by Opal Carew
“It must have happened when I went in with Tazaxx to sign the damn contract for Teeny,” I snarled. “I let her get taken again! What the fuck is wrong with me?” I picked up a handful of the dirt and threw it. It landed against the wall with a splat and slid down, leaving a muddy brown smear which did nothing to relieve my feelings.
“Master, what shall I do?” Al asked anxiously.
“Set a course back for Giedi Prime,” I snapped. “And contact Grav—tell him I need his help sooner than expected. We have to go back—we have to get Zoe before…”
“Before what?” Al was still hovering anxiously in front of me, his eye-light blinking nervously.
I started to say, before it’s too late, but the words wouldn’t leave my lips. What if it was already too late? What if Tazaxx already had Zoe locked away in one of those fucking cages? Or worse, what if he had decided to sell her at the auction? That was probably more likely—he would know I wouldn’t stop until I rescued her. By auctioning her off, he could get her off his hands and keep the massive amount of credit she would no doubt bring. Then whoever bought her would have to deal with me and he would be in the clear.
Except you won’t be, you bastard, I swore to myself. As soon as I get Zoe back I’m going to find you and make you wish you never crawled out of that fucking mud in the first place. You’re going to pay and pay and pay until there’s nothing left of you.
But before I settled with Tazaxx, I had to find Zoe and the auction, and I had no idea where it was being held. Still, how far from Giedi Prime could it be?
I’ll find it, I thought. I have to. And once I got Zoe back, I never intended to let her go again.
If only I could reach her in time.
Zoe
“So this is how it ends,” I muttered to Sellah. “Sold off at an interstellar auction like some kind of freaking object d’ art at a Christie’s auction.”
“I’m afraid so.” She squeezed my hand and I squeezed back gratefully. At least I had one friend here—well, two if you counted Drogon, but he was still hiding quietly at the back of my hair.
I had been afraid he would be discovered when Tazaxx finally turned me over to the Master of the Auction, who was a large, hairy, Big Foot-looking guy. Big Foot had looked me over and listened as Tazaxx explained about my special “gifts,” then he called for the strongest inhibitor collar possible. He and his assistant—a creature with four arms and compound eyes—had locked it around my throat, thus inhibiting my powers, whatever they were.
Honestly, I still didn’t really understand them myself. So far as I could see, I was mostly just able to unlock things that were keyed to other people. That skill might have been useful if I was a James Bond type spy or a cat burglar instead of a paralegal. But other than getting me into trouble again and again, I couldn’t see that my new “powers” had helped me much at all in my time away from Earth.
Drogon had chattered quietly and scrambled to another place in my hair while they put on the collar but luckily neither Big Foot or his Fly Guy assistant noticed the tiny nib-nib. I was glad I still had him for company—especially since Sellah and I were about to be parted. I couldn’t imagine that one buyer would take us both, though I wished it could be so. I had only known Sarden’s little sister for one night, but already I considered her a friend.
Since there was nothing to do but talk, she had told me about her life and I had given her some tidbits on mine as well. She was fascinated to know what life on a closed planet was like and amazed to find out the Earth was so isolated we had no idea that other races existed, especially compatible races also started by the Ancient Ones as they seeded the galaxy.
I, in turn, was fascinated to know what it was like to be queen of an entire planet. But Sellah’s description was disappointing.
“I never wanted to be the Ria,” she told me as we sat in the corner of the cold, nasty cell in Tazaxx’s awful house and waited to be moved to the auction site. “I’ve always loved learning—I wanted to go off planet to the University of Lynex Tau and get a higher degree.”
“Why didn’t you?” I asked.
She sighed. “I felt I had a duty to Eloim. Sarden felt it too—I wanted him to rule with me but he didn’t think the people would allow a half-breed Rae to sit on the double throne and wear the Star of Wisdom.”
“Star of Wisdom? What’s that?” I asked.
