by Rosette Lex
It took a pair of steps into the room and halted, scanning the three of them with a dispassionate gaze that scared Ellie more than the wrong sun and strange landscape. It – she wasn't completely sure it was a he – stood at least six feet tall with broad shoulders and muscular arms.
Wearing what looked like some kind of flight suit or coverall made from a silky material with its feet in soft boots, it was pretty much human shaped with four limbs and one head. It was the head, however, which gave the game away. Scalp wise, the whole head was hairless but had a pattern of dark green, circular marks running in two lines beginning just up from its eyes.
Set deeply in its skull, its eyes were a little too far apart to be human and they had violet irises which began lighter at the edges and darkened down to midnight pools in the middle. There were no eyebrows but it had high cheekbones and a jaw which was squarer than any Ellie had ever seen. A thin lipped mouth opened and issued a single command,
“Follow.” It had a deep voice and odd accent Ellie couldn't place. She glanced at Juanita and the other girl who watched with wild eyed panic.
“S-sir?” Ellie squeaked, the violet eyes fixed on her and it took every ounce of her self control not to flinch, “W-where are we and what do you want with us?”
“Follow.” It repeated a little louder, glancing between the three of them to see if they were doing as they were told.
Juanita stood up slowly, with her arms crossed over her breasts and fresh tears making new tracks down her cheeks. With Ellie already standing, the rest, including the alien, looked at the unknown girl who remained where she was.
The bald thing in the doorway reached her in three giant steps and reached down, grabbing the petrified girl around her throat and hauling her up off the floor. Her arms and legs unfolded like a rag doll and her eyes widened even further when the big creature thumped her against the wall, choking her. Turning almost instantly red, the unnamed girl's face looked to swell with the extra pressure, but she made no attempt whatsoever to save herself.
“FOLLOW!” The big thing bellowed into the now bulging eyes of the girl. Her eyes flicked towards Ellie who felt all her fear drain from her to be replaced by burning anger. She literally threw herself at the creature's back, hammering its head and back with her fists and screaming.
“Let her go! You're killing her!” She grabbed its arm, yanking as hard as she could to get it to let the girl go. It turned to look at her, the violet eyes fixing on her own and she also noted the circles on its head had changed color too, going redder from the original green. Ellie lashed out at its leg with her own foot, wincing when it felt like stubbing her toes on concrete.
The alien shrugged Ellie off as if she was a toy, bringing a surprisingly sharp elbow back into her chest and knocking all her breath out with a grunt. The nameless girl was gasping huge lungfuls of air as she lay sprawled against the wall as Ellie crawled painfully across to her.
“Should have let me die.” The girl whispered hoarsely. Ellie shook her head, there was no way she would give up as easily as this girl, if need be she'd go down fighting with everything she had.
Ellie dragged herself to her feet and turned towards the door, holding her chest as she wandered across to it, staring at the alien,
“Touch me again and I'll kill you.” She threatened, but her tone didn't even convince herself and a rumbling sound came from the creature's chest. Was it laughing at her?
Chapter 2
Weariness made Kanatel's arms feel heavier than they were as he made his way through Gasnaga port, shoving his way through the milling crowds waiting for to see the new humans which were for sale.
Kanatel grunted as he shoved his way through males and females of his species all of who wanted a fine specimen of humankind. He didn't understand it, the obsession his race had with these Earth men and women. Weak and scared, every one of them.
He imagined himself in their position and smiled, if a race from another planet came and took him away to be sold, he'd kill as many of them as he could before they took him down. Passing a bar which was packed with yelling customers and wild eyed staff, Kanatel shoved his way between a group of males who were bragging to each other about how much they were able to pay for some prime human flesh.
“Hey!” One called as Kanatel moved past them.
“Who do you think you are?” Kanatel halted and turned slowly round before walking back and glancing between them all. He was a head taller than any of them and more heavily muscled than probably anyone here.
A couple of them had the sense and grace to look away while the mouthpiece who had called out couldn't back down now. Kanatel waited for a few seconds and then spoke.
“I'm Kanatel, owner and operator of the starship Vintrahu,” He waited for the information to sink in before carrying on, “Who are you to question me?” He demanded.
Several of the small group had started backing away when they realized who he was, yet the one who had challenged him still hoped to save face, Kanatel was actually impressed, a tiny bit anyway. He tilted his head to one side and fixed the smaller man with a stare. “Well?”
It was the auction itself which saved him, every pair of eyes, Kanatel's included, turned to the staging area which had been set up, eager t0 see what was on offer today. Sensibly the small group sidled away from Kanatel and his air of violence as a single voice burst across the concourse.
“My noble Jarillians!” The crowd cheered, baying for more, “We have a magnificent selection of humans for you today, four males and three females, all captured using our new EMP and stealth technologies. These new inventions allow our collection team to get some of the youngest and healthiest humans you have ever encountered.”
The crowd screamed their appreciation and even began to surge forwards, eager to see what new stock looked like.
