.”
“How did you get over it?”
“When I was in college, my mom got a bonus at work and wanted to go to Hawaii for vacation. She didn’t want to go alone, and I said I wouldn’t go because I was too scared to fly. She said I couldn’t spend my life being afraid and never going anywhere fun. I decided she was right.”
“What was your first flight like?”
“Oh, I cried the whole way, but it was such a beautiful place I decided that it was worth it, and that my mom had been right. Being afraid of something I didn’t know wasn’t going to get me anywhere.”
Kate remembered how calm Ashleigh had been when she’d woken up in the alien ship. All the women who had been kidnapped from Earth had woken up in a room together, wearing what looked like hospital gowns. A video told them they had been chosen as brides for aliens and that everything would be fine. One by one, the women had been taken away in glowing cuffs and delivered to the males who had paid for them. Kate had struggled and fought against the soldiers who took her to Dex. The big male had sneered at her, looking her up and down as if she were a piece of furniture he wasn’t sure he wanted. Her soldier escort told her that Dex was her mate, and then he’d pushed her into the room and the door closed behind her. She could still remember the way the door swished closed and locked. Dex had wanted to take her to bed immediately, and when she told him he wouldn’t be touching her, he shoved her into the small kitchen area and said she should make herself useful. Of course she hadn’t known how to use their strange appliances, and that had made him angry. She’d been stuck in his room for the whole trip, which took sixty days or what they called dins. He’d been horrible to her. She’d stopped bathing to try to dissuade him from trying to have sex with her. It had worked, but what she hadn’t understood was that if she rejected him, then she was going to be sold as a sex slave.
She shuddered. If it weren’t for Paoli buying her freedom and taking her with him, she would have been in an endless loop of slavery with a debt so great that no amount of paid sex would ever make a dent in it. The Bordelayz charged exorbitant rates for the cells and food they provided their slaves. She would have died in that awful place if it weren’t for her angel.
Which was why going to see Sloan was so important. Without the serum, making love to Paoli wouldn’t change anything. Well, it would change a hell of a lot between them, because she wanted to tell him how strong her feelings for him had grown over the last month, but it wouldn’t change his status. She hated how he’d been treated in the park. She’d live in the workshop forever if it meant they could pay for the serum and he could have brown hair.
Ashleigh said that since Sloan was a medical officer, she might be able to help or get the serum for a discount. Kate was keeping her fingers crossed for good news.
The hover-machen stopped in front of a large building. The homes on Norlan were shaped like domes, but businesses, including the Bordelayz and medical center, were square. To Kate, they looked very sterile. It was hard to believe that a building that housed sex slaves could look so non-descript on the outside.
“Have you tried learning the written language?” Ashleigh asked.
The doors of the hover-machen opened and Kate and Ashleigh got out. “No. Paoli offered when we were in the community home, but I was so upset with what had happened that I didn’t want to do anything but go home.”
Ashleigh stopped on the walkway in front of the medical building. “You seem happier.”
“I am. I know I acted ungrateful and I’m sorry. I never meant to belittle your part in helping me and Paoli to be truly free. If you hadn’t made a place for us, Paoli said we might have wound up back in the Bordelayz, since it’s against the law to be homeless.”
“Eden would do anything for Paoli. He helped him when he was struggling with drug addiction.”
“After what happened at the park yesterday, I don’t feel like he’s safe out in public. He said it’s nothing to worry about, but the soldiers didn’t really want to listen when he said he was free. If he had brown hair, I don’t think they would have bothered us.”
Ashleigh frowned. “I don’t know about that. You’re a beautiful woman and you and Paoli aren’t married. It would be better for you to be married and him to still have blue hair, than for him to have brown hair but you not be married.”
Kate’s heart sank. “I thought it was just the hair color.”
“It’s a combination of things. He and Eden were slaves and it’s nearly impossible to come back from that. But it can be done, just look at how far Eden’s come in a short time. He bought a home in a good area, he’s married, and he has brown hair. The Norlanian people can overlook a lot if the exterior package is pleasant, do you know what I mean?”
“You mean if you were living in slums, he wouldn’t be able to earn a living?”
“Probably not.”
Kate pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes and tried not to scream at the unfairness of the situation. “I really hate this fucking planet.”
Ashleigh squeezed her shoulder. “Paoli won’t let anyone take you. I know it sucks, but he paid for you and that means that unless you were to say you didn’t want to be with him, no one can separate you two.”
Dropping her hands, she said, “I still want to talk to Sloan.”
“Plus, she said she’d take us someplace blin for lunch.”
“What does blin mean again?”
The doors to the medical center whooshed open as they approached and a blast of cold air swept over them as they stepped inside. “Cool.”
Kate rolled her eyes. When she’d been abducted, a doctor onboard the ship had surgically inserted a translator in her ear. Sometimes it couldn’t translate a Norlanian word into English, though, so she had to ask for clarification.
They walked into a huge waiting room and approached a circular desk. A woman with short, brown hair sat behind the desk. “May I help you?”
“I’m Ashleigh Atarn. Sloan Atarn is expecting my friend and I.”