“The crown that is genetically keyed to the Rae of Eloim. Only the rightful ruler may wear it on his head and only he may remove it once it is on. If an imposter or one who is wrong for the throne attempts to put it on, the Star of Wisdom will fly from his brow and refuse his touch.” She sighed. “It is the same with the Star of Compassion—the crown of the Ria. When the pirates captured me, they forced me to take it off at blaster-point. I don’t know what happened to it. Perhaps they sold it.”
“So…do these crowns have some kind of advanced computer programs in them or something?” I asked, mystified. “Because it sounds like something out of a fantasy show or something.”
“It is no fantasy,” Sellah said seriously. “There is a being—a long-lived creature, wise beyond measure and old beyond years—that inhabits the stars. Half in the Star of Wisdom and half in the Star of Compassion. It knows always the rightful heirs to the throne of Eloim.”
“And that’s always someone from your family—your genetic line?” I asked, fascinated.
Sellah shook her head. “Only in recent generations. But if the Star of either crown finds the current ruler unfit, it will fly from his or her head and find the worthy one. There are tales of it doing just that during a coronation. Once the Star of Wisdom left the head of a blooded prince and found the head of a muck worker instead.”
“A muck worker?” I stifled a laugh. “If that’s what I think it is, I bet that was quite a scene.”
“The Stars of Wisdom and Compassion are never wrong,” Sellah said. “Which is why I can’t understand why The Star of Wisdom didn’t fly off Hurxx’s head the moment he put it on.”
“Your cousin, right? The one who was supposed to rule with you but instead…”
“Sold me into slavery. Yes.” Sellah sighed, her golden eyes sad. “He should have picked another Ria if he didn’t truly want me. But I think he thought the people wouldn’t support him without my lineage to back him up.”
“You’ll get back to Eloim somehow,” I told her, trying to stay positive. “And when you do, you can expose that bastard Hurxx and tell everyone what he did.”
“From your mouth to the Goddess of Mercy’s ear,” she said, sighing again. “Maybe we will both be bought by males of wisdom and compassion who will listen to our pleas.”
I certainly hoped so but now, looking out from the backstage area of the auction to the crowds milling in front of the raised stage, I didn’t know. There were quite a lot of humanoid aliens—the ones who came from the twelve races seeded by the Ancient Ones, I guessed. But there were plenty of non-human looking creatures as well.
I saw one in the front row that looked like a giant praying mantis. He was wearing a very respectable looking outfit kind of like a gray suit but he also had extremely sharp looking mandibles. I really hoped he didn’t buy me.
There was another guy with a face like a bull with huge, long horns. All I could think of when I looked at him was all the videos I’d ever seen about the Running of the Bulls in Spain and how people get gored there every year. I didn’t want him to buy me either.
In fact, looking over the crowd, I didn’t see anyone I would be happy to go home with. I didn’t even see anyone I would feel safe going home with. If these guys were on Tinder, I would have been swiping left so fast my fingers bled.
Then I saw an older looking alien with smooth brown skin. He had the same golden cat eyes as Sellah and Sarden.
“Hey.” I nudged her with one elbow. “Look at that—is that another Eloim?”
“What? Where?” She scanned the crowd eagerly and her eyes lit up when she saw who I was talking
about. “Goddess be praised! That’s Tellum Vas’kie. He was one of my father’s oldest friends and advisors.”
“You think he’s here for you?” I asked.
“I don’t know but I hope so. If anyone would see through Hurxx’s plans and come looking for me besides Sarden, it would be Uncle Tellum.” She looked at me, hope shining in her eyes. “If he wins me at auction, I’ll ask him to bid on you too, Zoe. Then we can go find Sarden and go back to Eloim to expose Hurxx together!”
“Oh my God, that would be so good.” I felt weak in the knees with relief. “Do you think he can afford both of us?”
“I hope so. It depends on how high the bidding goes,” Sellah said cautiously. “I heard the Master of the Auction talking and I’m afraid you’re expected to draw quite a price. Maybe the most they’ve ever seen at this auction.”