Four men were ushered onto the stage and the crowd went silent. They were almost children, Kanatel thought, how had they secured such prizes? The new technologies the company had developed must be impressive to secure men as fit, healthy and young as these.
A ripple of anticipation flooded through the crowd, turning their cranial spots a sickly yellow color. Female Jarillians shoved their way forwards, desperately trying to get the smallest touch of these Earth men before the bidding began.
“As you can see,” The loud voice continued, “These are among the best specimens their planet has to offer, no more defective or aging product.” There was a pause and then, “Who among you noble Jarillians will start the bidding with one million sedrana?” A particularly muscular male was pushed forwards, his head was down, eyes fixed on the floor.
Loud groans came from the crowd when they heard the immense price, many of them not even having the lowest bid. The human had his head tilted up to reveal his face and the first bid was screamed out from the crowd. Chaos ensued then, with bids and counter bids pushing the price ever further up. After a while a Jarillian female won out over the others and climbed on the stage to claim her human.
Kanatel was caught up in the proceedings even though he had no interest in these creatures despite the rumors they were supposed to be second to none to copulate with. The remaining few males and two of the females were auctioned off for higher prices than the planet had ever seen and Kanatel decided it was way past time he was at home when the final human was dragged out.
Kanatel's mouth went dry when he caught sight of her. She was magnificent! Her hair fell across her shoulders like liquid gold and she had an almost plump, curved body but long, long legs.
Kanatel didn't know what the unusual sensation was in his chest but instantly recognized his arousal. The human female glared out over the crowd with a look of hate and distaste plastered across her small face. It amused Kanatel to watch her try and bite the Jarillian female who held her.
Ellie had watched as Juanita and the other girl, who had turned out to be called Samantha, had been sold off to the highest bidder. She was vaguely aware there had been some men too
but hadn't been able to see them. The alien had led them from the cell into the control of the other ones outside.
She had decided these were females as they had bigger asses and thighs than the men and a pair of somethings which might have been tits on their chest. Apart from these slight differences, they were almost exactly the same as the males.
Ellie now found herself dragged to the front of a stage, in front of a massive crowd of the filth. Ignoring the fear which was a near constant threat to her sanity, she tried to bite the female who held her bringing a cheer from the crowd.
After a few moments, where the announcer babbled something she couldn't comprehend, she became aware the bidding for her had begun. Several males and even a couple of female aliens were shouting out in their weird language, driving her price up at the same time as driving some of the bidders out.
It had come down to him and one other bidder, the whispers around him gave Kanatel the knowledge the other bidder was the owner of an establishment which rented out the other humans he had bought before. Kanatel nodded again, adding half a million on to his bid. He had pushed his way to the front of the crowd and his gaze was locked on to the wild looking human he had to have.
He was still puzzled as to what drove him to lay out vast sums of money on this creature, he just knew he needed to own her. She was looking at him with a slightly softer expression but one which was still filled with contempt and it drove him wild with the need to possess her.
The auction had come down to two of the aliens, a nasty looking thing with a poorly fitting lower jaw and a huge monster of a thing which looked as if he was bigger than anyone else in the room. There was something different about that one, though, Ellie thought.
It looked as if he was almost smiling as his dark blue eyes fixed on her. Ellie gazed across at the other one, who was a nasty looking animal and thought she might have an easier time with the big one, he looked a bit happier at least.
Even though she didn't understand what they were saying, Ellie could sense something big was happening. The whole crowd had fallen silent, the only sounds coming from the two aliens who were bidding on her. She looked from one to the other as they battled for possession of her, ugly then big, back to ugly and to big once more.
The big one seemed calm, simply staring at her as he nodded quietly to signify his bid. While the broken jawed alien was working himself up into some kind of fit, shaking and throwing evil stares at the bigger one.
The bid was with him and he was looking at some kind of device when he paused and bellowed wordlessly to the roof. He launched the device towards the stage where it smashed into thousands of tiny pieces. Relief flooded through Ellie as he turned and tried to bull his way out through the crowd.
Kanatel was astounded, he had won! Despite parting with a small fortune in sedrana, he had beaten the competition and bought this feisty human female. Now what was he supposed to do with her? People were congratulating him and slapping him on his wide shoulders and back as he made his way across to the stage.
He approached the woman he had just bought and reveled in her defiant gaze which met his as if she was his equal. Something clenched in his chest as he saw she was also more frightened than anyone he had ever seen. Not knowing the methods they used to bring these humans here, Kanatel had no real comprehension of what she had been put through.
Kanatel reached out to run his fingers down the side of her face, showing nothing when she snapped at and bit, his finger – hard.
Chapter 3
Ellie had been dragged from the stage and roughly bundled into some kind of vehicle, the door had been slammed shut and she was alone. Tired and frightened she lowered herself onto a surprisingly comfortable chair and cried until she felt hollow.
What's going to happen to me? Why did that alien buy me? What does he want? I want to go home.