The woman gestured to what looked like an iPad on the desk and Ashleigh signed her name. “Have a seat, I’ll let her know you’re here.”
“Thanks,” Ashleigh said.
Kate turned toward the chairs in the waiting room, but as she moved toward them, she heard a voice she’d hoped to never hear again. Dex! She peered around the large, open area. There were hallways leading away from the waiting room and metal doors with signs on them that she thought might be offices or exam rooms. She spied him across the room. He wasn’t wearing the uniform he’d had on when she met him, which had been entirely black. Now his uniform was light gray. Fury raced through her and before she knew what she was doing, she’d grabbed a potted plant from a low table and stalked across the room. When she got close enough, she threw the pot at him.
It smashed against the wall next to him and he ducked away with a shout of alarm.
“You bastard!” she screamed.
Ashleigh grabbed her arm and tried to tug her away, but Kate wouldn’t be moved. Soldiers rushed toward them, but she didn’t care.
“You’re crazy!” he shouted, rubbing at his scruffy cheek where blood welled from a cut.
“You had me kidnapped! No one asked me what I wanted, you just took me. You never gave me a choice!” Hot tears welled in her eyes but she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.
Sloan appeared, putting herself between Kate and Dex, shielding them with her arms. “Stand down, all of you!” she ordered.
“She attacked me,” Dex growled. The soldiers reached for their weapons and fear slithered through her, but she had something to say to that poor excuse for a man and she was certain she’d never get another chance.
Leaning to the side so she could lock eyes with him, she
said, “You’re the worst sort of man. You tried to buy a wife because you’re too awful to get one on your own.”
He bared his teeth at her. “You cost me a fortune.”
Indignation rose up hot within her. “You just wanted a sex slave and a maid; don’t act like you really wanted a wife. And what’s worse is that you made me pay for it! You dumped me at the Bordelayz where they were going to force me to have sex with strangers to repay a debt I never should have had! You had no right!” Her voice grew higher as she spoke, as the unfairness of the situation really hit home. How many females had just accepted their fate because they knew what the alternative was? It had worked out for Ashleigh, but maybe she was the exception and not the rule.
A shadow of regret passed through Dex’s eyes, or maybe Kate was just seeing things.
A male she recognized from the ship strode forward with more soldiers. He stopped next to Sloan. “I don’t give a fourn’s hide who threw what or who was screaming like a gilded bansrest. Get the hades out of the waiting room and back to your posts, all of you!” He barked the orders, and, after giving her a derisive glare, Dex slunk off with the other soldiers.
Kate looked at the soldier. “Am I in trouble?”
His stern look slid away into a smile. “No. If he were in the military, I might have needed to investigate, but you still wouldn’t have been in any trouble. As it is, no one really cares if the staff officers are hurt; their station in our society is too low.”
Kate said, “I don’t understand. He’s in the military, isn’t he?”
“It’s not important. Miss Atarn, I will expect you to let me know when your friends leave so I can escort them safely to their vehicle.”
Kate was certain that Sloan blushed. “Of course, Captain Riya.”
He spun on his heels and the soldiers with him followed.
Ashleigh said quietly, “He’s rather sexy.”
Sloan sniffed and shook her head. “Let’s get to my office and chat. I’ll order lunch in for us.”
The food arrived quickly after Sloan ordered. On a platter was an enormous white square of…something. It looked like a cake, but it seemed to be throbbing.
Sloan picked up a fat knife from the hovering food delivery tray and cut into the square. Boiling green liquid gushed from it and Kate and Ashleigh both jumped up from their chairs as tendrils squeezed from the opening, flopping loudly onto the platter.
“What the hell is that thing?” Ashleigh gasped.
Sloan chuckled. “Its deligluy.”
“It looks like worms in snot,” Kate said, feeling her stomach roll.
“I don’t know what worms or snot are, but trust me, it’s delicious. It’s noodles in pineare gravy. It’s baked in a pan and then covered with mashed ropalas and heated until the gravy boils. You have to eat it while it’s hot or the noodles will be crunchy.”
Sloan slapped a wedge of green-covered noodles onto a plate and held it out. Ashleigh said, “You first.”
Kate’s stomach rumbled in spite of the revolting sight. It did smell good. Sitting back down, she took the plate from Sloan and picked up a utensil from the tray. She swirled the utensil into the steaming concoction and lifted it.
“You’re sure the noodles aren’t actually alive? I think I see them moving.”
Sloan laughed as she handed a plate to Ashleigh. “It’s one of the restaurant’s best-selling dishes, and no, they’re not now, nor have they ever been, alive. Trust me, I’d never steer you wrong.”
Kate eyed Sloan, who was just sitting down with her own plate, and decided that she would trust her. She put the weird, green noodles into her mouth and chewed slowly. The texture reminded her of egg noodles and the taste was amazing. It was like the mushroom gravy her mother used to make with her pot roast every Sunday. The mashed ropalas were like sweet potatoes and tasted delicious with the gravy and noodles.
As she finished chewing her second bite, she smiled at Ashleigh. “It’s really good. Not worm-like at all.”