I groaned. “Seriously?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “Why? Is it surprising to you that you’re considered the most valuable female here?”
I thought of how my life had gone up until this point. In high school I couldn’t make the freaking cheerleading squad because I wasn’t one of the popular girls. Also, I didn’t get into my first choice college because my grades weren’t quite up to par, didn’t get to date yummy Ken Forthright in my sociology class because he sat beside a blonde named Krissy who was gorgeous and had legs up to her ears—I couldn’t compete with that. Not to mention I didn’t get the job I wanted so badly at Marston and Hinks, the really nice law firm downtown where they don’t throw staplers at your head because my résumé wasn’t up to snuff.
All my life I had been not quite good enough…second best…below par…just kind of average. And now I was suddenly the perfect 10 that everyone desired—exactly what I’d always wanted to be.
Was this the worst time and place to have my dreams come true or what?
“Zoe?” Sellah asked and I realized I had never answered her question.
“Uh, yes,” I said. “Yes, it surprises me.”
“Well—” Sellah started but the booming voice of Big Foot, the Master of the Auction interrupted her.
“For our first bid of the evening, let’s begin with a beautiful and royal recent acquisition of Master Tazaxx. Rightful heir to the Eloim throne, Ria Sellah de’Lagorn!”
“Looks like you’re up,” I whispered to Sellah. “Uh, good luck.”
“To you too, Zoe. I promise, I’ll try to get Uncle Tellum to buy you if he buys me.”
We had time for a brief hug and then she was pulled away to stand in the center of the metal stage and be gawked at by all the buyers.
“As you can see, gentle-beings, she’s a very fine specimen,” Big Foot declared. “Let’s start the bidding at sixty thousand credits, shall we?”
“Sixty,” a guy in the back who had a long, horse-like nose but human eyes said.
“Sixxxxty-five,” hissed the praying mantis in the front row.
And just like that, the bidding was off and running. It got as high as a hundred thousand credits before Sellah was won—thankfully by the older, portly Eloim she had called Uncle Tellum. I saw him press his hand to the pay pad so that it lit up green and then the guards led her out to stand by him in the crowd.
They started talking at once and I saw her gesturing to the stage, where I was mostly hidden behind a curtain. My heart started beating faster, hope filling me. Maybe he really would buy me too! Maybe all this could be over and we could go home before we knew it.
Only where was home? As much as I missed Charlotte and Leah, I didn’t think of Earth when I thought that word, “home” anymore. I thought of Sarden’s ship and Al and my floating silver beanbag bed and the food synthesizer making weird and inedible things. And most of all I thought of Sarden himself and how much I missed him. Would I ever see him again? Would I ever get to tell him how I was beginning to feel for him? And would he return my feelings…or just want to send me back to Earth?
I had no answers for any of the questions and before I could think some up, it was my turn on the auction block. Or stage—the auction stage, I guess.
The Master of the Auction pulled me from the backstage area to stand front and center before the crowd. I felt my cheeks get hot but I lifted my chin. Even if I was being sold, I wasn’t going to cry and whine about it—they might be able to buy my body but they couldn’t buy my dignity.
Or so I told myself. Although if someone had told me I could get my freedom by crying and begging, I totally would have done it. I’m not too proud to recognize reality. Nobody did, however, so I just had to stand there looking brave and noble, or at least trying to.
Pretend you’re a heroine in a romance novel, I told myself. And the hero is on his way to rescue you.
Only my hero was halfway across the galaxy, probably still believed that damn animated pile of mud Tazaxx had used to fool him was me. I was terribly afraid I wasn’t going to get my Happily Ever After ending. Once I was sold, it was more likely to be a Sadly Ever After. Maybe even a Shortly Ever After. What if I got bought by some kind of a killer? An alien serial killer? What if—?
“Now this is our prize offering here today,” the Master of the Auction said, breaking my morbid train of thought. “A female from a closed world. Seeded by the Ancient Ones and then locked against all outside interference until very, very recently. She is rare beyond belief—a Pure One!”