Accepting that she was on another planet had been shockingly easy. She knew this was no dream and could tell these creatures were real, this was happening to her. All those years of people being ridiculed for saying they had been abducted by aliens and it was all probably true!
At least they got to go home, I'd gladly face being thought of as a lunatic if I could see my mom again.
Whatever this thing was, it was a smooth ride at least, Ellie turned to gaze out of the window at the strangely shaped buildings and beings outside. She saw families with younger versions of themselves moving around and weirdly written signs in a language she couldn't understand.
They passed a massive, palatial building which was decorated in pinks and greens. Ellie wondered who lived there until she saw throngs of the aliens coming out loaded with bags and boxes, filling up what she assumed to be cars – or this race's version of it – it looked as if this planet were slaves to consumerism as well. The thought these aliens were similar to people made her relax a little.
It seemed to take forever to leave the city and once the vehicle did, Ellie felt herself pushed back into the chair hard as it sped up incredibly. Blurred into nothing, the landscape flashed by in a dark purple line. Eventually she felt the machine slow to what must be a normal speed before making a turn. She stared through the glass looking at what must be a house or home.
Is this where I'm going to be kept then?
The vehicle pulled inside the building and she saw a well lit area with something which she assumed to be a transport vehicle similar to the one she was in. After a few humming sounds had come and gone, the door beside her swung open and the same alien who had first entered her cell reached a hand towards her,
“Follow.” He commanded again. Ellie couldn't see any point in not doing as she was told at the moment, besides which, this one would gladly drag her out by the throat if she didn't.
“Excellent vocabulary you've got there, fuckhead.” Ellie spat the words at him as she climbed down into a virtually bare room. The female who Ellie had tried to bite at the auction stood next to a doorway and she was roughly pushed in her direction. The three of them stood before the door and the two aliens started jabbering in their incomprehensible babble.
Ellie looked from one to the other and somehow knew they were fighting about something, the female one especially, looked nervous. Eventually they seemed to resolve whatever it was and the female reached her slim fingered hand out towards a lighter patch beside the door.
Nothing untoward happened when she touched it but a few seconds later it opened to reveal the huge alien who had bought her. His dark blue eyes fixed on her immediately making Ellie think he could see every secret she had ever kept. He spoke to the others without ever taking his gaze from Ellie, even when they gave him some kind of device to use.
Confirming his purchase?
Ellie was guided forward and handed over to her new owner, the door closed behind her and they were alone. Ellie found herself in a huge room decorated with odd pictures of plants, animals and other aliens she didn't have any knowledge of. Dim light came from the ceiling, somehow, and it was a little warmer than the garage she had been in.
He was bigger close up than Ellie had realized before, her head only coming to the same level as his thickly muscular shoulders. He looked down at her with an odd expression and for a second she wondered if he was simple, backwards in some way, as his face was almost slack.
He dragged his gaze from her with some difficulty and moved lithely across the room to a wall which opened automatically before him. Ellie watched the way he moved, his arms and legs in perfect harmony and thought he would be able to dance well.
Now where did that come from?
He turned, beckoning her to follow, and she crossed the room to enter the next.
This room was brightly lit and had a large table made of something she couldn't identify as a centerpiece. Her mouth immediately started to water as it had been laid from one side to the other with what smelled like food and looked like bottles of drink. Her owner pointed at her then at the table before lowering himself onto a vast couch and watching what s
he was going to do.
“Don't say much, do you?” Ellie said, staying still in spite of her stomach's demands to fill it. Although she didn't recognize any of the foods on offer, her nose painted a picture with aroma, one she wanted to dive into.
“Are you stupid? You certainly look stupid. What you want with me, you big bastard?” The alien tilted his head to one side as she spoke, like a dog which thought it understood what she was saying.
He rose abruptly, in one fluid move making Ellie flinch, and moved to the table, picking up something from one of the plates. He broke it and ate half, offering the other half to her.
Showing me it's not poison? Would I care if it was?
Deciding she probably would, Ellie snatched the food from him and gobbled it like he was going to take it away again. It turned out to be a spicy meat of some kind, Ellie tried not to think what kind of animal it might have come from, just mechanically chomped her way through it while he watched.
Once she had finished, she approached the table and started trying some of the other foods there. Some of the flavors were tantalizingly familiar to her palate while others were as alien as he was. A few things she spat instantly back out, disgusted by the taste and heard the odd sound, like laughter, coming from the alien when she did.
“Well you might be as dumb as bricks but you can cook.” She said with her back to him.
“Why you say I am dumb?”
She froze. His deep, reverberating voice echoed around the room. He had an unusual accent, of course, not like any she had ever heard on Earth.
Ellie turned slowly to face him.
“Ah, well I just thought because no one else has bothered to say much to me, including you, you didn't understand me.” He nodded his massive head slowly.
“What is you name?” He wondered.
“Ellie Rogers.” She said, “Yours?” Ellie added with a challenging stare. His dark red lips twisted up into a smile.