“Just when I think I’ve seen the weirdest food here, something else comes along that’s even stranger.”
After Ashleigh tried a bite and decided she liked it, too, the women ate and talked about Eden’s art class and Paoli’s first sale of the brooch she’d designed. When they’d finished their meal with a fruit salad, Sloan called for her assistant to remove the tray and then sat back with her hands folded in her lap.
“You know I love to see you both, but I don’t think you came here just to have lunch and talk about art. What’s going on?”
Kate said, “I want to know how much the serum costs to turn Paoli’s hair brown.”
Sloan’s brows rose. “Thirty thousand deenars. It’s just slightly more than it costs for the soul-walk.”
“Why is it so expensive?”
“Well, the government says that it’s made from expensive ingredients and a confidential process, but I have always thought that it was because they wanted to encourage the males to find their soul mates through the soul-walk.”
Kate frowned. “The soul-walk won’t show a mate that’s a Norlanian female?”
She shook her head. “When they first began testing females for fertility, one of the first things they did when they realized that most females were entirely sterile was to remove Norlanian females from the soul-walk process. Before the sterility, the males went on soul-walks only on Norlan. Then they would abduct their mate and take her to a wooing cavern for fourteen days to convince her they were worthy of her.”
“You were engaged to a male. He went on a soul-walk for you and then walked away because you weren’t able to have kids?” Kate asked.
Sloan’s smiled sadly. “He didn’t soul-walk. We were childhood sweethearts. He would have purchased the serum for our wedding night. After he broke our engagement, he went on the soul-walk and found a female from another world. They’ve had two sons.”
“I’m sorry, that was really private and I shouldn’t have even asked. I just don’t understand this planet.”
“I know. I wish things were different. Our world was a lot happier before the sterility. Then the males became worried about their legacies and gave up on love. Males who never did the soul-walk but had married Norlanian females were allowed to leave them and do a soul-walk for a new bride who could carry children for them. Warrick’s dad left his mother for an alien wife.”
“Warrick? You mean Captain Riya?” Ashleigh asked.
Sloan blushed. “Yes, Captain Riya. I just meant that while I understand how hard things are for you, you’re not the only one living a life you never anticipated.”
Kate slumped back in the chair. “I know I’m lucky to have Paoli, but I’m worried that soldiers will decide he shouldn’t be free and take him away from me. I don’t want to lose him.”
Her heart clenched as she thought about not waking up with him, not seeing him every day and getting to spend time with him. She’d resisted her feelings for a long time, determined to find a way to get back to Earth. Once she’d realized that wasn’t doing anything but marching her toward a quick grave, she’d seen how much he cared for her without ever asking for anything in return.
“It would be less expensive to get a mating necklace and bracelet. That, at least, would show that you are together, and a mating ceremony can be easily performed. The less fancy jewelry sets cost around five thousand deenars, and a ceremony can be performed for about two hundred.”
Kate touched the place where the necklace had lain for three months, feeling like a noose. “What is it about the necklace and bracelet that make them so valuable?”
“They’re coded with the DNA of both the male and female. It’s how the soldiers know which bride belongs to which male. When the jewelry is ordered, a government official uses a device that encodes the couples’ DNA into the gems. Even if Paoli’s hair remained blue, no one could ignore the mating jewelry.”
“Five thousand deenars is a lot less than thirty thousand,” Kate said.
�
��I can help,” Sloan offered.
Kate shook her head adamantly. “You’ve done so much. Eden said that you lent the sewing machines and bought materials for Paoli. I don’t want to take your money. We can earn it ourselves. It’s not so bad knowing there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.” A five-thousand-dollar tunnel.
“What tunnel?” Sloan asked, tilting her head.
Ashleigh laughed. “It’s an Earth figure of speech. It just means that it’s nice to know what deenar amount is needed.”
“I’m glad you could come and visit with me today.”
“I’m just happy I didn’t get arrested for throwing that pot at Dex. What did Captain Riya mean when he said that no one cared about officers like Dex?”
Sloan stared at her for a moment. “Dex was removed from his position in the military.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know all the details, but apparently when he got back to Norlan, some soldiers thought it would be a good idea to make fun of him because he couldn’t convince you to marry him during the journey home. He put two of them in the hospital. He was disciplined and removed from the military. He took the only job he could get, as a guard here at the medical center. The only other job he could have taken would be to guard the Bordelayz, so it could be worse.”
“Because he got in a fight, he lost his job?” Ashleigh asked.
“One of the males who was badly injured was the son of a high ranking general. It was a costly error. The guards here have little authority and no power. It’s an insult for a male like Dex, who came from a military family, to be reduced to guarding doctors.”
Ashleigh elbowed Kate. “Don’t feel sorry for him. He was an asshole.”
“I know, but now I kinda wish I hadn’t thrown a pot at him. I was so mad when I saw him, but the truth is that I really like Paoli, and if it weren’t for Dex I wouldn’t be with him.”
“I think you more than like him,” Ashleigh said, smiling broadly.
Kate blushed.
“As much fun as I’m having, I should call Captain Riya to escort you out to your vehicle. I’ve got patients to see,” Sloan said.