There was a hushed murmur as the auction goers murmured among themselves, most of them looking at me like I was a prime cut of steak and they had the A1 sauce all ready to go.
The Master of the Auction waited for a moment for the murmuring to calm down and then continued.
“Not only is she a rare Pure One from a closed planet, please note the inhibitor collar she wears. She is also a La-ti-zal—blessed by the Ancient Ones with gifts too powerful to be set free. Gentle-beings, you will simply not find a female like this anywhere else in the galaxy—nay, in the whole universe. This is a one of a kind offering. Now what am I bid?”
“One hundred thousand credits,” someone shouted and I realized dismally that my starting price was Sellah’s ending price. We were going all the way to the top with this—I only hoped her old friend would be willing to try and keep up.
He did try for a while—until the bidding got up past nine hundred thousand credits. But when someone bid a million, I saw Uncle Tellum shake his head regretfully. Sellah had tears in her eyes as she looked at me.
I felt like crying myself, but I refused to. I kept my head high and stared out at the crowd, trying not to see who was winning. But I couldn’t help hearing the bids.
“Two million creditsss,” the praying mantis in the gray suit hissed.
“Five million,” shouted the bull-headed guy. What did they call that in Greek mythology? A man with a bull’s head? Oh right—a minotaur. I was being bid on by a minotaur, or something that looked like one. Could my life get any more surreal?
I didn’t see how.
Then someone stood up in the back of the crowd—a man I hadn’t seen before. He was wearing a mask made of some kind of pink rubbery stuff that made his face a complete blank. It had slits for the eyes and mouth but other than that, everything was just smooth and pink and bland. For some reason, I found it completely terrifying.
“Fifty million credits,” he said loudly in a voice that was muffled but somehow horribly familiar.
I felt a shiver creep down my spine. Who was this guy? I couldn’t tell much about him because of the mask but he was tall and thin and he wore a long, black cape. The only other person I knew who wore a cape like that was…
“No,” I whispered, looking at Sellah appealingly. “Oh, no.”
She must have seen the panic in my face because her golden eyes overflowed at last, the tears running down her smooth brown cheeks.
“Zoe…” She mouthed my name just as the Master of the Auction said,
“Sold! To the gentle-being in the back for fifty million credits.”
Chapter 23
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Zoe
“So, my dear. Here we are at last.”
“And where exactly is here?” I looked at my pink-masked captor. He hadn’t even waited for the rest of the auction. As soon as he paid, he had taken me in manacles and chains straight to a shuttle which in turn took us to a large, black ship. It looked like an oil slick floating in space and since space itself is black, it was almost impossible to see unless you saw star light reflected off its shiny surface.
The shuttle had docked smoothly with the ship and before I knew it, my new owner was herding me inside. I kept as far ahead of him as I could, wanting to stay away from his long, boney hands and the creepy pink mask. But I dreaded seeing him without the mask even more—dreaded confirming my suspicions.
“This is my ship—EOC-2789,” he said, as we came out into a wide silver corridor, not too much different from the one on Sarden’s ship. “Come, the medical suite is this way.”
“What? No way. No medical suite.”
I tried to pull away from him but he locked one long-fingered hand around the back of my neck, just above the damn inhibitor collar and pinched fiercely.
“Ahhh!” He must have hit a nerve somehow because I felt my legs crumpling beneath me and electrical tingles of pain ran down both arms. Holy crap, he was strong!
“Enough!” he snapped. “I have paid an exorbitant amount for you and I will tolerate no more insolence!”
At that moment I felt Drogon, my nib-nib, moving wildly in my hair and then there was a muffled cry of pain and a curse from the masked man. He let go of my neck, just for a moment, but it was long enough.
Somehow I got to my feet and stumbled down the long corridor, looking for a way to escape. Of course, where could I escape to? I was on a strange ship in the middle of space. But maybe I could at least find someplace to barricade myself in. Maybe a kitchen so I could have access to food? Then I could lock the door and hold him off indefinitely—I hoped anyway.
